Is Alcohol Making Your Menopause Symptoms Worse?

Roberta Bass

Why Alcohol Keeps Coming Up

Recently, I have had several women come to me for menopause support and we start off by doing a full assessment, see where they are in their menopause journey, see what symptoms that they are struggling with and see what their lifestyle is like. And one of the common themes that I have seen for the last few clients that I have spoken to is that they use alcohol as a way to relax.

I'm not saying that they've got a problem with alcohol, but it seems to be a common theme that of an evening, it's nice to wind down with a glass or two or three or more glasses of wine or G&T or other alcohol because it's a way to wind down.

Different Clients, Same Pattern

Now, each of the clients have different times and reasons for wanting a drink in the evening. One of them was that they felt that that was their time, that they run around all day looking after the children, looking after everybody else, and it was their time to wind down with their partner and have a drink. Now, they were drinking most evenings because it was the only time that they had a chance to wind down, and the alcohol helped calm their mind from that stress of the day.

Another lady just tended to drink at the weekend, but it was half a bottle of wine and then a couple of glasses of G&T. But then they woke up the next morning not feeling their best. So they knew that alcohol affected them negatively.

And the other client as well, she was the same — knew that it wasn't helping and it doesn't. At the time, it might feel great, it might feel calming. It is like a habit, sit down, my time to chill out.

What This Episode Is — And Isn't — About

So this episode isn't about saying stop drinking, although I don't drink personally, so I think that's fine. But I know a lot of people like a glass of wine or some kind of alcohol — but it's thinking what is it doing to your menopause symptoms and are you relying on it too much? Could you reduce it slightly? Could you find more healthy ways to do what you're trying to use the alcohol for?

So let's just think why women would drink. It's often a coping strategy — you're getting through the day, you're like, I'm gonna do all of this nonstop work running around after children, knowing that I can sit down and have my glass of wine in the evening. And then I can just chill out for an hour before bedtime. Or maybe at the weekend, it's always the thing we do at the weekend, that's our time just to relax. Everything else is done, nothing else to worry about. That's that one time that we can sit down, spend time with their partners and just chill and relax and dampen their nervous system that is almost at boiling point.

The Trouble With a Regular Pattern

The trouble is, when it becomes that regular pattern.

Alcohol will make symptoms worse. There has been lots of studies and there is evidence to show this happens. Particularly things like hot flushes will be worsened. Anxiety can be made worse. Sleep definitely is worse. So it might be that you think that you can go to sleep better, but actually you will wake up more and you will have less refreshing sleep and sleep is a massive thing and that will affect everything else. It will make brain fog worse. It will make anxiety worse. It will make our eating worse. So if we're not getting sleep in the right way, then everything else is going to be worse and we often use alcohol to try and help get us to sleep because we have issues falling asleep. But it's not good for the actual rest of the sleep. So we might get to sleep better, but then we're going to wake up and we're going to be unrefreshed when we get up in the morning.

Using Alcohol the Right Way

So in an ideal world we wouldn't drink any alcohol, but I know lots of people like the taste of alcohol. I think it all tastes like vinegar, but that's fine. Other people really enjoy it, but it's using it in the right way. If you get enjoyment out of it, great, but can you limit how much you are drinking?

So one of the things that I spoke to my current client about is she — at the weekend she drinks, doesn't drink in the week, but she has half a bottle of wine and then two gin and tonics, which is quite a lot in one go. So then I say, well, how can we reduce that? Could you just have the wine or could you just have the gin and tonics? And she's decided that actually, yeah, she's going to forego the wine and just have the gin and tonic. And actually she could make it slightly weaker. So she has slightly less gin in it, or tonic — still make it feel like it's a treat and then she can enjoy it, but then hopefully doesn't feel as bad the next day because her sleep won't be as effective.

So it's just thinking, do you need to drink every day of the week? If you are feeling that you have to, then we need to find more positive ways to get that same benefit that you are trying to get with the alcohol.

If it is say just at the weekend and it's social and you're having three or four drinks, do you need that many? Could you have slightly different drinks such as the G&T and make it a longer drink so you're having more of the tonic or however you drink it? I'm not an expert on alcohol, but certainly you could put less alcohol and more of the mixer drink in it. Could you have something that seems like alcohol — could you have like a 0% alcohol or could you have a mocktail or have a cocktail with just a slight bit of alcohol in but make it fancy so you still feel like you're getting that kind of reward and that social situation?

If You Feel Like You Need It Every Day

But if we go back to feeling like you need the alcohol every day — could you go without alcohol? If you feel actually nervous about that or you feel like you wouldn't cope if you didn't have it, are you getting dependent on it? We're not going to go into actually if you are alcohol dependent, but you might need to seek further help with that. So please do. If you feel actually you're having multiple drinks a day and throughout the day and you can't get through a day without drinking, if it's every evening you do it to wind down, we need to think what else is going to give you that feeling.

So often it is having that me time. So think what else could you do to get that me time? Could you go out and do a class — whether that's an exercise class? Maybe it is doing amateur dramatics, maybe it is going to do an art class, some kind of activity that gives you that me time. And if it's something like yoga or exercise, that can help give you that relaxation and that feeling of calm as well when it takes you away from the normal home situation. And it could just give you that moment, whereas sitting at home having your alcohol, okay, but actually getting out doing something is a much more positive way to get the same benefits and the same feeling.

Could it be at home — sitting down with your partner and having a drink — could you go out with your partner for a walk? Or could you play a board game? Could you do something else and maybe having a drink but maybe it's a soft drink rather than alcohol so that you're still getting that same social thing and you're still connecting with your partner but in a different way. Or maybe you limit it so that you're only drinking on a couple of nights a week.

If You're Using Alcohol to Get to Sleep

And if you're using alcohol to wind down to get to sleep, then we need to be addressing the sleep situation. So I've done other episodes about sleep. I've done a few different ones, but it is about having that wind down routine, making sure that you are getting off your screens a few hours before bed so that we can have our melatonin, which is our sleep hormone, being produced so that you can get to sleep better.

It might be that you do some meditation or hypnosis or journaling before bed. So you're getting anything that's worrying you out of your mind and onto a piece of paper.

Rounding Up

So first thing is, are you relying on alcohol too much? Is it affecting you day to day, which potentially could be making your menopause symptoms worse? If you feel like actually you have one drink once a week, or occasionally when you're out with friends, fine. That's fine. If you are finding that you're drinking every night to get that relaxation, to have that me time, to improve your sleep, then we need to find better ways to do those things.

If you're not sure about your symptoms and whether they are menopausal and whether alcohol could be making them worse, then do check out the free masterclass that I've done. The link is in the show notes and that will go through what happens during perimenopause, the symptoms that you might be having, and it starts to give you some ways to make changes in lifestyle to improve those symptoms.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a drink, but it's just worth questioning yourself. Are you having a drink because you want it and it's just enjoyable? Or are you using alcohol to give you that relaxation or just to have that time with your partner? And is it affecting you positively or negatively? And if it is negatively, then use some of those tips that I've given in today's episode to try and make a few little changes.

Until next time, take care.