A 'Booze Hound' No More.
A year of tee total, on the wagon, alcohol free.
The menopause transition can be really freakin difficult! I am here to help. As a certified Nutritional therapist and Menopause coach, offering 1-1 online coaching, and workshops within business. Message me or book in for a free call to find out more.
By the time this hits your inbox I will have been sober/ alcohol free for a whole year! I had been mulling over whether I wanted to ‘drink’ any more, whether it was serving me. To clarify I’m not suffering with any addiction, I am not an alcoholic, but I had been wondering about the what-if’s for a couple of years and been inspired by other sober women, then I had some blood tests done which showed a bit of trouble brewing for my Thyroid, and I was about to be diagnosed with ADHD (alcohol is known as kryptonite for ADHD due to the link to dopamine) so the decision to double down on my health and practice what I preach was decided!
If you had known me in the 90’s you may not believe how I live now, but hopefully we evolve as the years go by, and accept that fun comes in many forms, not just the hedonistic, high wattage ways of youth! (Well my late teens to mid 30’s).
I sometimes find myself wondering about the what-if’s of having a glass of wine, experiencing a tiny bit of FOMO, or peer pressure. So I suppose I am writing this for me as much as for you. To remind myself of the ‘whys’.
Alcohol has such a strong hold over us that despite the frequency of regrets we still get pulled back into its potent neurotransmitter (ie: GABA, glutimate, serotonin, dopamine and endorphines) affects ie: calming, sedative, lowering inhibition, raising feelings of euphoria and impaired motor skills..
Societal norms mean we grow up seeing our elders excitement at that first drink, a well deserved treat, a punctuation point at the end of an otherwise over or underwhelming day. Or a celebratory indulgence.? ‘Pop’! As we started to drink, in our teens most probably we felt braver, uninhibited, wild. It was so much fun, unless it wasnt..! We lost ourselves, danced, snogged laughed, cried.. Maybe as we age we don’t need that stuff any more?
I see many of us women choose to do other things for kicks, many women I know now regularly go cold water swimming for the good brain chemicals, or get a gym buzz- as I do. , because lifting your own body weight is flipping marvellous believe me! And maybe we don’t want to feel less inhibited as we reach a place of less people pleasing, If I want to dance I will, and my good friends still make me howl with laughter.
Urges
Of course it isn’t easy to give up the booze, social drinking is almost expected, and to say “I don’t drink” is making yourself a bit ‘other’. I don’t want to mix with people who are getting drunk, so certain social situations are ruled out, but equally I get a buzz from a good atmosphere and still enjoy social settings where the wine is flowing. I also really like getting to bed in good time to be up with the lark to walk the dog every morning, so I’m not excited by a late one! It can feel hard explaining that I don’t drink any more, awkward even, but I am getting used to it and I hope that hearing me talk about it makes it seem possible to others. Altho I am not telling anyone to stop drinking, many women I know are drinking way more than is considered safe, and as a woman in the ‘wellness’ sector of course that worries me.
One morning, a fellow, early doors, dog walker was telling me with some regret how he had drunk too much the night before. I wasn’t jealous, but I do fondly remember the gleeful alcohol induced nights out of the past ,despite all the diabolical, ensuing disasters. Yesterday was a sunny warm day, the first of the year here in the UK. This would have given me an evening wine urge in the past, but I had no wish for wine, or beer or any booze, the weather was enough! I didn’t want a drink at all, I was just wishing I had time to do some gardening and marvelling at how well the washing was drying on the line. (5x loads incase you are interested!) I have seen people drinking on TV and really wanted some, this is heightened when I am stressed, (which goes to show) nervous system regulation is what my body and brain needs, It is learnt behaviour when we crave alcohol rather than breath work or a walk. And completely in our power to change which we reach for, and in time this becomes automatic.
Alcohol in the menopause transition- one helluva elephant..
During perimenopause many women report a changed relationship with booze. Often, seemingly over night it starts to hit us harder. Affecting sleep, with wakefulness and thereafter mood swings, hangovers can last for days. The inflammatory effects show on our faces and lowers our immune systems. Makes us crave processed foods. We start to wonder what it is doing for us, and many women are either giving it up - like me, or cutting down.
Alcohol is a toxin, a class 1 carcinogen no less.. Terrible news for the gut lining and microbiome- alcohol kills bacteria, remember the Covid days and hand sanitiser? The liver will process alcohol as a priority, leaving ‘used up’ estrogen to re-circulate, impairing estrogen metabolism. This is why there is a link to breast and other hormonal cancers. It also makes it harder for our bodies to build healthy bone and muscle. And it shrinks the brain. All the things we need to protect right now.
It messes with our sleep, impairs melatonin levels and disrupts our circadian rhythm. Good sleep is imperative for brain and heart health. in her book The Menopause Brain, Dr Lisa Mosconi writes: “Drinking alcohol can exaggerate, extend or multiply hot flashes. Dehydration worsens brain fog, and it affects our weight, by messing with Insulin levels. In fact alcohol makes almost every symptom of menopause worse. “
And for anyone who can’t seem to stop putting on weight: In her book- Metabolism Repair for Women, Lara Briden writes:
“Alcohol does not promote health, despite a lot of wishful thinking that it could. For one thing, alcohol (like sugar and refined starch) , is empty calories but thats not the worst of it, alcohol can also:
distort hunger and satiety signalling
impair mitochondrial functioning
increase intestinal permeability and metabolic endotoxemia (gut permeability).
directly cause hypertrophied visceral fat and fatty liver
disrupt circadian rhythm and sleep
contribute to deficiencies of magnesium. vitamin B12, and vitamin B1 thiamine
damage the microbiome”
Booze leaves us feeling like poo. Anxious, tired, toxic, and poorer. Alcohol related harm costs the uk £27.4 billion a year according to research by the ‘institute of Alcohol Studies’ (and incase you were wondering, tax revenue is only £12.5 billion)!!
What is your relationship with alcohol? Do you think about giving it up or cutting down? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks. Alcohol wears me out and I'm tired of drinking.
Thank you @Kim Wenger Hall ! 🤗