Alcohol magnifies the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause
Since perimenopause, the beginning of menopause, can begin at very different ages for different women, it is difficult for a woman to recognize new feelings. It is impossible for a woman to know that changes are beginning to occur in her system that will affect the way she feels and thinks. Are you an active social drinker? When she drinks, has she rarely had excessive intoxication problems before now? Has she ever known her tolerance level to alcohol and did she know when she quit until now?
But, now you’re noticing bouts of excessive intoxication, including unreasonable thoughts, anger, and behaviors that just aren’t yours. Some of this must sound familiar to you, because you are reading this article. I’m a man. My perspective is different, but I’ve been through this from the opposite side. Perimenopausal symptoms never appear and become obvious to women. It’s not just a day and “BAM”, hot flashes, moodiness, bloating, fatigue, night sweats, etc.
This menopause thing is a long, slow and hard process. Changes can happen slowly and be subtle. The anger caused by hormonal changes can feel like the anger you’ve had your whole life. “I’m really mad about this” is what it feels like. But the cause of this feeling is hormonal without you knowing it.
Obviously, all the symptoms don’t start at once, rather they start to appear over long periods of time and just aren’t easily noticed. That’s why women think they feel like they’re going crazy. You feel like you are in a “bad mood” today. So more symptoms start to occur more often and you also don’t notice that this is a change in your body.
When the frequency of menopausal symptoms becomes noticeably closer, you begin to question what is happening to you. You knew that menopause was a part of life, but no one begins with the personal experience of what it is like and what changes the process will cause. Sometimes the symptoms of a bad mood, depression, insecurity, sadness become very difficult to bear.
Like anyone with anxiety and depression, people sometimes begin to “self-medicate” to relieve pain. If you are a social drinker, knowing your tolerance for alcohol and your problems causing you to drink more, this could create a cycle of increasing alcohol consumption beyond the amount you can handle. You are drinking yourself towards troublesome results.
Is it the same with a menopausal woman? Yes it is, but worse. Due to new and unknown hormonal imbalances caused by changes occurring in her system, her entire body composition is being dramatically altered in inconsistent ways. Can you see what could happen here?
The hormones that flow through your body are you. They make up how you think and feel. Hormones are the key to how your mind and body react to everything around you and within you. This includes the fact that as hormone levels “fluctuate,” your tolerance for alcohol may also change. These hormonal imbalances can change from one day to the next. Your system may change from hour to hour. Logically, you can look for something to slow down emotions, bad mood and anxiety. A drink seems harmless.
But, without your knowing it, you are no longer aware of what its effects will be. What begins to happen in women is fast, more dangerous. She may find that in one night she can have social drinks all night and everything is normal and fine. Two days later, she may wobble and slur her words. You could say things that could never really mean. Later the next morning, you may not remember what she said or did. Or, if she had an argument with her spouse or a loved one, she may not even remember why she was upset. What I have observed is that as the months and years go by, a pattern emerges.
Women will swallow all drinks when they are on their period, and then drink more slowly and conservatively when they are not on their period. This cycle was the “aha” moment for me and my wife. Perimenopausal hormonal fluctuations can cause women to think in a totally emotional way, without the balance of the intellect. The next day a better hormonal balance can return to you and the thought is more correctly a balance of intellect and emotion.
That’s how you were before. But, as I said, you have never felt these changes in your life. You are certainly not prepared to deal with them when you are in a highly emotional state. If you start drinking alcohol in this state to relax, you will receive a double blow. You are very emotional and your alcohol tolerance is lower.
I have observed that different forms of alcohol can affect you more than others. For my relationship, the most harmful form of alcohol is red wine. One of her favorites for many years, he is still very attractive to her, but brings the worst episodes. This fact makes it important that you continue to communicate with those close to you, like a spouse or a friend, they can help you watch for signs and slow down on those nights when tolerance is low. On some nights, red wine can be too hard to tolerate. You may notice that you don’t just get “hot flashes” from red wine; but instead you have “nights full of heat”.
Red wine is an example. For some women it may be something else, like gin or whatever. This again shows how important it is to communicate with partners and friends. Be sure to talk to those around you about all the changes that are happening with you. They can work together to keep life as normal as possible.
As I said, this all progresses slowly, but I am convinced that if you are aware and aware of the changes, then you have a better chance of concentrating on seeing the changes and treating the symptoms. There is a reason why I wrote this article. It is based on my desire to inform others of what we have learned. I have observed what I am transmitting to you. I am a man and I cannot feel what my wife is feeling, but I can watch her and see what she is doing. So I can help her when she needs it.
A friend of ours, who is the same age as Andrea or so he once said. “I can’t drink red wine. She makes me hate Jim (her husband of hers).” My suspicion is that our friend was sometime in perimenopause when she said this. It’s a fun statement, but a serious topic. I am not going to moralize or preach against drinking. I am going to point out that the man and the woman in the relationship need to investigate, communicate. Only by working together can a relationship involving menopausal women (and all women will eventually be menopausal) thrive.