The Pitfalls Of Menopause And Alcohol Consumption   

Menopause and alcohol consumption is a relationship left mostly unexplored. While menopause symptoms and symptoms of alcohol consumption are usually studied separately, their combined bonanza is hardly ever talked about. Well, it might surprise you to know that a number of menopause symptoms affect the same areas of your body that alcohol does. So your body takes double the hit through menopause and alcohol consumption when it needs to be nurtured and cared for instead.

Moderation, it is said, is the key to everything in life. It might be hard to define what falls under moderate from person to person though. What might be moderate for you, might make another pass out blind drunk. And vice versa.

A number of things have to be considered to define moderate alcohol consumption. Age, weight, familiarity to drinking alcohol, other health conditions you might be dealing with, medications you might be on, are some of the factors that influence how your body might respond to varying quantities of alcohol. 

Once you start drinking it might be hard to draw the line between moderate drinking, flirting with the line and going straight over. Especially as we age and go through various mental, emotional and physical changes, alcohol might take on a different role in your life. Menopause struts in and changes the game. Menopause symptoms arrive like a tornado into your life, altering everything you believed to be true about your body and yourself. So when alcohol is added to the mix, there's a good possibility of a shitstorm on the horizon. 

Menopause symptoms affect your memory and ability to concentrate. You might have gone through life remembering every phone number, birthday, anniversary, and everything in between. Yet now you might walk into the room and forget what you’re there for. Or while talking to your friend, your mind might wander. You have no idea what she has been talking about for the last 5 mins. You can't even ask her to say it again. This is the third time she'd repeating it, to begin with. Your natural response to anything these days might be a resonating ‘huh?’, ‘pardon me’, or ‘could you please say that again?’. 

It's alright though. Take a breath. Happens to the best of us.You add alcohol to these menopause symptoms, and you might be in for a rude awakening. The inebriating properties of alcohol are infamous to begin with. 

Mixed with menopause, the end result is pure agony. It could end with severe headaches too. Alcohol consumption leaves you with a hangover of varying proportions. The proportions grow larger as you age and hit menopause. So the feeling that your head is being split open in the middle with an axe is definitely amplified.

Altered Coordination :

Thinning Bones :

As you age your bones lose their density and become thinner. They’re more prone to breaking. Menopause symptoms might introduce osteoporosis in your life which is a medical condition in which the bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue.

Alcohol further contributes to the thinning of bones. It increases the possibility of encountering osteoporosis in your life. It can also lead to falling and fractures which might require surgery. The thinning of bones is irreversible. 

So prevention is the only cure you’ve got. Indulgence in alcohol might also lead to muscle cramping, weakness and eventually muscle death. 

Over a longer period of time, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol may cause infertility. On the other hand, it leads to erectile dysfunction in men. 

Menopause symptoms in their own right, can cause discomfort during sex, low sex drive, and sore breasts. So while the idea of drinking to bring down inhibitions might seems like a good one, it might not actually work during your menopause phase.

Insomnia :

Menopause symptoms might make you hate anyone who can fall asleep in a blink of an eye. It starts off innocently enough with your sleep curve dropping a few inches during perimenopause. 

Then menopause rolls in and with it your sleep schedule rolls off of the fucking cliff. While alcohol might seem like a relatively safe solution to get a few hours of sleep, you might want to rethink the decision to pour that nightcap.

Alcohol makes you drowsy, but the quality of sleep that you get from it is highly questionable. You feel recharged only when you get your recommended amount of R.E.M sleep. Alcohol inhibits the body’s ability to reach and stay in the R.E.M phase. So alcohol might help you successfully sleep through the night, but there's a high possibility you might wake up tired and drowsy, instead of refreshed and energetic. 

Stomach Distress :

Drinking excessively can lead to bloating, gas and painful ulcers. It might also cause diarrhoea. Menopause symptoms further instigate issues ranging from slight heartburn or nausea to serious ones. 

Stomach distress as you might very well know adds to the feeling of discomfort and might hamper your sleep cycles as well. 

Fatigue :

Weight Gain :

Weight gain is the curse we inherit as we grow older. Our metabolism slows down with age, and perimenopause, menopause symptoms and alcohol consumption screw it even further. 

Bloating was apparently not enough for the menopause and alcohol duo. They had to form a ring of fat around your tummy, right alongside areas you just didn't think could become this huge. 

While we can’t control the cause, we can manipulate the effect to a certain extent. 

Exercise and diet are the most important levers you can control your body with. 

Restricting your alcohol consumption during menopause is a heaven for your body as it gives it the rest it deserves and the space to adjust to the wide variety of changes menopause ushers in. 

Hot Flushes :

Menopause symptoms include hot flushes that might make you feel like a wood burning in a furnace. Alcohol is the hot poker that makes sure you feel the heat all over, from head to toe. Alcohol also adds to the menopause symptom of night sweats. 

So every pore in your body acts as an opening for a cascading waterfall of sweat.  

Exercise and altering your diet are two of the most important aspects you need to alter. Alongside them, it is also acceptable to help your body through supplements like vitamins and minerals that help relieve menopause symptoms. 

One of the best menopause supplements in the UK is Evening Primrose Oil by Eureka Supplements. It has a wide variety of benefits that may ease menopause symptoms. 

Eureka’s Evening Primrose Oil includes Vitamin E as well, which may help relieve your menopause symptoms even further. Plus they come in easy to swallow tablet form. So keeping track of your nutritional intake becomes infinitely easier. 

Menopause brings in a different phase of your life. It expects you to make the necessary alterations to help your body deal with the new reality. Changing your lifestyle and habits is a must as you grow older and hit menopause. It is of paramount importance to accept your growing intolerance of alcohol during menopause and to ease up on the bottle. Your body will thank you by making you feel better. It is a partnership after all. 

A decrease in sex drive after menopause is a problem many women face. Altering the hormones in your body is a menopause symptom known to kick your sex drive in it's metaphoric balls.

Unfortunately, there is no escaping it... Menopause is a normal condition that all women go through... and it sucks. People assume it is quick but the perimenopause can occur over an 8-10 year period (Excuse the pun). 

Menopause forces a woman's body through a massive hormonal change which hasn't been seen since puberty and it can be a rough ride. Heres what to expect and what you can do about it.

Your Sex Drive is known to decrease when perimenopause and menopause symptoms walk into your life... Learn how to do something about it.