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Original poster

Does anyone else find alcohol stops them sleeping?

36 replies

DowntonCabbie · 31/08/2020 01:04

I’m only early 30s but I’m finding more and more I either can’t sleep straight away or I wake up during the night. This is only drinking say 2 glasses of wine or a double spirit and at the moment it’s once a week so not a big night out. I love sleep! Think I might just stop altogether as I hate feeling awful the next day, not like hungover but just tired. Does anyone else get like this? Is it just getting old?

OP posts:

SprogletsMum · 31/08/2020 01:06

Yes! I find that I can fall asleep easily but then will be wide awake from around 3am. Its just not worth it at all.

shreddednips · 31/08/2020 01:07

YES! I've recently gone pretty much teetotal because any amount of wine, even a tiny glass, stops me sleeping at all. Never used to be an issue. I did love a nice glass of wine but I love sleep more!

MooseBeTimeForSummer · 31/08/2020 01:08

Yes. I usually wake up around 1am.
Its either that or perimenopause. Or both (I’m 46).

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Original poster

DowntonCabbie · 31/08/2020 01:16

I did love a nice glass of wine but I love sleep more!

Me too! So annoying as DP can pretty much drink a bottle and feel fine. Makes me feel so old.

OP posts:

Aquamarine1029 · 31/08/2020 01:19

Alcohol can absolutely fuck up your sleep patterns. It's a well known fact, and the effects of alcohol can vary wildly. Google it and you will learn all you need to.

Guineapigbridge · 31/08/2020 01:39

Any kind of wine and I'm awake at 1am and not going back to sleep. Proper champagne (verve cliquot, Dom perignon, krug etc) is fine. Some southern hemisphere organic wines are also fine but not the organic ones from Europe.

WinterAndRoughWeather · 31/08/2020 01:59

Yep. I’m out like a light if I drink, but will wake up around 1am and be unable to sleep for hours (like now).

Also these days, if I get drunk, I feel depressed for two days straight, as well as knackered from lack of sleep.

It’s not so bad with fizzy wine, beer or natural wine, but I’m starting to think I should try to cut way down. I don’t even drink that much - maybe share a bottle with partner a couple of nights a week. I love wine in the actual moment though so it’s hard to give up. Getting drunk however, so not worth it anymore, but again in the heat of the moment - catching up with friends etc - it’s really hard to think ahead.

HeyBlaby · 31/08/2020 02:07

Yes, even after one glass, I also feel massively depressed the next day, used to be fine until a few years ago. It's rarely worth it any more!

DeeTractor · 31/08/2020 02:15

Yep, always been like this. I'm sure 99% of my hangovers are just me being knackered.

IsabellaMozzarella · 31/08/2020 02:27

Yup, same. Also if I eat late. So much prefer going out for lunch now than dinne

thewallisblue · 31/08/2020 06:14

I'm exactly the same. This is why I've stopped drinking - just not worth the tiredness, and anxiety the next day.

SquatBetty · 31/08/2020 07:05

I've always had this with booze and much worse if I go to bed drunk on spirits. Think it's something to do with your blood sugar level dropping in the night and waking you up.

pennee · 31/08/2020 07:11

Yes 😕 I’m 41 and it’s hit me this last 18 months. I need sleep more so I hardly drink now and I used to love a lager too. I used to be able to fall asleep then wake in the night but now I can’t even get to sleep after a drink.

Persipan · 31/08/2020 07:40

That's absolutely what alcohol does to your sleep. It may zonk you out to begin with but after that it keeps you in a shallow sleep rather than allowing your brain to go in and out of its normal sleep cycles.

yawnsvillex · 31/08/2020 07:45

100% - if you read Alcohol Explained by William Porter, this explains why.

It also raises Heart Rate and Stress levels which is why at 3/4am ... you're rudely awaken sat bolt upright!

I hate it! ... it's made me stop drinking as sleep is more important for me.

Northernsoullover · 31/08/2020 07:48

I've quit completely. For years I thought I had insomnia but it was booze...

BogRollBOGOF · 31/08/2020 07:53

I'll go to sleep easily but have a restless night in the second half.
It also messes up my digestive system.
Many cheaper wines give me a headache as I'm drinking them.

There are reasons why I'm a light, sporadic drinker

Marmosetmarmalade · 31/08/2020 07:54

Yes, it’s horrible. I remember even when I first started drinking when I was at college this would happen. Everyone else would conk out and I would drop off for say an hour to start with and that was it, wide awake for the rest of the night. It put me off drinking really and even now I don’t drink much for this reason. Wine is the worst for it though I find.

Squirrelblanket · 31/08/2020 08:00

Yes I also experience going out like a light but then 3am waking. It doesn't happen so much if I've only had a couple of drinks, more when I've been drinking all evening.

Piggywaspushed · 31/08/2020 08:04

Yes, me too. And the anxiety stuff and then a bad stomach and then panic attacks! And this is on tow glasses of low alcohol wine.

The sensible thing, of course, would be not to drink anything. But it is so annoying. And it's not predictable. Sometimes I'm fine.

Tamtam86 · 31/08/2020 08:08

Yes! And I've only very recently realised this!! I had been having a glass of wine pretty much every night and then waking at 2/3am and tossing and turning until DC wake up at 5am! I was constantly tired.

Last month I decided I was going to stop drinking so much because I knew it wasn't healthy! Instantly my sleep improved, it's been miraculous! And made it so easy to say no to the wine because good sleep is just too addictive! I have a 2yo and an 8 month old who wake at the crack of dawn so I'm still tired but the sleep I am getting is SO much better

ChasingRainbows19 · 31/08/2020 08:11

Alcohol never agreed with my sleep patterns even in my twenties. I would crash out then be wide awake after a few hours. Luckily I don’t drink often maybe once a week due to shift work.

I’m now 41 and through lockdown I continued my normal working patterns so still only drank once a week at home but even less as I fall asleep easy! I prefer to drink out and about

Anyway since I’ve been able to go out I’ve been out a handful of times and I’ve noticed if I drink more than a couple of glasses my sleep is really bad. Wine is a big culprit my body seems to hate it but I like a nice glass or two I seem fine with a couple of gins but wine is becoming a no no.

Because I’m not a big drinker really I do wonder wether eventually I’ll stop. My partner likes beer which I do but it bloats me. I’ve been researching non alcoholic drinks so we can still sit and have a ‘drink‘

yawnsvillex · 31/08/2020 08:21

OMG and the anxiety. My heart is pumping out my body for 24hrs ...

Yep.. another reminder it's no good.

NC866 · 31/08/2020 08:29

I’ve noticed this too, I don’t drink very often, only if I go out really so I can go weeks without a drink. But when I do my sleep is awful, feel so tired the next day. In the last couple of years I’ve noticed I feel anxious and / or really low the next day or even 2 days as well. It’s horrible.

LlamaofDrama · 31/08/2020 08:35

I'm the same, it knocks me out and then I wake up in a state at 3. I'm definitely peri though, and it combines with night sweats and anxiety beautifully. The dream team... I can avoid this by drinking at lunchtime tbf I'm not much of a drinker and never have been, a glass once or twice a month is pretty much it for me so it's not a problem to only drink for special occasions.

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