Can’t drink in perimenopause

[bunny6767]

I can’t even have a glass of wine without feeling like I’ve had three bottles.

This was supposed to be the time I could afford nice food and wine and I can’t for some reason handle it anymore at all 🤣

For me it was when I hit menopause and started getting alcohol-induced migraines which would have me vomiting so hard I thought I'd suffocate, and all I could do was lie on a bathroom floor all night. After one glass.

So I stopped drinking altogether and dear lord I miss it sometimes.

Same here. I would love to be able to have a few drinks and let my hair down but I feel tipsy after 1 and a bit nauseous after 2. And the hangovers are not worth it. I’ve not had more than 2 glasses of wine for about 3 years now. Gone are the days of a whole bottle of Prosecco!

I'm not good with wine anymore. I've had the migraines for a few years. Ouch.
But.....tequila doesn't seem to have the same effect!!
My shopping bill has gone down as a result of less alcohol and now I treat myself to a proper coffee every morning buing a box of pods instead of wine on the weekly shop. (Is it any better for me than the alcohol?!?!)

Same same. It wasn't just the two-day hangovers or the bastard insomnia, it was the fact that after one glass, I'd start to feel sleepy and vaguely ill and like I really just wanted to go home and lie on the couch with a cup of tea instead. What absolute fun.

Yes. Caffiene has some health benefits.

Did anyone else find that alcohol stopped having any effect other than unpleasant? I used to get a nice buzz and lowered inhibitions but when I hit peri all that stopped and I would go straight from totally sober to throwing up without any of the nice bits in between.

Then I started getting the migraines on a single glass of anything.

Good whiskey…for peri and post menopause

Jesus!

it wasn't due to alcohol combined with any medication or something? :o

No, it appears to be an allergy to something, but I am disinclined to experiment to find out what. One single glass of Prosecco, one glass of white wine, one gin and tonic - all on separate occasions but have had the same result. It's so awful that I'd rather just never drink again than risk repeating.

I’ve definitely found the buzz is less and the hangover awful but…can’t seem to break the association with good times in my mind. Yoga just doesn’t replace it…

Medical fact, innit. Women mostly stop drinking red wine.

Oh god me too! I just turned 40 and cant have a glass of lovely lovely wine without feeling like ive been hit by a truck thr next day. I still get the buzz

I don't like whiskey but can lean into tequila more, im so sad though as nothing really hits like a glass of wine. 😭

I’ve nearly stopped. I just don’t find it does as much.

Mate, it gets worse post menopause 😡

Yeahhhh with results like that it's just not worth it is it. How long did it take to completely get over the reaction?

fecking menopause.

The first effects would come on usually about two to three hours after I'd had a drink (so it was usually fortunately the middle of the night). I would get a headache, then vomit uncontrollably for about five hours, unable to move, turn my head or stand up (this is where the bathroom floor came in). Once I stopped throwing up I would have the blinding headache for another couple of hours and then, gradually, I would start to feel better.

So it would be a good eight to ten hours before I could function again, and even then I'd have the 'migraine hangover' for the whole of the next day.

So, so awful. I live alone and at one point with the last episode I genuinely thought I would suffocate, because I couldn't breathe and be sick at the same time.

But I REALLY miss a nice glass of wine at parties or Christmas!

I don't drink alcohol, so I have kava root instead (commonly drunk where I live, but easy to order online in the UK I imagine). It's an...acquired taste (bitter and earthy) so best mixed with something like pineapple juice, but is lovely and mellowing.

Crikey @Vroomfondleswaistcoat that sounds downright dangerous - not only the suffocation (I know how scary that is, had the thing in hyperemesis gravidarum) but the sheer intensity of the reaction. Have you ever mentioned it to a doctor?

I did mention it but because I wasn't suffering at the time and also because I do get migraines anyway (albeit without the same violent symptoms) I just got 'probably alcohol induced migraine'.

Looking into it, it could be suphites or other additives and people have suggested drinking very expensive wine (which tends not to have cheap additives), organic wine or just drinking spirits. But to be honest I lack the inclination to experiment because it really doesn't take much to make me very very ill indeed! So, yes, whoopee if it's fine, but if it's not.... Shudder.

I'll just remain a somewhat sullen and indignant teetotaller.

I feel ya!

I was drinking far too much but had a very minor touch of the same thing come menopause - a light breeze compared to your hurricane though. But it was enough to help stop altogether. Do miss it though. Sometimes I sniff my partner or my ex-Mil's wine (we get on well, and I ask her first, it's not a passive aggressive declaration of war) and it smells so heavenly.

Wonder if you could risk a single sip and see what happens? But with the strength of that reaction, it seems risky....

I’m the opposite now I’m on the other side( at 58, thought it’d never end). Two drinks and I’d be merry. Now I can day drink into the night and next day nothing at all 🤷🏻‍♀️. I discovered this recently and it’s my menopause superpower.

i can barely drink wine any more.
I can tolerate some cocktails or a lovely G&T, but wine is my real love.

It could be the histamines, it’s common to develop more allergies and sensitivity

I have to admit to have had the odd tiny little sip here and there of someone else's drink. But as soon as I taste it, all I can think of is how bad I feel when I'm throwing it all back up again (even though, so far, none of the tiny sips has had any ill effect). So it's basically aversion therapy which has worked a treat.

Still bloody miss it though. But if I can't get a buzz from it, there isn't really much point in drinking anyway.

I don't drink wine as much as I used to. But I can still have a couple of glasses of cremant and Gin & Tonic still hits the same way.

Though last week I had a gin and then about an inch of red wine and I didn't recover until Saturday tea time.