To think alcohol doesn’t agree with me anymore

[WilsonMilson]

Not a big drinker, usually have a g&t on a Friday, maybe 2 glasses of wine at the weekend.

Recently I’ve noticed that I get a headache every time I have a drink. Every single time. Doesn’t seem to matter what it is or how much. Just feel yucky, lethargic, sleepy and then headachy. It’s putting me off drinking anything at all, which is a shame as I used to enjoy a couple of drinks with DH at the weekend.

I’m in my forties, not overweight or suffering any health concerns, and it seems to have happened quite recently in the last few months.

Anyone else suffering similarly?

I am 50 and in the throes of perimenopause. I started to feel really bad with alcohol in my 40s and have taken the cue to stopping drinking altogether and I feel so much better for it.

There is a wonderful supportive thread for those who want to quit for good on the alcohol threads. All welcome

If I have more than a glass of wine I cannot sleep and get palpitations. This started in my mid-30s. I don't drink very often these days as it is not worth the insomnia!

I drink sulphite free red wine and all these problems after drinking stopped.

Sulphites intolerance makes sense, also I’ve been suspecting in peri menopausal (44) after stopping the Depo injection due to covid earlier this year and periods returned with a vengeance then became very light.
I don’t feel like I want to be 100% dry but I may stop wine and see it goes.

I went through a phase of being really ill if I had so much as a couple of glasses of wine. I had a period off the booze (TTC, pregnancy then breastfeeding) and my body seemed to reset itself. I don't drink a lot now but I can handle a couple of glasses!

I’m 37 and have been the same since about the age of 30 and I’m not PM.

To be fair I think it always made me feel a bit crappy but now I’m older I’d rather get a full nights sleep and feel fresh the next day than drink and pay for it.

I am not getting the same mood lift from it either. I do think it could very well be hormonal and related to the onset of perimenopause. Doesn’t seem to matter if it’s wine or gin so I’m not sure it’s the sulfites. DH isn’t having these issues - typical!

@Aquamarine1029 just about to say the same !!! I was exactly the same could not tolerate alcohol at all but since I’ve been on Hrt I’m now enjoying a couple of glasses again 🎉🎉🎉

@Aquamarine1029

Welcome to peri-menopause.

Exactly!

I used to be a big drinker when I was young, stopped drinking while I was pregnant with dd (18 years ago) and haven't bothered much with it since. I realised that it was probably a couple of years since I'd had any alcohol and decided to buy a bottle of wine when I got the Christmas food.

I've literally only had one glass with my Christmas Dinner and one glass last night for NYE. Both times I ended up with heartburn that I could only get rid of by being sick. I didn't even get a nice warm tipsy feeling first.

I think I might as well declare myself officially teetotal.

Since around age 40 I have not been able to drink even a glass of wine without a crushing hangover. I had a migraine over the past two days but it went away around yesterday lunch time. Last night I literally had three sips of Prosecco to acknowledge the new year and today have woken up with the migraine back even worse than before

@HmmSureJan

Yes, it was the same for me - the tiniest drink and I'd get a migraine that went on for several days.

I'm generally ok post menopuse now

yes it's depressing. I was on my own with the kids this xmas and bought one bottle of sparkling wine, one bottle of red, a bottle of baileys and some Heineken - sounds a lot for one person but my dd has a glass if there's a bottle open and her b/f. Threw most of the sparkling wine out - got a headache after one glass... Havent opened the red. Used the baileys to pour over ice cream - still got a headache. Havent touched the beer. I'd like to be able to enjoy a glass or two with a meal, but every single time the headache comes over me and the next day I feel awful. Very depressing. How do the women in France and Italy etc manage. Maybe you have to build up your tolerance to wine again. I've drank hardly at all the last few years . Just wasn't worth the headache

Yeah i can hardly drink now. I save it for when its really worth it. Always suffer for it, either immediately or in the night or the next day. Most of the time it doesnt even feel nice anymore

Oh this is my thread! Recently 50 and on HRT for a few months. It dawned on me over this last year that any amount of drink buggers up what little sleep I can get and leaves me with a manky full headache the next day. Last night I had a shandy and one lousy Baileys (my 20's self would laugh and weep in equal measure) and I feel hellish today. I also get the big red drinkers face these days after 1 measly glass of wine. Oh well, I suppose I'll be healthier and richer if I have to avoid drinking altogether 🤷‍♀️

Me too! Am 39 and after 2 glasses of white and a couple of whiskys the other night (over an entire night, like 6pm to around midnight) I felt properly horrible the next day. Took ages to get to sleep as well. Thankfully DH picks up my slack if I'm suffering and I felt better after a small coffee.

Did not know it was potentially a peri-menopause thing though! Urgh, as if having a uterus doesn't already come with enough issues it fucks up drinking as well!

I'm 39

Gin now gives me a headache. Wine makes me vomit.

The only thing I can have is a shandy or a pina colada. Get a bit dull 🤣

Yep, sounds like peri to me. I used to have a magnificent tolerance for alcohol and while I got hangovers I deserved them.

Hit forty and could not drink heavily at all any more, then after a couple more years I even started feeling grotty after one or two drinks. Now I just don't bother. I like the news that the tolerance comes back after menopause, something to look forward to I suppose.

Does HRT give any tolerance back, for those of you taking it?

I have this at late twenties. I hope it’s not peri-menopause!

@CaptainSandy yes I’ve been ok having a couple of red wines since I’ve been on HRT before that thou the thought of having a drink made me feel sick 😷 x

I’m the same and have been for a few years. Can now only drink half a bottle of beer and my heart starts racing, I feel,hot, looked flushed, want to lie down and have a sleep. I stick to appletiser now.

Yes , I'm same since peri meno started (age c 43). I don't get mood lift, feel v tired and have terrible anxiety hang overs. I find up to 2 units is ok, relaxing but not tiring. Also I can't tolerate/enjoy more than a small glass of wine. I'm just champagne (less tiring, don't know why) or g&t now, in moderation. I am constantly explaining to DH that I don't enjoy wine anymore...he doesn't get it!

there's an enzyme in our livers (called alcohol dehydrogenase) which helps us to process alcohol, but depending on your genetics, some people either don't have the enzyme (loads of 'oriental' asian people don't), or the enzyme production decreases with age. There's a lot of white europeans who find this enzyme goes into decline around the age of 40 and they find they can no longer tolerate alcohol to the same degree they once did.

This happened to me as I moved into my 30s. It wasnt like hangovers- it was an immediate reaction when drinking id feel sick and dizzy with headaches. I just used it to give up. Its quite common supposedly especially with the medication I was on.

Yeah its noticable also that that old addictive warm tipsy rush vanishes as well.