To think life is actually better with an occasional drink?

[Boxthemup]

I appreciate some people can't have an occasional drink and I absolutely support their efforts to stay away from it altogether. I wouldn't dream of trying to persuade someone who doesn't want a drink to have one.

However, for the rest of us there is something lovely about being mildly tipsy. It's not that I can't enjoy myself without a drink, I can and do on a daily basis, but having a drink makes everything that bit more relaxed.

My perfect world is maybe 3-4 pints of beer and a putting the world to rights session with intelligent friends in a lovely beer garden or 2/3 bottle of wine and dancing.

I do one or other of these perhaps once or twice a month and thoroughly enjoy it/look forward to it.

I think this is a good thing?

And as I said, neither do I, but it is easier with.

I enjoy a few drinks, but I wouldn't say they make life easier in any way. Easier how?

Alcohol is a depressant and makes depression worse- how on earth would it help someone who is already depressed?

Each to their own. I like the feeling of being tipsy but I feel so shit afterwards that it's not worth it unless I'm willing to write off the day after completely.

I'm perimenopausal. I haven't found anxiety a problem but exercise is the best way I know to deal with other symptoms. I guess we're all different, who'd have thought?

@formulaonecar not there yet but I deffo had days of anxiety after a drink and couldn't cope with it anymore. Now I go out and enjoy myself and it's better for not drinking. Then I remember it as well. I can go for a jog or walk next day and I'm coming off my antidepressants now

Neither do I any longer , thankfully

I don't feel shit after "tipsy". I agree a hangover I can't run off isn't worth the price.

Yes, we are all different but you are the one starting a thread saying that life is better with alcohol. It isnt. For many people.

@sushiandsauvignon I think the OP meant 2/3 of one bottle (i.e. 66%) not 2 or 3 bottles of wine!

My limit is two glasses of wine these days, but yes it does help relax me. I know it's still unhealthy though so only drink a couple of times a week with occasional dry months.

No, I have a drink maybe once a week, bu it wouldn't bother me if I never had alcohol again.

That's quite a lot of alcohol, not 'an occasional drink', in my book!

3 - 4 pints of beer once or twice a month realistically equates to a max of 24 units a month if it's strong beer. NHS guidelines suggest adult women in England are advised to drink no more than 14 units per week (roughly 50 units per month).

Gosh yes, two thirds of a bottle. I know I can't finish it without feeling rubbish next day

I do think this is a new thing - menopausal women declaring they simply can’t drink anymore as one sniff has them ill for days. I mean why would it? Me and my friends have all gone through the menopause without having an issue. And I know the response will be ‘oh good for you’ etc etc but the AMOUNT of women of here that simply CANT drink anymore is insane.

I also thought you meant 2 to 3 bottles at first and I did think ‘fair play’…..

Each to their own. I don't think alcohol makes my life better. I can take it or leave it.

Yes! Looking back it started way before peri for me too. Its because alcohol depresses your central nervous system so to counter act that your brain dumps a load of stimulants into your system, but unfortunately, the alcohol wears off quicker than the stimulants do so you have anxiety for a day or two afterwards. "The fear" as its called is so vile and unpleasant that to me, a few drinks just isnt worth it.

Oh I LOVE the hazy soft glow of life after two glasses of wine. I work FT in a very stressful job, have a six year old, a house being refurbished and a parent with stage four terminal cancer. My mind never stops. Maybe it's a bad coping mechanism but a glass or two of wine just slows my mind down enough to sit and 'be'.

Yep I 100% agree.

Sitting with friends in a pub or nice wine bar sharing a few bottles in the sun is my actual favourite thing in the world and I actually come home in a much better mood than I left.

I agree with the OP, in moderation alcohol is great, look forward to my Friday bottle of wine, and it does enhance my quality of life IMO.

I accept that it can get out of control though and if it’s having a detrimental effect on your life or health, it’s a problem and best avoided .

Alcohol is a depressant so it might knock the edges off anxiety, but it’s definitely not something that should be taken by someone suffering from depression already!

I don’t need alcohol at all to have a great time. I don’t want to feel numbed or depressed. However, if that works for you OP, you crack on.

For me, its due to anxiety. Peri triggered it and alcohol ramps it up like crazy due to the effects of alcohol on the CNS. Just because people dont talk about it, doesnt mean it isnt affecting them- its only recently that people have been talking about peri/menopause symptoms but since I've spoken to my friends about it, they have all said alcohol affects them similarly.

well as a 42 y old who been teetotal my whole life,(i mean my whole life I've never had a sip of any thing alcoholic)

I've got by and have been happy with out using alcohol as a crutch my whole adult life

Which is something you have in common with the OP.

It's not that I'm hungover, it's that I sleep really badly after a drink and just feel exhausted and run down.

How would you know?