No tolerance for alcohol since menopause - anyone else too?

[Jng1]

I've gradually stopped drinking wine over the last few years as I've realised it makes my heart race for up to 24 hours, gives me heartburn and stomach cramps and bloating (sulphite allergy perhaps has been suggested to me?). Occasionally I manage a white wine spritzer spread out over the course of a meal.
So I tend to drink gin instead.

We had people over on Friday night and on Saturday we were out at an evening BBQ. On both occasions I had two G&Ts over the whole evening and both evenings I slept appallingly and felt shit the next day.

I feel so sad - I was never a heavy drinker, but I enjoy socialising with a glass or two, but not if it completely wipes me out for the next day .

Anyone else found this to be YET ANOTHER result of menopause. My friend who is a GP says that developing new allergies and intolerances is common in menopause .

Oh! It turns out Mariella Frostrup is talking about the exact same thing in her new book!: ("My days of partying with George Clooney are behind me")
www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9938165/When-Mariella-Frostrups-hormones-went-haywire-didnt-know-happening.html?ito=link_share_article-factbox

Depends which stage of the menopause you’re at. I’m between peri menopause and in menopause mode and my tolerance for alcohol has definitely decreased but I measure it in terms of if I have 2-3 gin and tonics usually with food and or snacks wjen out that won’t give me a hangover as such. I might sleep less and not as well but I factor this into my day. I also take a vitamin C and zinc fizzy drink and plenty of water before bed.

Funnily enough I was out at a meal meet up with friends last week and 4 of us shared a bottle of rose Prosecco, had Greek dessert wine and I also had a gin and tonic before we met up. It was Greek food so lots of dips and flatbreads etc. We did have lots of tap and fizzy water and I also had a Fanta (included in deal). Hardly any hangover which I was pleasantly surprised about!

I do recall being with a friend on a night out who told me she was in peri menopause and she got very very drunk and the day after told me her alcohol tolerance had reduced right down but she was in a bit of a bad state that day. So I guess it varies from woman to woman.

[quote Jng1]Oh! It turns out Mariella Frostrup is talking about the exact same thing in her new book!: ("My days of partying with George Clooney are behind me")
www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9938165/When-Mariella-Frostrups-hormones-went-haywire-didnt-know-happening.html?ito=link_share_article-factbox[/quote]
To be fair - I really don’t want to be doing what I did in my 20s/30s which was drinking a lot and in 20s partying way too hard! 😉

@Gonnagetgoing No - I don't want to return to the alcoholic haze of my 20s either, but I'd just like to be able to have a couple of glasses of wine without then writing off the following day!

It seems some of my (also menopausal) friends are cutting back too and it often results in social situations where the husbands are all drunk and the women are nursing their one alcoholic drink all evening before being the ones who drive home (because they're not drinking more than one glass).

I can manage two glasses of wine or two glasses of prosecco and that's it. Even then I need to drink a litre of water before I go to bed, and will probably still have a headache in the morning.

I'm post menopausal and had hoped my tolerance might increase a little now - nope!!

I am menopausal through medication for cancer. Totally agree, a couple of drinks, I sleep crap and feel rubbish for days. I have pretty much eliminated alcohol as feeling like this whilst trying to parent a very energetic child is not fun. Im nearly 6 years into the medication and my tolerance is continuing to decrease. I have 4 more years to go, maybe after this I can go on a complete bender and be fine??!!

Feel angry that I can no longer just enjoy a couple of drinks!

I've noticed that I can no longer tolerate wine, find it too strong and dehydrating. Have changed to gin and tonic and felt better

Yeah its shit, hangover way disproportionate to the amount i drunk and often a day 2 with super low mood.

Yes absolutely this is happening. Two drinks is my limit otherwise hangovers last at least two days. Not fair!

I am exactly the same, the hangovers are unbearable, but I refuse to give up wine.
The things that help me are milk thistle capsules, I have them either side of a drinking night, and drops that actually go in the wine. I use a product called Sulfree from The Netherlands.
Holland and Barrett sell a drink containing milk thistle extract which I drink 'the morning after' on the rare occasions I wake up feeling yuck.
My sister is 12 years older than me and still struggles with more than a couple of glasses of wine so I have worked hard on finding a way to avoid hangovers.

@HenryHorse1 yes same here, I’m nearly in my 6th year of breast cancer tablets, tolerance to alcohol is worse than ever. Sigh…..

@MissyB1 tamoxifen by any chance? The gift that keeps on giving eh! So far it has given me hair loss, low mood, brain fog, hot flushes, hyper sensitive skin and I can’t even bloody drink!!! 🤬

@HenryHorse1 I’ve just finished 5 years of Tamoxifen and started Anastrazole, 5 years of that now. Oh joy!🙄

My tolerance is definitely much less than it used to be, and I feel it the next day after even just a glass or two.

@MissyB1 Can I ask why you changed from Tamoxifen to Anastrazole?

Another one here. Wine especially. Two glasses and I feel dreadful. I haven’t touched any for months after a glass of Malbec made me ill.

Yes, 2 drink limit (am 50)

Red wine now gives me a bright red face, what is that about?!

It's a cruel trick that nature plays isn't? Just as the kids get older and you get chunks of your free time back, Boom! no more alcohol tolerance. I used to love red wine and now I have to spread two glasses out over a whole evening whilst everyone else drinks like a normal.

@HenryHorse1
Yes they always said if I was post menopausal after 5 years that I should change to Anastrazole, in order to ensure I was definitely post menopausal, the Gynae surgeon whipped out my ovaries and Fallopian tubes! Having said that I had been having some odd bleeding - attributed to Tamoxifen! Like you said the gift that keeps giving!

Drink European, preferably French wine only. I can drink 3 small glasses of that without hangover. A single glass of new world wine sets my heart racing.

@NormaSwilly

Drink European, preferably French wine only. I can drink 3 small glasses of that without hangover. A single glass of new world wine sets my heart racing.

Can you recommend any “easy drinking” French white wine please @NormaSwilly ? Something you could sip on its own with a friend, or whilst watching TV.

I only really know South African wines.

This is my standard weekend tipple, though I also like their picpoul de pinet.

@NormaSwilly

This is my standard weekend tipple, though I also like their picpoul de pinet.

Ooh I like the sound of that one. Dry and crisp is what I like.

I’ve not liked wine or been good with it for years but gin has always been kind to me!

Glad it's not just me then!
Oh the joys!