You might enjoy a glass of wine or something similar, to relax and unwind, socialise with friends and to celebrate life´s milestones. For some wine collecting is a passion, others enjoy the skill in making a cocktail. However, it is important to know of the risks that can be associated with drinking alcohol, particularly in excess, and how it can affect you at this stage of your life.

Alcohol and the symptoms of menopause

Alcohol can exacerbate many of the symptom of perimenopause and menopause. Although initially relaxing it can lead to a heightened feeling of anxiety and depression. While it might help you get to sleep it can cause you to waken early and the sleep you have can be of poor quality. Good quality sleep is necessary for optimum brain function and poor-quality sleep can lead to forgetfulness and poor concentration. Alcohol has a high sugar content and has no nutritional value. Therefore, it is considered empty calories and can contribute to weight gain, which is often a complaint during the perimenopause and menopause. Drinking alcohol can elevate your heart rate and metabolism and cause a temporary rise in body temperature, contribute to worsening hot flushes and night sweats. Some women notice that they are unable to tolerate alcohol as they could previously, even in small amounts, due to a reduction in the liver enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This can mean less alcohol makes them feel unwell and this feeling can last longer than before.

Alcohol and cancer

Alcohol is considered a Group 1 carcinogen (something that promotes the development of cancer), putting it in the same group as tobacco, asbestos and radiation. Just one drink a day increases your risk of breast cancer by 7%, oesophageal cancer by 25% and mouth and throat cancer by 15%. It can be difficult to appreciate what a percentage increase can mean for you in reality as it is important to know your background risk.

Here is a diagram illustrating the increased the risk of breast cancer with alcohol consumption.

Alcohol and the heart

While some studies have shown that a moderate amount of alcohol consumption, in particular red wine, has beneficial effects on the heart, excess alcohol causes an increase in blood pressure and cholesterol and contributes to an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Excessive alcohol consumption is considered to be more than one drink per day for women and more than one to two drinks per day for men. (Around 360mls beer, 120mls wine or 45mls spirit). During the perimenopause women begin to lose the protective benefits of oestrogen on our hearts and are more likely to develop high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels, regardless of our lifestyle. Our risk of coronary heart disease, the biggest killer of women, increases and is increased further with excessive alcohol consumption.

Alcohol and our bones

Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to an increased risk of osteoporotic hip fractures. It inhibits the absorption of calcium into the bones by reducing your body´s ability to utilise vitamin D and other nutrients. Unsteadiness caused by intoxication can lead to falls which leads to fractures, especially in osteoporotic bones. Eventually, excessive alcohol consumption will lead to a reduction in testosterone and oestrogen production, further reducing bone density.

Alcohol dependency during the menopause

When we are struggling, with stress or unpleasant symptoms, such as anxiety, which can occur during the perimenopause and menopause, it is only human to seek ways to help us cope. For expatriates in a different country, with a foreign language, alcohol can provide courage to make social occasions much more manageable and the language mush easier to master. It is not a leap to imagine that people in these circumstances can lean on alcohol to help them through. If you are struggling or feel that you might have developed a dependency on alcohol, please speak with your health care provider. Some steps you can take to decrease your alcohol consumption include:

1. Avoiding social situations where drinking alcohol is done to excess. Social interaction is essential for good health so look for ways to spend time with people that doesn´t involve alcohol. Joining a sports club, suggesting going for a walk with friends, or meet early in the day when alcohol is less likely to feature.

2. Replace you drink with a non -alcoholic alternative such as fruit juice or one of the many alcohol substitutes available.

3. Using a nice glass and decorating the glass and adding fruit can make it feel special and mimic the ritualistic feeling that can be involved with drinking alcohol.

4. Identify a time when you are most likely to reach for a glass and do something to distract yourself from it. For example, if you find that pour yourself a glass of wine while making dinner do something to change this routine. Have dinner earlier or prepare it in advance so you are not spending as much time in the kitchen in the evening. Listen to a podcast or call a friend to distract you.

5. Plan nice things to do early in the morning, that you won´t want to miss, to encourage you not to over-do it the evening before.

6. An accountability partner can be helpful to check in with regularly to motivate you and keep you on target.

7. Plan something nice to buy for yourself and put the money that you might spend on alcohol in a jar. Then treat yourself and be grateful for the alcohol that you didn´t buy.

Alcohol and meopause hormone replacement therapy

Lastly, alcohol consumption can ultimately affect the function of your liver which might complicate the use of menopause hormone replacement therapy. It is not necessarily an absolute no-go but will involve input from specialists and investigations to ascertain the definite cause of liver damage.

Cheers!

This isn´t intended to dampen the mood, but to ensure that you are fully aware of the risks of your actions and how they might be affecting your health. Please drink responsibly and for goodness sake do not smoke.

Alcohol and the menopause.