My Top 3 Signs That It's Time to Let Go of the Drinks
When you are stuck in the gray area of drinking, it can be hard to see when it’s time to stop. There is no obvious “rock bottom” such as a legal issue, a traffic violation or a medical crisis. In the gray area, often the signs that it’s time to let go of the drinks are more subtle. By virtue of that subtlety, they can be easy to explain away or overlook altogether. Here are my top 3 signs that might indicate that it’s time to let the drinks go.
Your Body Is Not Happy.
How can we tell if our bodies aren’t happy? The following are issues that we might experience in the body that are either directly related to, or exacerbated by, drinking alcohol. You might find that some (or all) of these are true for you.
Sleep Disturbances. You might experience and inability to fall asleep or you find that alcohol helps you fall asleep but you can’t stay asleep. Waking up in the middle of the night, often with your heart and/or thoughts racing is a common occurrence.
Increased Anxiety and/or Depression. Many women that are stuck in the gray area struggle with, and are often medicated for, anxiety/depression. It’s hard to say what came first…if the alcohol came on board to self soothe anxiety/depression or if alcohol caused it in the first place. Either way, drinking a depressant to help with depression doesn’t help.
High Blood Pressure. If you are experiencing high blood pressure, alcohol isn’t helping and might even be causing the problem. Alcohol increases blood pressure temporarily as your body processes the drinks. “Repeated binge drinking can lead to longer term increases.” according to the Mayo Clinic. The good news? It’s is typically reversible when you give up the drinks.
Elevated Liver Enzymes. Your blood work might show that your liver is working harder than it should be, causing inflammation and possibly damage to the liver. Like high blood pressure, this will often correct itself when you give up the drinks.
Weight gain. Depending on your drink of choice, alcohol can be heavy in calories. It’s hard to say with wine since there are no nutrition labels on the bottles (What??). We literally have no idea how much sugar is in our wine glass. However, even if your drink of choice is vodka or tequila (some of the lower calorie options) your body will still have a hard time processing fat properly. The body will work to clear the alcohol from your system first in order to protect your organs. In addition, we often will make our worst dietary choices when we are under the influence, compounding the problem.
Blood sugar issues. Our bodies are constantly searching for balance. When we introduce alcohol to the mix, our bodies respond by increasing insulin response resulting in a subsequent drop in blood sugar. Often this ties in to the sleep disturbances as night waking is commonly due to the blood sugar fluctuations.
Hormone Imbalances. As I mentioned before, the body is constantly searching for balance. Homeostasis. When we introduce alcohol the body immediately begins adjusting to find homeostasis once again. The endocrine system, immune system, nervous system, etc… are all impacted by this process. On top of that, we experience hormone disruptions that come along with perimenopause and postpartum shifts which alcohol can exacerbate and mask.
You Don’t Function As You Normally Would.
Again, this can be subtle and creep up on you. Here are a few examples of what this might look like…
You don’t realize that you haven’t tried the new restaurant the next town over even though you love food and enjoy eating out. If you really get down to it, you don’t want to drive.
You never run errands at night because you want to enjoy wine o’clock!
You find yourself no longer engaging in hobbies that you used to enjoy. Maybe it is reading or painting, exercising or writing. Whatever it was, you just don’t do it anymore and, if you are being honest with yourself, you miss it.
You have dreams! You have goals! But you have no idea when or how they will achieve all that you intend. You seem to lack the motivation or energy to execute…motivation and energy that is being drained by the drinks!
You have every intention of getting to the gym but you never make it. You wake up in the morning feeling sluggish and groggy and opt to get to it “later” but you never do.
Your world becomes smaller. You find yourself hanging around with the same people, doing the same things (drinking wine!) instead of getting out and meeting new people and making new friends. Or perhaps you avoid events that you would otherwise love to attend because they aren’t serving drinks.
You Feel Self Conscious.
Gray area drinking can chip away at our confidence. We make little “promises” with ourselves that we often break or we act out of character in subtle ways that leave us questioning ourselves. Here are a few examples…
You have wake up in the morning with that sinking feeling in your stomach that you did or said something embarrassing. You might not have actually done it, but you fear that you did because you could have.
You fight with friends, family members or loved ones about things that you normally wouldn’t take issue with. Or you address the issue in a manner that you normally wouldn’t if you hadn’t been drinking.
You wonder if your neighbors can hear the bottles clinking in your recycle bin.
You watch to see how much other people are drinking, making sure that you aren’t standing out when you order that next glass of wine.
You look at pictures of yourself at an event or gathering and cringe at your purple teeth or smudged makeup. You notice that your smile isn’t quite right because you were buzzed in that picture. No one else seems to notice, but you know.
These are three examples but there are so many more. If any of these feel true for you, maybe it’s time to consider taking a break. Drinking alcohol can be a slippery slope. You can start in the gray area and eventually find yourself in full blown addiction. Taking stock and evaluating the role of alcohol in your life can save you from that outcome. I have yet to meet someone that lets go of the drinks and regrets it!