Women over 40 are rethinking their drinking habits as the impact of perimenopause on oestrogen leads to changes in alcohol after-effects, including epic hangovers
Deirdre McArdle gave up alcohol when a couple of glasses meant a ‘hangover on steroids’. Photo: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
My head thumped, my brain was scrambled, I had so little energy that even sitting up was an effort. Hungover? Yes, I was. But this felt like a hangover on steroids. Made all the more frustrating as I’d only had two glasses of wine the night before.
That was almost two years ago, the last time I had a drink. I’m 49 but turn 50 in a few weeks. I’ve been on HRT for three years now, and my relationship with alcohol had been deteriorating for a few years before that. In short, it was affecting me faster, and with more severe consequences – low mood, insomnia, brain fog, anxiety, fatigue.