by Beth MT
by Beth Mt
HORMONES + ALCOHOL . I can remember my husband questioning me as to why I had bought wine to drink when I had been doing so well and had been so happy in my sobriety. My response was always, ‘I need to feel better’. Of course, the next day, I would not feel better at all. I would be disappointed that I had drank again, my anxiety would be ten times worse, and I would be feeling even lower than I was the day before. Just before ovulation, progesterone, and oestrogen hormone levels spike. If there is no pregnancy, then the levels drop. This rise and fall of hormones are thought to lower the serotonin levels in the brain, which can lead to depression and anxiety. Some women are also very sensitive to hormonal changes, which again can lead to PMS symptoms.
Issues with my hormones are one of the main reasons I struggled to stop drinking. I could be feeling happy and relaxed, managing to abstain then BAM! PMS would strike. Unfortunately, I can become extremely low due to hormones. It leads me to want to isolate away from everyone, I can become very depressed and anxious and the future as I see it at that time can only be described as ‘dark’. I become exhausted and have a constant knot in my stomach, which leads me to feel quite desperate and in need of an escape. Alcohol is sold to us in the media as a way of feeling better. We are also brought up to believe that alcohol can cure all ills, so when the PMS cloud would strike, I would find it almost impossible not to believe that drinking alcohol would be an excellent way to escape my feelings.
HOLA SOBER | MADRID
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