It’s a sobering thought, but I’m a wine enthusiast who doesn’t drink much wine. 

I taste a lot, thanks to my Coravin, but rarely drink more than a glass for pleasure. Such unwelcome restraint is now a physical and mental necessity.

More than a glass of wine past 7pm and I can say goodbye to deep sleep. I will wake up exhausted with low level anxiety and blotchy skin. It’s the punishment of a 24 hour hangover without drinking to excess.

I’m 52 and I’ve had symptoms of perimenopause for around 3 years. It’s had a huge impact on both body and soul. 

Physically I’ve had hot sweats, itchy skin, weight gain, muscle pains, thinning hair, watery eyes, and the nightmare of poor sleep. Mentally there’s been sporadic anxiety, irrational rages, crying, brain fog, plus a distinct loss of confidence and less enthusiasm for new things. These symptoms wax and wane and I take HRT which helps. 

During this hormonal upheaval I’ve passed my WSET diploma, including the incredibly taxing D3 exams, but all the time I’ve been drinking less as my wine tolerance vanished.

Reassuringly I am not alone as many female friends of a similar age now rarely drink alcohol. One swears white wine is the major culprit of a bad night’s sleep and consequent anxiety, but says she can handle very dry champagne. Another gave up red wine a few years ago as she thought it provoked her migraines. One says hormonal symptoms are less when she drinks organic wine. 

Another who works in wine and is in perimenopause says she rarely drinks any alcohol now and has secretly lost her enthusiasm to pursue new opportunities in her career. I can certainly relate: on bad days you’re convinced the world doesn’t want you and self confidence can be hard to find. 

So clearly, as our hormones change, our tolerance for alcohol changes too.  

A delve into the science shows that women of any age are more susceptible than men to the effects of booze. We have less water in our bodies so any alcohol we drink is more concentrated in our blood. We also produce smaller amounts of the enzyme dehydrogenase which is needed to metabolise alcohol and flush it from our system.

Getting older reduces our muscle mass, so we store even less fluid to dilute the alcohol. Additional fat in our bodies doesn’t help because fatty tissue absorbs less alcohol from our blood, meaning more potency. 

Then there’s the hormonal changes. I didn’t realise our liver is responsible for breaking down estrogen, a hormone which is fluctuating wildly during this time. So any alcohol we drink is adding to the liver’s workload, which can worsen hormonal symptoms such as hot flushes and impaired sleep. And also alcohol is a depressant, so it can increase our feelings of anxiety and low mood. 

So if wine is our passion, our job, or just brings us joy, what should we do? 

I will write about my tips for drinking better in mid-life soon but please let me know of your experiences below xxx