There are a lot of misconceptions about alcohol when it comes to the topic of sleeping. The misinformation passed around in the past is that alcohol makes you sleep or helps you sleep, but they got it completely wrong and gave terrible advice to people who still have this in their memory. Here is how alcohol and insomnia can join forces and make you miserable:
What Red Wine or Alcohol Will Do To You
- Red wine or alcohol in general dehydrates the body
- The alcohol intake results in the creation of adrenaline (stimulant) in the body
- Alcohol prevents or makes it difficult for the body to enter deep REM sleep (= quality of your sleep)
- Alcohol may create issues when mixed with whatever medications you are taking for some other issue or if you are taking medications against your insomnia
What Those Effects Mean and How They Are Connected To Insomnia
First of all the quality of your sleep goes down. You are not able to shut down for the night and have your body repaired because you will get up to go to the bathroom to urinate or to drink water because your body is in crises mode (we need water – alcohol dehydrates us).
After having to get up a bunch of times and not getting any proper sleep you start your next day feeling like crap and go for lots and lots of coffee or soda drinks or energy drinks hunting for energy to stay awake and alert in order to do all the things you need to do that day. With all those stimulants in your body, come the night time, you have issues falling asleep – sleep disorders, insomnia. So you drink some more red wine or some other alcohol and the cycle of your misery continues.
Furthermore, the inability to enter deep REM sleep for full body repairs ends up having long term consequences on you which span way beyond alcohol and insomnia.
But alcohol helps me sleep?!
Initially, if you consume alcohol you will maybe feel more relaxed and prone to sleep. That’s not the issue. The issue is all the negative things which happen right after making you suffer today and creating long term problems.
Red wine insomnia or alcohol and insomnia mean I can not drink?
If you really want you can drink, but you can take some steps to reduce the effects of alcohol, such as:
- Eat when you drink alcohol – this way less will be absorbed by your body
- Do not drink alcohol close to your sleep time
- Have a glass of red wine and instead of several bottles
- If you were consuming it specifically against your insomnia then I hope you learned that this was not a good choice and that alcohol and insomnia do not mix well together.
I did not know red wine insomnia are connected like that… was interesting to find out, but now have to decide what is more important – red wine or sleep 🙂
I am actually having this alcohol and insomnia problem. Was refreshing to see that I was not the only one. I wonder how many other people suffer from it…
I am certainly among the people who thought that alchohol helps sleep, but I can see the explanation and the sense in it so I understand now the connection of wine or alcohol in general with insomnia/sleeplessness
didn’t know about alcohol and insomnia at all
i don’t drink much wine, but other things i do
4 ounces of a good grade of red wine before bedtime helps me relax and sleep through the night. There are far too many studies that show red wine, in amounts less then 5 ounces per day, is beneficial to the body in many ways.
I agree. I have a sleeping disorder from a medical condition and after 2 hours of sleep, I wake up and ready to go. My doctor has tried many types of medication, and I had so many side effects. I decided to try a glass of red wine at bed time, and need I say, I am sleeping 7 hours a night with GREAT sleep, and ready for work at 5am. Red wine is “my answer” to sleeping well.
Apparently a bottle an restress legs dont mix
Apparently a bottle an restress legs dont mix
thank you