Wine and Sleep (or Lack Thereof)

I sleep like a rock no matter what. My wife on the other hand is progressively having a more difficulty staying asleep. This can happen with as little as one glass and always happens with more than that. Red and white has the same effect. She’s tried taking advil, antihistamines as well as drinking lots of water before bed.

Any thoughts?

Is she fine when she doesn’t drink any wine?
Or is the insomnia getting worse independent of wine?

only with wine

Alcohol is one of the most frequent causes of sleep disruption, particularly early morning awakening (eg 2-3 Am), along with other sleep issues like night sweats, snoring, etc. Basically it’s a sedative, but when it wears off at 2 AM, some people swing the opposite direction of being sedated and are quite awake. Choices are 1) don’t drink 2) drink less 3) drink late (if you have a glass at 11 or 12, it may not wear off until 4-5 AM). I certainly wouldn’t recommend combining it with a sleeping pill.

I’m 38 nights into a 40 day alcohol fast.

I don’t think the alcohol has much of any effect on my sleep. Nor does it seem to have much effect on my allergies or anything else. Sort of surprising.

I noticed this too. For me, it was dependent on a couple of things - how much I drank and when. A glass with dinner at 6pm? Not a problem. 3 glasses with dinner at 8pm? Problem.

I didn’t play around with things like hydration, etc. I just stopped drinking much if I was having a later dinner.

Alcohol prevents me from sleeping, too, and I have not figured out anything to prevent it from happening other than to drink less and not drink right before going to bed.

Maybe I’m imagining it, but I feel like I get really bad headaches drinking crappy wine. Doesn’t seem to happen with good stuff. Or it might be me rationalizing my purchases.

Electrolyte imbalance. Alcohol tends to deplete that. Try taking magnesium up to 1200mg before bedtime (in moderation of course).

It takes more than a glass to have that affect on me but I often wake frequently after an offline. I’ll have to try the magnesium suggestion.

she only drinks a night a week and sports one of the best diets on earth, so it’s likely not an electrolyte imbalance. sadly timing doesn’t seem to have an effect. it can be a glass at 5 or 9 and the result is the same.

drink bad wine? ha! life is too short for that.

+1
If I drink enough water, it seems to help, though then I end up waking numerous times to pee. Worse for me is the harsh dry mouth I get if I don’t hydrate enough.

Does she drink caffeine? I’ve found that if I drink coffee in the afternoon, then have wine with dinner, then the caffeine kicks in after the wine wears off.

First post on here (long time stalker, though). Your liver actually breaks down alcohol into acetaldehyde. This chemical compound is actually a stimulant and is what makes you wake up jittery and early in the morning. More alcohol = more acetaldehyde. Only way to avoid it if you’re sensitive is to drink less (sadly).

From an article written from a colleague of mine Charles Poliquin. It doesn’t matter how healthy your diet is if you introduce ETOH into your system the oxidative stress throws your electrolytes out of whack.

Magnesium has a calming effect on the nervous system, meaning that if you are deficient your heart rate and sympathetic nervous system will be sent into overdrive. Additionally, lack of magnesium has shown to alter electrical activity in the brain, causing agitated sleep and frequent awakenings.

A recent study of people with poor sleep quality as measured with the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index found that taking a magnesium supplement decreased chronic inflammatory stress levels and improved sleep quality. Researchers suggest that adding magnesium to their diets decreased the participants’ sympathetic nervous activity, effectively reducing stress and allowing them to relax. Take note that in this study, lower magnesium levels were also associated with a higher body mass index, indicating the connection between body fat percentage and magnesium levels.

A second study supported the relationship between low magnesium levels, sleep deprivation, sympathetic nervous system stimulation, and elevated heart rate response to exercise. Participants were chronically sleep restricted and it was found that a decrease in magnesium levels coincided with increasing levels of sleep deprivation. At the same time, norephinephrine concentration increased—an indication of sympathetic nervous stimulation—which was suggested as the reason for the diminishing magnesium levels. Meanwhile, heart rate was elevated after a fatiguing exercise test, lending support to the connection between los magnesium, high stress, and anxiety.

I have no problem sleeping after drinking wine with beer. Apparently I snore like a freight train after a few glasses, however, which causes my wife immense sleep issues.

One thing I didn’t see mentioned - Try reducing carbs especially at dinner. Carbs contribute to the insulin spike that wakes people up around 2-3am.

If I eat a sweet dessert at dinner, I never sleep well and alcohol makes it worse. If I eliminate the carbs, I sleep well regardless of alc consumption.

That is extremely interesting. Can you post a link. I would like to read more on this. TIA.

Try taking some activated charcoal just before and just after drinking…

TTT

careful with the magnesium supplements as it can have a laxative effect.