Alcohol and Sleep - No Thanks. I'm Sleeping!

Lately you've been having difficulty falling asleep.  You have recently discovered that an alcoholic beverage just before you go to bed seems to relax you into a fast sleep. But the relationship between alcohol and sleep isn't that simple.

This is often true.  Alcohol, after causing a short period of stimulation, does have a sedative effect.  It will put you to sleep. But first consider the drawbacks.  Your peaceful sleep may last only three or four hours.  Then that "relaxing drink" begins to disrupt your sleep patterns.  Alcohol makes occasional or chronic insomnia worse in the long run. And, if you have not been getting adequate sleep, alcohol increases the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

Alcohol and Sleep Disorders, Including Sleep Apnea

If you suffer from other sleep disorders, especially sleep apnea, alcohol also makes them worse.  In some cases, alcohol actually causes sleep disorders.  If snoring disrupts your sleep, the malady becomes worse when you drink.  If you don't snore, you may start after a drink or two.  If you normally snore, drinking can augment the problem into sleep apnea, another sleep disorder made worse by alcohol.   If you already suffer from sleep apnea, drinking makes it worse.  In fact, alcohol consumption when you suffer from sleep apnea could kill you.  When the throat muscles relax and cause a cessation of breathing, you ordinarily gasp for breath and startle yourself awake.  If you have been drinking, you are more relaxed, and may be unable to awaken and start breathing again.  Alcoholics are at a higher risk of getting sleep apnea and other sleep disorders and sleep disruptions.

If you are a recovering alcoholic, you may find it impossible to recover normal sleep patterns when you stop drinking.  This is not a good way to live. You need sleep, and, in a bid to regain control over sleep, you may well begin drinking again in the false belief that you need that drink to get to sleep.

Alcohol, Sleep and Pregnancy

If you are pregnant, you  must be very careful about drinking.  Often the discomforts of pregnancy may tempt you to use a few drinks as a sleep aid.  The alcohol could be transmitted into the unborn child's bloodstream.  After the child is born, he or she may suffer from disrupted sleep and frequent arousals.  If you are a nursing mother, you may find that baby falls asleep more quickly if he obtains a bit of  alcohol from your milk.  However, your baby could suffer later in the night from disrupted sleep patterns, nightmares and frequent arousals the same as an adult who imbibes.  Another danger you should consider if you are pregnant and using alcohol is the risk of your baby developing fetal alcohol syndrome and all the side effects that entails.

Make it a habit to avoid alcohol before going to sleep. And remember, the relationship between alcohol and sleep is not a good one. Never use alcohol as a sleeping pill.