Alcohol + Perimenopause: My 90-Day Alcohol-Free Journey
Perimenopause has this sneaky way of turning everything upside down.
Your sleep? Off.
Your mood? Unpredictable.
Your energy? LOL, what energy?
And then there’s alcohol. The thing that once helped you unwind, laugh a little louder, soften the edges…..and now
You’re starting to wonder if that nightly glass of wine is quietly making everything worse.
If you’ve ever had that 2 a.m. wake-up and thought, “Wait, is this just me?”, this story’s for you.
I didn’t quit drinking because I hit a dramatic rock bottom. I quit because… it just wasn’t working anymore.
It messed with my sleep.
My hormones.
My ability to feel like myself.
And once I removed it?
Holy clarity. I mean, fog lifted.
So if you’re starting to pay closer attention to what your body can and can’t tolerate in midlife, or if you’re even a little bit sober-curious, here’s what 90 days without alcohol taught me.
And why I haven’t looked back.
“Wait… YOU don’t drink?”
Yep. I’ve heard that one. More than once.
But yeah. I stopped. No breakdown. No big declaration. Just a quiet, firm decision that… I was done!!
That decision came right as perimenopause hit; a season when my sleep, hormones, and emotions were already shifting in ways I couldn’t ignore.
And honestly?
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
Some people get judgment or pushback when they quit drinking. I got soft jokes. A couple “Oh come on, just one!”s.
I made the decision in early 2024.
And today? 706 days. Alcohol-free. And ZERO regrets.
Here’s what those days have taught me.
Life as a Mid-Lane Drinker
Was I ever dependent? No.
Did I enjoy it? Ohhh, absolutely!
I’d call myself a middle-lane drinker.
Wine with friends. Prosecco at brunch. And then, okay, more than a few times, it was just me, a glass, and that weird 5 p.m. mix of boredom and habit.
But something shifted after 40.
Suddenly? One glass hit like three.
My skin lost its glow.
My sleep went sideways.
My waist? Soft and stubborn, no matter how “clean” I ate.
And if you are a woman in midlife, you know. It’s rarely one big thing.
It’s the small things that pile up, a slow unravel you almost don’t notice...until one day you do.
The Automatic 5 p.m. Glass
In my 20s and 30s, drinking was just… normal.
After-work cocktails. Wine with dinner. Bottomless brunches that carried into late afternoon. It was how we unwound. How we celebrated. How we coped, connected, marked the end of the day.
But in my 40s?
The impact got louder. What once took the edge off… started adding to the weight of everything. Alcohol began leaving a heavier footprint; on my sleep, my mood, my energy, my body.
When Perimenopause Made Alcohol’s Impact Impossible to Ignore
The shift was sudden. You could feel it. One glass, maybe three, and the hangover hit harder than it used to. It took two full days to recover.
Even with seven hours of sleep, I’d wake up exhausted, like my body hadn’t even started to repair itself.
That’s the part no one talks about. The kind of sleep alcohol steals isn’t just about hours, it’s the deep clean your brain and body skip when you’ve been drinking. You go through the motions of rest, buuuuut you never really reset.
Alcohol started short-circuiting everything I needed to feel okay.
My face looked different. Puffy.
My body felt like a stranger. Not ashamed, just... disconnected.
And eventually, I had to ask the question: Is this one glass of wine really worth it? Spoiler: It wasn’t.
So in January 2024, I made the call. Just a quiet commitment to myself: Try something different.
And now? I’m 47 years old. 706 days alcohol-free. And I feel better than I have in over a decade.
Breaking the Habit Loop
Let’s be honest…
….the first few weeks weren’t hard, exactly. But oh boy, were they revealing.
The habit was real. Pretty much every evening, right around 5pm, I’d feel that subtle pull that whisper: “You’ve earned it.”
Just one glass. Just to take the edge off. Just to exhale.
And that’s when I realized, I wasn’t attached to alcohol itself. I was attached to the ritual.
So I started rewiring it.
Sparkling water in a fancy glass.
Journaling when cravings crept in.
Interrupting that deeply ingrained story that “wine = unwind.”
Social events were weird at first. Not because I wanted to drink, but because so much of midlife connection is built around it.
And that’s where the 90-day goal helped.
It gave me a shape to move through. A soft container to hold the discomfort, without needing to fix it with a pour.
Why Moderation Rarely Works for Mid-Lane Drinkers
Moderation sounds reasonable.
Just one.
Just on weekends.
Just when I’m out with friends.
Moderation sounds reasonable in theory, but for mid-lane drinkers it often falls apart in practice.
It’s not for lack of willpower. It’s because the line between “one” and “too much” gets blurry in midlife, especially when hormones are already unpredictable.
A clean break was the only thing that actually worked for me.
So I didn’t set a forever rule. I set a today rule.
First 30 days.
Then 60.
Then 90.
Just one quiet promise each day: Today, I’m not going to drink.
Not forever. Not a big announcement.
Just TODAY.
I still don’t know what the future holds. But I know that today, I won’t drink, and right now, that’s enough.
What surprised me most wasn’t the absence of alcohol. It was how quickly the quiet wins started stacking up once I stopped chasing the recovery loop.
Better sleep.
Calmer mood.
Clearer mornings.
More capacity, to think, to feel, to be present. And over time, those small, steady shifts?
They became more satisfying than any glass of wine ever was.
>>> As my body changed in my 40s; the hormones, the sleep shifts, the new ways stress showed up, my yoga practice had to change too. What worked before didn’t always feel right anymore. And if you’re noticing that too? If your body’s asking for something different, here’s a deeper look: How Yoga Changes in Your 40s.
Loving this post?
If this season of life has you rethinking old habits, {from drinking to how you move your body}, you might love the little letters I send to my community. They’re real-talk yoga notes for women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond.
What’s changing in your body. Why your practice feels different lately. And how to move in ways that actually support you now—less pain, more clarity.
If you want yoga that respects the reality of perimenopause and menopause, you can sign up for my newsletter here.
Alcohol + Perimenopause: A Tough Combo for Hormones and Sleep
{AKA….why that one glass hits different now?}
Let’s talk hormones for a sec.
Perimenopause is already a wild ride. The hot flashes that show up out of nowhere. The mood swings you can’t explain.
The sleep that stops working for no clear reason.
And when you add alcohol to the mix? Everything intensifies.
For me, it looked like this:
Mood swings I couldn’t trace.
Hormonal breakouts that wouldn’t go away.
Belly weight that just wouldn’t shift.
And with estrogen and progesterone already inconsistent, alcohol simply added another layer of disruption to a system trying to recalibrate.
>>> If you’re noticing your body reacting differently in perimenopause, not just with alcohol, but with energy and digestion too, you might also find this helpful: Should You Eat Before Yoga? It breaks down how hormonal shifts affect how to fuel when you practice.
What Perimenopause Feels Like Without Alcohol
Looking back, quitting drinking has completely changed how I’m moving through midlife.
I don’t wake up tired or foggy anymore, trying to claw my way into focus. My skin has cleared, and the hormonal breakouts along my chin, the painful, persistent ones, are pretty much gone.
There’s a real sense of joy again, and a capacity I didn’t realize I’d been missing. I have the energy to actually do things without feeling drained or constantly trying to recover from poor sleep.
My weight has shifted too, which feels really good. My clothes fit again, and that stubborn belly bloat isn’t running the show anymore.
But the biggest change has been clarity: in how I feel, and in how I show up.
What I discovered
What I loved about drinking, the connection, the laughter, the easy flow of conversation, didn’t disappear when I stopped. Those parts were still there.
What left were the things I never actually wanted: the foggy mornings, the short fuse, the restless sleep, and that low-level anxiety that always seemed to hover in the background.
Without alcohol, the good moments stayed, and the hard consequences finally fell away.
I stopped worrying about what was in my glass and actually started paying attention to what was happening around me.
I was more present. I listened better. I remembered the conversations the next day.
And honestly? I had more fun. Everything felt clearer and more real without that subtle haze around the edges.
Podcasts, Books, and Community Support for an Alcohol-Free Lifestyle
Feeling better was one thing. Figuring out how to live alcohol-free in a world that revolves around drinking was another.
Quitting alcohol can get lonely fast, especially if it’s been part of your identity or your go-to way of connecting with people.
What made all the difference for me was having support; voices, stories, and communities that reminded me I wasn’t doing this in isolation.
Here are a few that really helped:
🎧 Top 3 Podcasts for an Alcohol-Free or Sober-Curious Journey
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Over the Influence — honest conversations and inspiring alcohol-free stories
The Andy Ramage Podcast / The Alcohol-Free Podcast — mindset, identity, habit change
This Naked Mind Podcast — real stories about changing your relationship with alcohol
Community Support
Sarah Rusbatch’s Community — a supportive space for mid-lane drinkers, sober-curious women, and anyone exploring a healthier relationship with alcohol
Book Recommendations
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober — Catherine Gray
This Naked Mind — Annie Grace
Alcohol Explained — William Porter
The Sober Diaries — Clare Pooley
Life Without Alcohol = More Life, Period.
I’m not going to pretend the whole thing was effortless, but I also know I wouldn’t go back. Not for anything.
I feel more connected to my body now, more rooted in myself, more awake to my own life.
My relationships feel different too, in the best way, because I’m actually present, not half-distracted or running on fumes. The joy I feel comes from how I genuinely feel in my body, not from a drink giving me a quick lift.
And best of all?
I’m actually following through on the things I used to only think about. I’m building my business with intention, starting new projects, letting creative ideas actually go somewhere. That kind of momentum feels pretty incredible.
706 Days Alcohol-Free: What I Know Now in Perimenopause
Choosing to stop drinking during perimenopause wasn’t about being extreme. It was simply me paying attention to what wasn’t working anymore.
706 days in, I can see just how much alcohol had been hiding things I needed to see clearly; my sleep, my energy, my hormones, my stress, my ability to show up the way I wanted to.
Perimenopause is no joke, and removing alcohol didn’t cure the symptoms, but it made them easier to navigate.
If part of you is wondering what a little break might do, try it. Even a few weeks can be eye-opening.
You might be surprised by how good you feel.
