What You’re Feeling Isn’t Just a Hangover
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another one of these ten minute Mondays. And today, wanna talk about something that's important that most people don't think applies to them, but it actually does. And I'm gonna talk about why. And that is the word withdraw.
Speaker 1:So when most people hear the word withdraw, they picture somebody with something extreme. Shaking hands, sweating, maybe in the hospital with an IV. So if you're someone who drinks moderately, you know, maybe a few times a week, maybe just the weekends, it's easy to think, that's not me. Yeah. And of course, it actually isn't.
Speaker 1:But withdraw doesn't only show up in that extreme form. And this was a really interesting insight that I gained along the way. Because for a lot of people, it's quiet. It's subtle. It's easy to miss.
Speaker 1:And because it's easy to miss, most people don't connect how they feel after drinking with what's really going on in their body. So if you've ever woken up after drinking and felt off, news flash, that's probably every single person listening. That's not just a hangover or a bad day. That's actually your nervous system adjusting to the absence of something that it's been conditioned to have and to expect. That's really a low grade withdraw and is a big reason why moderation can actually feel harder than people expected to simply because it quietly fuels the cravings and reinforces drinking patterns without ever feeling like something major was happening.
Speaker 1:However, these little mini withdraws, it's your body reacting to the alcohol even in moderation, and that actually downline affects our behaviors and in fact makes behavior change more difficult. So we're gonna get into the ins and outs of that today. Here are some of the most commonly overlooked symptoms, you know, light anxiety and irritability, restlessness, or trouble sleeping. Yes. When I talk about how I took a long time for my sleep to return to normal, part of that, especially the early stages, had to do with this withdrawal period.
Speaker 1:Feeling flat and low energy, like brain fog, and then maybe an urge to drink again just to feel normal. Of course, we know many people will use hair of the dog just to feel better in the morning. And these symptoms typically show up in twelve to twenty four hours after you drink. But like I said, it's not just after having a really heavy night of drinking. It can also show up in what's considered the moderate amount of alcohol.
Speaker 1:And here's something that most people don't realize, that this recalibration doesn't always finish in that single day. You know, of course, we hear of like, I had a two day hangover. But things like cortisol, your body's primary stress hormone can take seven to ten days to fully normalize after drinking. So if you're drinking several nights a week, your body may never fully reset. And then if we're talking pure biology, we also have the liver.
Speaker 1:The liver can take forty eight to seventy two hours to fully recover after a night of drinking. And so liver is responsible for all kinds of things, including things related to how we feel, brain fog and energy. So what we might think is just a mental thing going on or not getting a lot of sleep could also be related there. So we need to think about giving our body time to rest. And that's why people often feel tired, anxious, and foggy throughout the week even if they only drink on the weekend.
Speaker 1:You're sort of living in constant low level withdrawal state. And when you over drink, of course, this gets much louder. That light irritability or mild anxiety can turn into full on racing thoughts or a panic attack. You know, your nervous system is swinging in the opposite direction after drinking to kind of compensate and recalibrate after it was artificially calmed by alcohol. So think about alcohol like a dimmer switch.
Speaker 1:It turns the lights down in your brain by boosting calming chemicals and suppressing stimulating ones. And that's why it can feel relaxing. But over time, your brain adjusts. It produces less of those things that'll calm you down on its own. And when those mild withdrawal symptoms hit, the urge to drink grows.
Speaker 1:So one drink quiets the discomfort and your brain remembers, oh, yeah, that worked. And that's the loop. You drink, your brain adapts, alcohol wears off, then discomfort sets in, then it knows drinking removes it, and then that loop gets reinforced. Now I know many of the people listening, their goal is to drink in moderation. And you might be thinking, oh, well, Mike, I'm drinking, you know, three nights, four nights a week.
Speaker 1:Am I is there no way to get out of this? And no. That's not what I'm saying here. I'm just saying, once you name it for what it is, it stops feeling mysterious. It starts feeling workable.
Speaker 1:Because the kind of withdraw doesn't look dramatic, you know. Most people blame something else and it's subtle enough to explain it away. Hey, I'm just stressed. I'm tired. I didn't sleep much last night.
Speaker 1:You know, things like that. And because it's easy to explain it away, it becomes easier to justify drinking again just to make it stop. But the reality is behind the scenes, you know, the stress system is still elevated. Cortisol hasn't had time to fully settle in. There's never really a return to your baseline.
Speaker 1:But here's the good news. It is only temporary. Your brain can rebalance, and it just needs a little bit of time in the right conditions to do it. So I'm going to run through five quick steps here that will sort of address what we're talking about and some actions you can take. So number one is expected.
Speaker 1:When you understand what's happening, the discomfort loses power. Number two is hydrate and stabilize blood sugar. Alcohol disrupts hydration and blood sugar, both of which impact your mood and cravings. Of course, it impacts other things, but this is directly related to mood. And water, balanced meals, and a steady snack is gonna help that.
Speaker 1:Number three is prioritize rest. Even if your sleep isn't gonna be perfect and you realize that, consistent routines and early nights and good sleep hygiene is gonna really help your nervous system settle. Number four is move your body. Easy things also count. Walk, stretch, breathe.
Speaker 1:Light movement helps process the leftover stress that your body is responding to. Then number five, try urge surfing. So in this time of many withdraw, cravings and urges can come up. So you can use one of the most reliable, easy to do exercises that we teach here and think of the craving as a wave. You simply just sit in the time that you're having a craving, you close your eyes, and you imagine the craving like a wave.
Speaker 1:It builds. It keeps building. You let it build. As it peaks, recognize it. And over time, realize that it's gonna fade, and it will.
Speaker 1:And most urges, we're talking last in minutes, not hours. So instead of fighting it or giving in, just surf the urge. And each time you ride out a craving without drinking, you're now rewiring your brain and showing yourself that relief doesn't have to come in the form of alcohol. And then of course, during this period, lean on support. You know, whether it's a friend, community, somebody else, you know, talking through it or not even talking through it just in that time that you just need to talk to somebody, distract yourself.
Speaker 1:So wrapping up today, withdraw. You know, it's not just something that happens to people with severe dependency. It happens on a spectrum. So for moderate drinkers, you know, instead of all those extreme symptoms, it shows up quietly as anxiety, brain fog, fatigue, cravings. And when you over drink, you know, take note of that because that's when it's magnified.
Speaker 1:That's when your cortisol can take up to seven to ten days to normalize. And drinking multiple times a week often keeps your nervous system stuck in this partial withdrawal state. Now if you're still drinking in that moderate amount that you're happy with, that's totally fine. Just realize that maybe when some things get difficult, be able to recognize what's going on with your body and your mind and some of the things that you can do to make that easier. And once you can name what's happening, it stops feeling like this personal thing and starts feeling like something that's manageable.
Speaker 1:And the best news is it is something you can change. Okay. That's it for today. Thanks for hanging out with me. If you got anything out of this episode, it'd mean the world to me if you could rate and review on whatever podcast platform you're listening to.
Speaker 1:And I hope you have a beautiful week. Cheers to your mindful drinking journey.
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