For example, people may experience steroid-induced insomnia, or antidepressants may worsen or induce sleep disorders. “If you experience insomnia, mood imbalances and other brain symptoms, it may be best to cut back alcohol intake overall,” Dr. Scheller adds. “Many people find that while it initially seems difficult to break the habit of using alcohol to induce sleep, they soon adjust and experience better sleep and energy overall,” she continues. Normal sleep cycles through four stages, which are either considered rapid eye movement (REM) sleep or non-REM sleep. Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption from alcohol also contribute to next-day tiredness, fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Even if it doesn’t present as a full-fledged hangover, alcohol-related sleep loss negatively affects mood and performance.
People with alcohol in their systems are also generally harder to wake, which means that they’re less likely to experience “arousals” that help them recover from OSA- and CSA-related pauses in breathing. His research and clinical practice focuses on the entire myriad of sleep disorders. That goes up to 4.5 hours to process two drinks, 6 hours for three beverages and 7 hours if you’ve had four servings. “Disruptions to the overall quantity and quality of your sleep can have a negative impact on your cardiovascular health, cognitive function and metabolic outcomes,” Dr. Shelgikar says. And keep in mind that alcohol-fueled nocturnal awakenings chip away at your total amount of shut-eye. So even if you’re in bed for 7 or more hours, as recommended by the American Association of Sleep Medicine, you’re actually logging fewer zzzs.
You may also experience parasomnias which are disruptive sleep disorders that occur in specific stages of sleep or in sleep-wake transitions. These can happen during arousals from rapid eye movement (REM) sleep or non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. How much alcohol you drink and when you drink it can both influence sleep. Throughout the course of a typical night, your brain cycles among light sleep, slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep (or REM, the sleep stage when dreaming takes place). If you drink alcohol at night and have trouble falling or staying asleep, you might wonder how long you should wait between your last drink and going to bed so your sleep isn’t impacted. Sleep disorders like insomnia can co-occur with alcohol abuse, and treating insomnia can improve a person’s sleep quality while in recovery.
Alcohol also affects people with central sleep apnea (CSA), which occurs when the brain periodically stops sending certain signals involved in breathing. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s ability to receive chemical messages involved in breathing, which decreases the body’s respiratory drive and increases the likelihood of pauses in breathing. The typical sleep cycle begins with three non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stages of sleep and ends with rapid eye movement (REM).
At that point, you’ll probably find yourself making bathroom runs in the middle of the night, since booze suppresses vasopressin, an antidiuretic hormone. Slow-wave sleep is also when your body churns out growth hormones. “Growth hormones are critical for bone strength, immune function and injury recovery,” Dr. Winter says. “When alcohol tolerance develops, the individual needs more alcohol in order to achieve the same sleep-promoting effects,” Dr. Shelgikar says.
Individuals who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also particularly affected by insomnia. A 2020 study found that people with ADHD are more likely to consume alcohol to treat their insomnia symptoms. Generally, females and older adults are at a higher risk for insomnia. Individuals with mental health conditions are also more likely to develop insomnia.
A 2019 study showed that individuals who sleep for under 6 hours each night have a 20% higher chance of heart attack than individuals who sleep between 6 and 9 hours. Studies estimate that 36–91% of people experiencing alcohol dependence may have insomnia. Consuming certain substances, such as alcohol, can disrupt sleep schedules. This is because alcohol works as a central nervous system depressant.
Finally, regular drinking has been linked to insomnia and other sleep disorders, especially later in life. With extended use of alcohol over time, there can be long-term concerns, too. Many who abuse alcohol often do it well into the does alcohol help you sleep night and oversleep into the next day. In time this may lead to switching up day and night sleeping patterns. Then, as withdrawal from the drug or alcohol occurs there’s a big sleep-wake reversal which then needs to be addressed.
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