If you’ve ever suffered the ravages of an intense hangover and thought, “What the hell?
I hardly drank anything,” then keep reading.
The painful inspiration for this piece came about a month ago.
(Thankfully, I did not.)
So where did this seemingly random, head-splitting hangover come from?
Half a glass of red wine?
(Spoiler: There just might be.)
So, does your tolerance to alcohol change based on where you are in your cycle?
(This happens to be exactly when my hangover from hell took place.)
Butwhyexactly does this happen?
I personally suspected it had something to do with fluctuating hormone levels.
Excess estrogen gives women headaches, causes water retention and bloating, and can be inflammatory.
If you add alcohol to the mix, this can make all of these issues worse."
This doesn’t mean that these women don’t experience hangovers, though.
Is there any way to make hangovers during this time period less severe?
One serving of alcohol can increase your estrogen levels by about 10%.
But it’s not unreasonable to imbibe from time to time.
If they’re completely debilitating, you may simply want to forgo alcohol during your pre-period week.
Personally, I’ll probably be avoiding it completely, or at least pregaming withplentyof good old H20.
Bottom line: Tune into your body.
Remember, research still needs to corroborate much of this.
Bottom line: Track your symptoms, make note of patterns, and adjust your behavior accordingly.
