Okay, maybe I was misinterpreting the information… maybe I read something wrong; but I thought I was suppose to experience some extra energy by now.
The days are going (what seems to me, to be) faster, and yet, I don’t have any more energy then I did before I took this drinking hiatus. I still wake up everyday, with that feeling of dragging. Today, I traded the 1 and a half cups coffee, for a pot of straight Guyusa tea. I drank that over about three hours, exercised for 45 minutes, and by 3:20, all I could think of was napping. So, I laid down and it took me no time at all to fall asleep in my bright, day-lit bedroom.
I laid down for an hour and a half, and now I am drinking an unprecedented cup of afternoon coffee, in order to make it another five hours until my grandma goes to bed… wherein I fear, I will get that dreaded late night wind of energy.
Doing a little research, we find out that long term alcohol consumption really plays a nasty mess of a woman’s hormones, which can cause long term complications.
Hormones are the bodies little chemical messengers that travel from the brain, through the blood, tissues and organs in order to regulate biological processes and function. Alcohol acts as a chemical disrupt-er when consumed. And after long periods of consumption, alcohol can create long term disruption to the production, utilization and storage of energy; reproduction, blood pressure and bone mass, as well as growth and development.
In women, alcohol can actually bring on early menopause.
I’ve struggled with an inconsistent menstrual cycle as long as I can remember. I am going on one of my longest cycles ever, clocking in today at 50 days since my last one. It feels like some sort of torture with a side of several weeks of PMS.
I can’t help but worry that I may have really fucked myself up; and then I tell myself not to stress about it, because that just releases even more cortisol into my body, and cortisol is half the problem.
Alcohol increases cortisol production, as does cessation of alcohol after long periods of consistent drinking.
Cortisol is the fight or flight hormone, also known as “the stress” hormone. Spikes in Cortisol can really pack a punch in a life or death situation; but these days people are living in constant stressful mental conditions; it’s hard to avoid a constant drip of it fueling our daily lives.
The long term effects of flooding the body with Cortisol can lead to bone deterioration, reproductive issues and slowed healing.
Would kids retain this information, if it was part of our education in health lessons?
I know if these thing were taught, I would have retained them, (but, hey, I am a weirdo.)
I always knew alcohol, “wasn’t good for you,” and that it could lead to reckless or irresponsible behavior; if you were a hard core alcoholic, maybe you would end up with cirrhosis of the liver, or kidney issues.
Education for the youth, about alcohol, tends to lean more toward scare tactics versus empowering intelligent decision making. I know it can be hard for kids to think forward to the future, given the part of their brain that has any connection to mortality doesn’t fully develop until around the age of twenty-five. It’s no wonder teenagers participate in this risky and taboo consumption without any second thoughts; especially if that teen starts drinking extra early, around say, thirteen years old.
Thirteen year old’s aren’t asking themselves, “How will this effect my long term bone and reproductive health?” Thirteen year old’s ARE thinking “If authority says, ‘no’, I want to try it.” “If my friends are doing it, I want to do it too.”
Alcohol culture is peer approved in most places. We want to raise Spirits, without asking what the cost is of conjuring them. Perhaps, this conversation needs expansion.
Thanks for dropping by my blog! There is plenty here to keep you reading for a few days. Feel free to skip around and read my offerings. Most posts are accounts and observations of my real life. There is a dash of poetry and spattering of satire and short stories, to give some spice to my corner of the interwebs.
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To follow my Dry July, visit the links below. Talk to you tomorrow! Cheers!
Dry July-Day Three- Epigenetics and Sleep
Dry July- Day Four- Independence Day
Dry July-Day 6~ Real Hydration
Dry July- Day 7~ One Week Summary
Dry July-Day Eight~ Truth or Fiction
Dry July- Day 10~ Compounded Ball of Stress
Madge Midgely 
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