Alcohol & Sleep - A Bad Combination

Dr. Gene Spiritus of SleepWatch
Sleep Education & Tips

'You have heard the public service announcements telling you to drink responsibly and not to drink and drive. At SleepWatch, we'd like to add our own public service announcement: Alcohol may be harmful to a goodnight’s sleep. If you are tracking your sleep and rarely consume alcohol, don’t be surprised if you awaken in the morning feeling less rested after a few spiked eggnogs.

For years, people have been under the impression that a drink after work or a nightcap at bedtime would help them relax or—perhaps better yet—get a good night’s sleep. In fact, 20% of Americans currently use alcohol as their preferred sleep aid. Scientific evidence points to the fact that alcohol has complex effects on our sleep and in aggregate is detrimental to our health.

How Booze Affects your Z’s

The effects of alcohol on the brain are complex and have two distinct phases. Initially, alcohol acts as a stimulant. Your brain is flooded with endorphins which make you feel good and more self-confident—perhaps more talkative at that holiday party and less socially inhibited than we might otherwise be. Later, after alcohol has been in the system for a while, the stimulating effects wain and become sedating. Some recent research suggests that the stimulating effects of alcohol may be magnified during the early evening and bedtime. While it has been assumed that alcohol affects sleep by altering the circadian rhythm, recent studies suggest that alcohol may interfere with the body’s system for regulating sleep.

Restful sleep requires our brains to cycle every ~90 minutes through the various phases of sleep. Alcohol disrupts this pattern. Alcohol will generally reduce the time it takes to fall asleep and it will increase the amount of deep sleep you get during the first half of the night. However, as your blood alcohol level drops, your sleep becomes less restful for the remainder of the evening and your REM sleep is markedly diminished.'>>>

https://www.sleepwatchapp.com/blog/alcohol-and-sleep/?

Dr. Eugene Spiritus, MD is a Pulmonologist in Orange, CA and has over 54 years of experience in the medical field. Dr. Spiritus has more experience with Sleep-disordered Breathing, Interstitial Lung Disease, and Pulmonary Vascular Conditions than other specialists in his area. He graduated from New York State U, School of Medicine - Buffalo medical school in 1966.