Before heading to bed, that last cup of wine or cocktail may help you feel drowsy and want to lay down, but it can disrupt your sleep or cause trouble falling asleep.
Every night when you go to sleep, your body goes through cycles. If you have alcohol in your system when you’re asleep, you may not have a deep or long sleep throughout the night. The alcohol in your system begins to metabolize, and the sedative feeling starts to wear off, which can wake you up at odd hours of the night.
Let’s dive deeper into why you shouldn’t drink before heading to bed to ensure you have a restful night of sleep.
You May Experience Vivid Nightmares
When you have alcohol in your system, there’s a chance that you will experience colorful, intense, and vivid nightmares or weird dreams. Alcohol can disrupt your REM sleep and interfere with your regular sleep cycle. REM is the deepest stage of rest in your sleep cycle, where you may experience dreaming.
If you overindulge in alcoholic beverages before bed, whether you remember them or not, you might experience unpleasant dreams.
Alcohol Can Lead to Frequent Bathroom Trips
Alcohol is a diuretic that helps rid your body of sodium and water. In simple terms, alcohol causes frequent trips to the bathroom. When you overdrink before heading to bed, you’re more likely to get up in the middle of your sleep and head to the restroom. This can happen all night and rob you of a good night’s rest.
Alcohol Before Bed Can Cause Breathing Issues
It would be best if you didn’t drink before heading to bed because it can also cause breathing issues. Alcohol sedates your entire body, including your nervous system, respiratory system, and heart rate, potentially making it difficult to breathe—therefore, mixing other sedatives with alcohol is even more hazardous.
Drinking alcohol before heading to bed is one of the causes of snoring and sleep apnea because your breathing muscles are too relaxed. It would help if you waited about an hour or two before lying down to prevent snoring and disrupted sleep.
Even though alcohol can make you sleepy, drinking can impact your sleep quality. You shouldn’t drink before heading to bed because you may experience an unpleasant sleep with frequent awakenings, snoring, and vivid nightmares.
