Alcohol and Your Period – Friend or Foe?

Alcohol and your period

Okay. I know we're not talking about a small amount of alcohol every once in a while (of course, if "sometimes" doesn't mean every other day ;)), but about regularity in drinking alcohol or soothing menstrual pain with it, because that also happens and it's a fairly common method. But does it work? Does it really help? If you add painkillers to that, you know yourself - it's a real explosive mix. So let me present you with the most important information on this subject, so that bleeding during menstruation doesn't surprise you.

First, some information about drinking alcohol during your period. Yes, you can find statistics online, but tell me: do you check them often?

First, what we know for sure: alcohol thins the blood. How does this happen? It reduces the clumping of platelets. So if you find yourself at a party, birthday party or other more or less important event during your period – be prepared for the bleeding to become heavy.

During menstruation, the body is definitely more weakened. Its immunity drops significantly, mood swings and poor well-being appear. This is completely normal - it results from the way the hormonal system functions at that time. And since some specialists consider even one beer a day to be too much alcohol, you can be sure that your body is experiencing unnecessary disturbances. So it seems that it is better not to drink at all during your period (hey! it's only a few days!) or to drink less than we are encouraged to. At the next opportunity, take a closer look at this phenomenon. I'll tell you in secret that most decisions are made much more spontaneously in company :) In fact, you don't think about whether you should drink alcohol during your period.

Secondly, drinking alcohol during your period can disrupt your cycle. And it can do so for a long time. Why? Well, because alcohol disrupts hormones, which, as we know, is not good for anyone.

Moreover, it is not only a matter of health, but also awareness of one's own body, which is worth having. Don't we feel safer then, by ourselves? I agree, and I myself belong to this group of people who drank at more than one party, and their periods were quite good.

I guess.

At the time I didn't attach much importance to it.

Was the bleeding heavier? Listen... I don't know :) I didn't bother, I was younger, my period certainly didn't interfere with my social contacts, my body reacted to alcohol in a different way than it does now. Of course, the weekend. Today, as, ahem... I'll admit it: a 36-year-old with two kids, I won't say: "Okay, I'm going to go splash around with my friends, I have the day off today, I'll be there in the morning, bye! Have fun, turn on some cartoons, the fridge is all yours. And yes, you can have candy. I'm off, bye bye" :)

I hope you now know how heavy bleeding can occur during “those” days, and you will take more care of yourself!

And if contraception, then…

Exactly! You already know how to drink alcohol in the first phase of your cycle. You also know what the effects of drinking strong alcohol during your period can be. And you know that it is generally not the uterus' best friend.

You have the right to decide about it, but I feel it is my duty to present to you the impact of alcohol on the effectiveness of contraceptive pills, because it is an equally important issue that deserves a few sentences of discussion – and even attention.

According to research conducted in 2017 on a group of 249 people, more than half of them (53.01%) use this method of contraception (Król 2019). So I search the drug database and open the next leaflets of contraceptive pills, of course the hormonal, two-component and single-component ones. In none of them I found any content about the correlation of alcohol and contraception. Hmm... And yet there is so much talk about the fact that drinking alcohol reduces its effectiveness. I come across a lack of data.

Okay, I'm reaching back to my youth (oh, come back, come back, youth, with its carefreeness!). Did I take pills? I did. Did I go to parties and drink alcohol? Of course! Who would have thought about that then! I probably didn't even know how to drink wisely, because, you know, in my student years, having fun was what mattered - and I don't recall any situation where any of my friends sought information on the subject. However, according to current knowledge and laboratory studies, I can safely tell you that alcohol affects our metabolism, and therefore also the metabolism of contraceptive pills during their use.

What does this mean in practice? Let me explain. While taking oral contraception, drinking a glass of wine, beer or a small drink will not reduce the effectiveness of the pill. You can still feel protected against unwanted pregnancy. However, please remember that strong alcoholic beverages slow down the metabolism of estrogens contained in the pill, which means they take much longer to break down in your liver. You may also feel the effects of drinking alcohol for longer. See: alcohol + contraception = double the burden on the liver. This combination also increases the risk of heart attack and atherosclerosis. Is it good for your health? Exactly. I think so too.

I'll "parent" you a bit more, but I'm convinced that this information will be useful to you. The body of a person who combines alcohol with oral hormone therapy reacts to it a bit differently. What changes? For example, remembering :) I don't want to interfere with your privacy, but admit it to yourself: how many times have you forgotten something when you were - to put it mildly - drunk? When I drank, it happened to me all the time. Because, you know, fun, good mood and humor, great company, you get into the mood.

That's what happened to me. So I'll give you a hint: set a reminder to take your pill on your mobile device. You can definitely find special apps online to monitor your cycle, which will make it much easier to use contraception systematically. And that's the most important thing if you want the pills to work well.

And of course, if you drink too much alcohol, you will feel sick and throw up. The contraceptive pill may not be fully absorbed if you took it up to 2 hours before this unpleasant incident. This means that it will not protect you from unwanted pregnancy in an appropriate way. Remember to use other availablemethods of contraception then .

If you want to learn more about the pill and how it works, read our articles: Birth control pills and your period - facts and myths! and What is the difference between withdrawal bleeding and menstruation ?

Oh, our bleedings

There is only one conclusion you can draw from this text (and I would even venture to say that it is optimistic, despite everything): alcohol increases bleeding by thinning the blood in your body, but there are many effective ways to protect yourself from unexpected staining of underwear or clothes during your period. Since you are here with me and reading this article, I assume that you know about it and have already found the right products for yourself. However, people using hormonal contraception should pay special attention to drinking alcohol - the metabolism of estrogens and alcohol in the liver takes longer and definitely burdens it.

So dear_and_reader, now you know how to drink to get through your period more easily. You don't need anyone's permission, you can do anything :) I don't like hangovers and that's why I don't drink anymore. I recommend this method to you too!