More than half of those who experience cluster headaches say that alcohol is a trigger. People who experienced migraine with alcohol were more likely to have migraine with aura and to experience more migraine days and more frequent attacks. Treatment options vary, from acute treatment to relieve symptoms to preventive treatment to reduce the number of attacks you experience.
Types of Headaches From Drinking
Explore these Frequently Asked Questions about migraine symptoms to see if you might be experiencing migraine. No matter what you call it—a headache journal, migraine diary, headache tracker—keeping track of your symptoms can be a versatile tool to help better manage your health. It can help you identify patterns over time and help your doctor identify if you are experiencing migraine. It’s critical to have a support network of understanding people who can not only check in on you but also empathize with your experience. Then consider joining our Move Against Migraine support group on Facebook so you can connect with others who live with migraine. This includes being careful about the amount of alcohol you consume and paying attention to how and when your migraine symptoms flare up in relation to drinking.
A total of 7877 people with migraine registered to use the headache app from October 2014 to March 2018. Among these, 787 were ≥18 years old who tracked ≥90 days with ≥75% adherence. Of these, 651 met the criterion for EM retrospectively, and 493 reported drinking alcohol. Another 6 individuals were excluded because they never tracked alcohol consumption. The final sample size was 487 individuals, who collectively contributed data on 43,830 diary days, of which 9578 were migraine days and 5913 were the first days of a migraine attack.
The likelihood was even lower 24 to 48 hours after consumption. However, a 2019 study found higher rates of vodka consumption among drinkers with frequent migraine attacks. The response to alcohol varies from person to person, and there is no alcohol that absolutely will not cause a migraine or other headache. Most studies point to red wine as a common headache culprit, particularly in people with migraine. These individuals commonly cite wine, especially red wine, as a migraine trigger.
Should You Quit Drinking If You Have an Anxiety Disorder?
Tracking your own patterns may allow you to enjoy the party after all. While migraine is a common disease that affects 39 million Americans, no two migraine experiences are the same. Symptoms can vary from light sensitivity and dizziness to food cravings or body chills.
Also, follow your doctor’s recommendations regarding alcohol consumption. Dehydration triggers some migraine cases; therefore, drinking plenty of water can help, even after the fact. Drinking water helps replenish your fluids and flush the alcohol out of your system. If you tend to get migraines within three hours or less of drinking, this might work best for you. So it’s best to make alcohol the single, isolated factor and journal what triggers each migraine. Whenever one comes on, jot down what you last ate, how much sleep you got, what the current environmental factors are, and anything else that may help you to find out what the cause is.
- Opting for top-shelf brands, sticking to one type of alcohol, alternating with water and food, and knowing your limits are all strategies that can help minimize the chances of developing a headache.
- Making sure to drink plenty of water during and after alcohol consumption can decrease the chance of headaches.
- Red wine was reported to be the principal trigger of migraine, but other studies show that white wine or other drinks are more involved.
Drinking without fear
Patients sometimes have a tendency not to admit their drinking habits 90. It has been proved that self-reported alcohol consumption by patients can be underestimated; therefore, more reliable methods such as toxicological hair analysis may help to provide stronger evidence 91. Of the studies included in our analysis, 19 were based only on questionnaires while five included interviews with patients.
Tips to Manage Your Migraine Headaches
- Individuals with lower body weights cannot process as much alcohol as individuals at higher weights.
- Genes that play a role in opioid, serotonin, and dopamine systems also influence alcohol sensitivity.
- Individuals who are already prone to have migraine headaches should be especially aware of alcohol-induced migraines.
- We have created customized plans than have helped more than 12,000 people live the pain-free lives they deserve.
- This article will use the terms “male,” “female,” or both to refer to sex assigned at birth.
There have been several proposed explanations for how alcohol causes headaches. Headaches, including migraine, are treatable with the right combination of medication and lifestyle adjustments. Keep reading to learn more about the connection between migraine and alcohol.
Some people may experience an alcohol-related migraine between 30 minutes and 3 hours after drinking. Genes that play a role in opioid, serotonin, and dopamine systems also influence alcohol sensitivity. These genes may affect the likelihood of experiencing symptoms such as headaches after drinking small amounts. Vives-Mestres acknowledged the evidence suggesting that even low doses of alcohol can cause headache in people with migraine.
Learn more about the relationship between migraine and mental health in this AMF webinar. Should you eat or avoid certain foods to prevent migraine attacks? Learn how to make healthy nutritional and dietary choices while managing migraine symptoms. In a 2007 study, Austrian researchers examined a number of factors related to migraine, specifically considering consumption of alcohol and other nutritional factors the day before the onset of a headache. They found limited importance of nutrition, including alcohol intake, in the triggering of migraine. Drinking even a small amount of alcohol can trigger headache symptoms in certain individuals.
What Factors Affect the Risk of an Alcohol-Induced Headache?
As long as you don’t eat meals containing other triggers, this is one of the best things you can do. Try to stick to just a glass or two and eat enough for the food to soak up some of that alcohol. The carbon dioxide gas bubbles in Champagne help your body to absorb the alcohol faster. The bubbles increase the pressure in your stomach, which forces alcohol out through your stomach’s lining and into your bloodstream for faster absorption. According to Beyond Celiac, distilled gin and vodka are gluten free. It’s important to make sure that no gluten was added after the distillation process, especially if celiac disease is a factor for you.
This will be helpful in guiding conversations with your doctor about your symptoms. You might have tried some alternative therapies, but did you know about these complementary and integrative treatments? For more information on alternative migraine treatments, visit our Resource Library. Start your search with these complementary and integrative therapies.
If you feel as though you can’t limit how much you drink or if you continue drinking even though it’s hurting you or those around you, it’s time to talk to your doctor. The American Migraine Foundation (AMF) suggests that alcohol as a trigger is more of a personal reaction — common in certain types of headaches — than a general effect. To prevent an alcohol-related migraine headache, try sipping your drink slowly or avoiding triggers. A second explanation for the results presented in our meta-analysis might encompass a certain protective role of alcohol with regards to migraine.
Certain additives can increase the chance of developing a headache after drinking. People prone to headaches may be at a higher risk of experiencing alcohol-related headaches. For example, drinking even a small amount of alcohol decreases sleep quality. Sleep deprivation can cause negative effects such as increased blood pressure or gastrointestinal discomfort. As dehydration can cause headaches, staying hydrated when consuming alcohol is key.
Migraine causes a specific type of headache that involves neurological symptoms such as light sensitivity and aura. Other types of headaches, including severe headaches, can occur as a result of alcohol consumption. If alcohol is a confirmed trigger for your migraine, then avoiding alcohol is the best solution. If you’re unsure whether alcohol is triggering your migraine, keep a detailed migraine journal that includes any foods and alcohol consumed throughout the week. This will be a valuable resource for you and your doctor to start identifying more specific migraine triggers. While anyone can experience DAIH, people with migraine are more susceptible.
If, after keeping track, you become convinced alcohol is the problem, then it’s now time to identify the symptoms. A common misconception is that overconsumption of alcohol is what triggers headaches. As migraines from alcohol many migraine sufferers can attest to, sometimes it just takes one glass of wine or even a sip. Other hard liquors, beer, and sparkling wine have also been identified as culprits by the scientific community. The body converts the ethanol in alcohol that we drink to a chemical that can trigger headaches. Many people may also develop headaches due to the dehydrating effects of alcohol.
Therefore, this hypothesis seems a less likely explanation for our results. In the USA, 51% of adults consumed alcohol in the last year; additionally, 11% of those over 50 years old and 6% over 65 age reported the symptoms of alcohol abuse or dependence 21. In Europe, 60% of adults over 60 years of age are current drinkers, and 20% of these had higher levels of consumption than the general population 22. Statistically, males drink more alcohol than women and have more alcohol-related behavioral disorders 23. Drinking problems occur in every age, but in the 25–49 age group, alcohol has the highest impact on mortality caused by cancer deaths and also life disability 24, 25.