If a headache persists or worsens, visit a doctor for an examination and treatment recommendations. Other criteria for a person to have a migraine diagnosis include nausea or vomiting and sensitivity to light or noise. This leads to excessive urination and dehydration, which may cause a headache after a small amount of alcohol. We recommend taking a look at our patient guides, which include useful information like how to talk to your doctor about migraine. We recommend exploring complementary treatments such as biofeedback, green light therapy and aerobic exercise. Learn how these common therapies can help you manage migraine.
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Alcohol is broken down in the liver by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase. People with a variant in this enzyme have issues with metabolizing alcohol and can develop total body flushing or reddening of the skin. Relaxation techniques may help ease stress-related migraine episodes, and they may make migraine episodes feel less severe when they do happen. Keep reading to learn more about the connection between migraine and alcohol. Learn more about the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol.
Best and Worst Types of Alcohol for People With Migraine
Understanding whether alcohol is a migraine trigger and how to treat and prevent it can help you make the best choices about what and how much you drink. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines are designed to help all adults keep the health risks from drinking alcohol to a low level. Talk with your doctor about how long after drinking alcohol to wait before you can take any prescription migraine or OTC medications. Alcohol has different effects on your body depending on when you drink it. These are called immediate and delayed alcohol-induced headaches. Another thing that remains unclear is if the quantity and type of alcohol you drink determines whether you will get a migraine headache.
- Of course, like all medications, they have their own side effects.
- We know that if we treat the underlying cause, we can make great strides in helping migraine patients live pain-free.
- Alcohol has different effects on your body depending on when you drink it.
- Understanding certain food components of some alcoholic beverages will help you understand your choices when it comes to selecting the best alcohol to avoid migraine.
- Anxiety occurs in addition to the typical health risks, which range from risky behaviors to weight gain, liver damage, and other physical effects.
However, if you already have a headache, it is a good idea to stop drinking. 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. This will help your doctor isolate the cause of your migraine and your triggers.
Is Alcohol a Migraine Trigger?
It’s essential to build a support network of understanding people who can not only check in on you during an attack but also empathize with your experience. Then consider joining the Move Against Migraine support group on Facebook so you can connect with others who live with migraine. Many things can trigger a migraine, from stress at work to changes in the weather to foods like aged cheese. And for about one-third of people who have migraines, alcohol is also a trigger. Talk to a healthcare provider when you are considering quitting if you have a long history of heavy drinking or alcohol use disorder. Alcohol withdrawal can cause severe and sometimes life-threatening symptoms.
Does Type of Alcohol Matter? Which Alcohol Is Best for Headaches?
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 many migraine sufferers can attest to, sometimes it just takes one glass of wine or even a sip.
If you experience migraine headaches after drinking alcohol, it may be best to avoid alcohol or that certain type of alcohol. Talk with a doctor about ways to identify your migraine triggers and what to do if you develop these headaches. Studies show that many people with migraine choose not to drink alcohol for fear that it may trigger a migraine attack. However, researchers aren’t clear on exactly how or why alcohol can impact migraine.
Dark-colored alcohols like red wine, brandy, and whiskey may contain more of them. It’s common for people who drink alcohol to wake up the next day with a distinct sense of worry, panic, unease, or fear. Along with headache and nausea, anxiety can be a symptom of alcohol withdrawal or hangover. There are many reasons that alcohol triggers this hangover anxiety, colloquially called “hangxiety.” Tannins are another compound that can cause problems for people with migraine.
Alcohol can give you a headache due to its dehydrating effects, the presence of congeners and the dilation of blood vessels in the brain. If you feel a migraine coming on or notice the onset of symptoms after drinking, stop drinking immediately. Continuing to drink may exacerbate the migraine and prolong your discomfort. Regardless of the trigger, determining the cause of your headaches is well worth the effort. “Not every migraine patient is sensitive to every food,” Martin says.
- While in some cases it is likely the presence of alcohol itself, it is also possible that specific components of different alcoholic drinks act as triggers.
- Alcohol’s exact role in triggering a migraine isn’t fully known.
- This is the typical type of headache induced by alcohol for people with migraine, compared with delayed alcohol-induced headache (DAIH) that appears the next morning — also known as the hangover headache.
- Dehydration often accompanies alcohol consumption and may worsen migraine symptoms.
- And if you’re looking for migraine relief without prescriptions or severe side effects, consider trying CEFALY.
These effects contribute to day-after dread, even if you don’t have an anxiety disorder diagnosis. How long this anxiety (and other hangover symptoms) lasts depends on factors like how much you’ve consumed, your assigned sex at birth, and your weight. Histamine, tannins, tyramine, flavonoid phenols, sulfites, and phenylethylamine are all found within alcoholic beverages and this also includes beer. Dr. Crystal said she finds that many of her patients have a sensitivity to alcohol. Others find that it is more likely to trigger migraine attacks during vulnerable periods—hormonal changes, stress, and weather changes, for example. So, she recommends reducing alcohol intake or stopping drinking altogether if a patient does, indeed, find a connection between drinking and migraine.
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It can help you identify patterns over time and help your doctor identify if you are experiencing migraine. Alternative migraine therapies can work alongside traditional treatments to reduce migraine attack frequency and lessen the impact of symptoms. Migraine is a disabling disease that no one should have to go through alone.
Vodka and gin are both clear liquors that are made through the distilling process discussed above. This process removes congeners, which means that these drinks are less likely to trigger migraine attacks. However, they can still contain other triggers like histamine or tannins. A change in sleep pattern can contribute to triggering migraine attacks.
Migraine episodes can be a periodic inconvenience, or they can be debilitating. The most severe migraine attacks may last up to 3 days or longer and make it impossible to do anything. One can alcohol trigger migraines hypothesis is that red wine causes migraine due to high levels of certain compounds called flavonols, particularly quercetin. This compound might inhibit the body’s ability to break down alcohol, leading to the buildup of a substance called acetaldehyde, which could result in headaches. These headaches cause very intense pain that often primarily affects the area behind one eye.
Of the 1,547 participants, 783 said that alcohol was a trigger, and 195 were not sure. Making sure to drink plenty of water during and after alcohol consumption can decrease the chance of headaches. We also examine the types of headache alcohol can trigger and the types of alcohol likely to cause more headaches. Yawning and fatigue are typical symptoms of prodrome, the first phase of a migraine attack.
For help finding a healthcare provider, check out our Find a Doctor tool. It can’t prevent a migraine, but it can help stop one after it starts. Triptans work best when you take them at the early signs of a migraine. You could get a headache within 30 minutes to 3 hours of drinking. Some people only sip a glass or two of wine before their head starts to throb.
Just like no two people are alike, different types of alcohol have distinct chemical makeup and effects on the body. 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. Migraine is a symptom of an underlying condition, and one of the elements of a migraine is a headache.
The information provided in this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely upon the content provided in this article for specific medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your doctor.