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. For some people that also includes alcohol, maybe just certain kinds. National Library of Medicine, one-third of migraine sufferers point to alcohol as a trigger. Migraine is a symptom of an underlying condition, and one of the elements of a migraine is a headache. A migraine is headache with other symptoms such as sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, vomiting, aura and more.
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. Those triggers don’t necessarily correlate with the volume of alcohol consumed, either. In other words, the only real way out of a hangover is through. Changes in the brainstem and its interactions with the trigeminal nerve, a major pain pathway, might be involved.
Symptoms
Ria Health’s online program can help you cut back or quit without having to put your life on hold. Get access to anti-craving medications, regular coaching meetings, expert medical advice, digital tools, and more—all from an app on your smartphone. For some people, an aura might occur before or during migraines. They’re usually visual but can also include other disturbances. Each symptom usually begins gradually, builds up over several minutes and can last up to 60 minutes.
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Drinks that include electrolytes, such as sports drinks, can help replace the electrolytes you lose from the diuretic effects of alcohol. Aside from contributing to the flavor of the alcohol, congeners increase the severity and frequency of hangover symptoms, including headaches. Congeners tend to aggravate brain tissue and blood vessels, which contributes why does alcohol cause migraines to headaches. Clear liquors, like white rum, vodka, and gin, have significantly fewer congeners and may cause fewer headache symptoms. Although, as we’ll discuss below, there are other factors that can lead to headaches no matter what form of alcohol you consume. Wine, in particular, has been linked to headaches dating back to antiquity.
The Headache Doctor’s Tips for Drinking Alcohol Without Pain
Alcohol consumption causes a range of different physical symptoms. The tables below group alcohol types by the amount of these additives. For example, on average, females tend to weigh less than males. Individuals with lower body weights cannot process as much alcohol as individuals at higher weights.
However, in some countries, the occurrence of alcohol as headache trigger is negligible, perhaps determined by alcohol habits. The frequency estimates vary widely based on the study approach and population. In fact, prospective studies report a limited importance of ADs as migraine trigger.
Why Does Drinking Give Me a Migraine Headache?
The exact mechanism of the headache-producing qualities of these chemicals is not fully understood. Alcohol intolerance occurs when your body doesn’t have the proper enzymes to break down (metabolize) the toxins in alcohol. This is caused by inherited (genetic) traits most often found in Asians.
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. Scientists are still trying to understand how or why alcohol acts as a trigger for some people who suffer from migraines. At present, most studies seem to link to headaches after alcohol to congeners, a byproduct of alcohol, most commonly found in darker drinks, such as whiskey, brandy and red wine. Drinking too much can trigger migraines, and possibly other types of headaches—such as cluster headaches and tension headaches—in people who are already susceptible to these issues. Such headaches can occur while you are drinking, or a few hours after—even if you’ve had as little as one drink.
Dehydration headache
This review was performed using a literature search on PubMed from 1988 (date of the first IHS classification) to December 2014. Search terms of “alcohol,” “wine,” “food trigger,” “dietary trigger,” “migraine,” “headache” were used. Additional sources were identified via manual https://ecosoberhouse.com/ search of bibliographies, references lists, and previous peer reviews. Original studies were selected if they reported in the results a numeric percentage of headache patients referring any ADs as a trigger factor. Thirty-five papers were found corresponding to these criteria.
- And for about one-third of people who have migraines, alcohol is also a trigger.
- The most severe migraine attacks may last up to 3 days and make it impossible to do anything.
- People who are prone to migraine headaches are also susceptible to headaches from drinking alcohol.
- Then consider joining the Move Against Migraine support group on Facebook so you can connect with others who live with migraine.
While some people do experience migraine headaches after drinking alcohol, not everyone does. According to the National Headache Foundation, the ethanol component of alcoholic beverages may cause the body to lose fluid. Dehydration, a change in the balance of body water and essential nutrients, results. This affects the fluids surrounding the brain and decreases the blood pressure and blood flow to the brain. In addition, alcohol-containing drinks can decrease blood pressure in the brain by widening the blood vessels that supply the brain.
