Alcohol and Migraine: Relationship, Triggers, Treatment & More

More research will help to determine the effects of specific alcohol content on a person’s headaches. As a result, a female’s blood alcohol concentration tends to be higher, making it more likely for females to experience headaches and hangovers. This article will explore the relationship alcohol and headaches between alcohol and headache and consider why some people develop an alcohol headache after one drink. Often, alcohol-induced headaches also have characteristics that resemble your usual headaches, whether they are migraines, cluster headaches, or tension headaches.

• Women are three times more likely to have migraine than men, and up to 75% of women find that they experience attacks around the time of their menstrual period.
• Withdrawal headaches that you feel in the afternoon can be a direct result of your body noticing it hasn’t received its usual dose of caffeine.
• Alcohol has been shown to be a trigger for severe migraine headaches in some people.
• Individuals who experience severe headaches after drinking alcohol may also avoid alcohol altogether.
• Doctors or family and friends can provide early intervention, which can help you avoid alcohol-related neurologic disease.

Migraine without aura

If you develop a cocktail headache, stop drinking alcohol and go someplace where you can rest comfortably. Drink lots of water to rehydrate your body and help flush the alcohol from your system. A sports drink with electrolytes is also helpful for this purpose. People who get hangovers that trigger a migraine may wish to avoid alcohol with high levels of congeners. These are substances that the alcohol manufacturing process produces. Some research suggests that congeners play a role in hangovers, although factors such as inflammation also contribute.

Tension headache

You should continue to seek proper medical attention and access information to help alleviate the burden. 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. Consider joining our Move Against Migraine support group on Facebook so you can connect with others who live with migraine.

Medical Professionals

The end result of continuing to practice these tools is being able to actively participate in my life as a wife, mother, family member and friend. My goal as a migraine advocate, educator, and wellness coach is to help others gain more control over migraine. If you want to test to see if alcohol is a trigger, test one of these best alcohols for migraine and headaches on a day when you feel good and other triggers are low. Among people who find alcohol can trigger a migraine, most find that any alcoholic drink can trigger one, but others may find that particular drinks are more of a problem. 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. Additionally, keeping a diary to track your triggers and being mindful of other factors like stress can also be helpful.

Diagnosis & Treatment

• After a migraine attack, you might feel drained, confused and washed out for up to a day.
• Also referred to as tobacco-alcohol amblyopia, people who drink or smoke in excess can develop optic neuropathy, though it is rare.
• The end result of continuing to practice these tools is being able to actively participate in my life as a wife, mother, family member and friend.
• You should also record how much alcohol you drink, what types of drink you’ve consumed, and how much.
• When I’m going to be out, I always try to be prepared for a pending attack.
• The only way to prevent these uncomfortable reactions is to avoid alcohol.

This may also give you the effect or perception of having tunnel vision. 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. Generally, these clear alcohols are highly distilled and have almost no leftover congeners from the beginning fermentation process.

What to know about headaches after alcohol

A 2016 study showed that alcohol consistently induced migraine in 10% of people. Substances such as sulfites, histamine, and tyramines are found in alcohol and may contribute to headaches as well. It has also been proposed that alcohol triggers an inflammatory response that can https://ecosoberhouse.com/ lead to a headache. If you notice consistent patterns, then chances are it’s the alcohol that’s causing your migraine headache. The number of drinks you have, what you are drinking, and what’s going on in your life may be the primary culprits, rather than alcohol itself.

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There were a total of 2990 embedded missing days (2990/46,820, 6.4%) resulting in 43,830 days (90 for each individual) eligible for analysis. Migraine days after the first day of attack (3665 migraine days) were removed from the models, leading to a dataset with 40,165 diary entries. A total of 32,911 complete cases including 4679 migraine attacks were analyzed. Study participants reported whether they had consumed alcohol each day, and if so, how many alcoholic beverages they drank. The investigators then defined a migraine attack as one migraine day or a series of consecutive migraine days.

• These symptoms may begin within minutes or hours of drinking and vary widely in severity.
• If none of the preventative measures above work or you didn’t know alcohol triggered migraines until after the fact, there are still options available to you.
• Start your search with these complementary and integrative therapies.
• Preventing migraine begins with identifying and reducing or eliminating common migraine triggers such as alcohol, dehydration, and certain foods.

Alcoholic neuropathy