Furthermore, alcohol can lead to hypoxia, low blood oxygen, which again has been linked to triggering migraine. It’s important to note that alcohol use disorder is a serious illness that can have life-threatening consequences. It’s important to see your healthcare provider if you are concerned about your alcohol use. It has been suggested that a tendency to experience alcohol-induced headaches could be genetic. Migraines in general have been linked to variations in genes, especially those that regulate blood flow to the brain. Substances such as sulfites, histamine, and tyramines are found in alcohol and may contribute to headaches as well.
This dilutes the effect of alcohol in your system and reduces the chance of an alcohol-induced headache or triggering a migraine attack. Some people drink water in between glasses of wine, for example. While there is no magical alcohol that doesn’t cause headaches when consumed in excess, alcohol does vary tremendously from manufacturer to manufacturer. Top-shelf brands not only taste better but may also be less likely to prove a migraine trigger. I caution patients to order a specific brand of alcohol when ordering a cocktail rather than relying on well drinks or lower-quality brands. Migraine triggers can range widely, from environmental pollutants and food additives to stress and fatigue.
When alcohol is a trigger for one’s usual primary headaches, the pain usually occurs within three hours of alcohol consumption. The role of alcohol in triggering migraine attacks is unclear, and the research is limited. Here’s what to know about preventing migraine attacks when also drinking alcohol, plus how to treat one if it’s too late.
Many people diagnosed with migraine work hard to figure out what causes (or triggers) their migraine attacks. For some, making dietary and lifestyle changes plays a critical role in managing symptoms and preventing future attacks. This process often leads a person to question whether drinking alcohol actually causes attacks or simply makes existing migraine symptoms worse. Migraine attacks can be debilitating, and most people who experience them will do anything to find relief. Avoiding personally known triggers can be a useful way to reduce the number of potential attacks.
The prevalence of sleepwalking is higher in people with obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which you repeatedly stop breathing during the night. This may have to do with interrupted sleep and oxygen supply to the brain, but the exact link is unclear. In some cases, getting treatment for sleep apnea results in fewer sleepwalking events.
Exploring Alternative Beverages
Those who are triggered by alcohol usually feel the attack coming on within a few hours, although some reported that the next day was when they felt it. The informal poll of our Migraine Strong community members indicated that 53% are triggered by alcohol. This percentage is very similar to the amount reported in a study on migraine and triggers. Clear liquors (gin, vodka and clear tequila) were found to be tolerated best.
- In some ways, a little bit of alcohol may even be a good idea for migraine sufferers.
- But if you’re prone to migraine headaches, you’ll need to be careful about how much you drink.
- According to Aurora, however, alcohol consumption isn’t just a question of what’s considered a safe amount.
- Recording what you’re eating, drinking, and doing before, after, and during an attack can help you pinpoint patterns in attacks and triggers.
Figure 2 shows data on two individuals selected at random among those who tracked more than 600 days. The final analysis was therefore based on 20,000 realizations, 10,000 from each chain. Plots of iterations versus sampled values for each variable were inspected to check model convergence. A parameter is considered statistically significant when zero does not fall within the 95% CI. Observations with missing information in any of the independent variables were handled with listwise deletion, that is, only complete cases were used for parameter estimation.
What Can You Do to Prevent an Alcohol Induced Headache?
Histamine, tannins, tyramine, flavonoid phenols, sulfites, and phenylethylamine are all found within alcoholic beverages and this also includes beer. People who experience a headache after drinking should not assume that it is a migraine attack, especially if they have symptoms consistent with other types of headaches. For example, a tension headache may cause pain in the neck or shoulders. We asked the experts about the relationship between drinking and headaches to determine why and how alcohol specifically triggers headaches or migraine attacks. Even people who are not prone to headaches will get a headache after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. One or two drinks with food and water over time might be safe for you, but three or more will produce a hangover headache for many people.
Whether Alcohol Is a Migraine Trigger
Pinot Grigio, chardonnay or sauvignon blanc would be a good place to start and are generally easy to find. Bourbon and whiskey both have more congeners because they are less heavily distilled which preserves the congeners from the fermented mash. This could be a reason why they may not be the best choice for the migraine-prone. While alcohol can help you feel sleepy and induce sleep, it tends to interfere with sleep in the later stages of the evening. This will be helpful in guiding conversations with your doctor about your symptoms. We recommend taking a look at our patient guides, which include useful information like how to talk to your doctor about migraine.
If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your doctor. Those triggers don’t necessarily correlate with the volume of alcohol consumed, either. According to Dr. Kevin Moore, PsyD, an addiction specialist, alcohol fools your body into thinking that you’re drinking water, but in reality, alcohol actually poisons the brain cells. Understanding how alcohol affects your migraine symptoms is crucial. By making informed choices and prioritizing your health, you can still enjoy social events without compromising your well-being. Alcohol can interact with migraine medications, potentially reducing their effectiveness or causing adverse reactions.
Additionally, patients and physicians should consider the latest medical knowledge to avoid perpetuating the myths about alcohol consumption and primary headaches. Additionally, it would be useful to check whether migraine patients enjoy the advantages or disadvantages of less drinking. After using the above key terms, 1,892 articles were identified in the three databases.
- A moderate risk of bias was assigned when the paper received positive answers between mentioned ranges.
- Be honest with your doctors about your habits and preferences.
- While this is not necessarily true for everyone, it’s true for so many people that a trend toward abstinence developed among migraine-sufferers.
- It also depends on whether or not you’re likely to develop headaches.
- For more information on alternative migraine treatments, visit our Resource Library.
Why does alcohol cause headaches?
They are then distilled to increase the alcohol content and this process removes the congeners in the alcohol. It may be worth considering some treatment does alcohol help a migraine options to help you manage your symptoms. It will be crucial to have access to reliable resources on migraine as you work to manage this disease. The American Migraine Foundation offers extensive resources to help you explore your symptoms and treatment options.
What not to drink during a migraine attack?
A change in sleep pattern can contribute to triggering migraine attacks. About 90 minutes into our sleep, we enter REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is the restorative stage of sleep and when it is disrupted, it can cause drowsiness during the day, and lead to other migraine symptoms. Another type of attack is called the delayed alcohol induced headache and will usually appear the next day. This is the hangover effect that appears in the morning following alcohol consumption when the alcohol in the blood has reached zero. People with migraine are more likely to have this type of reaction to migraine than those without.
Most importantly, monitor how you feel when you drink alcohol and be willing to have open and honest conversations about drinking with your doctor and other important people in your life. In this article, we’ll consider research on the potential effects of alcohol on your migraine symptoms and treatment. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to consume alcoholic drinks is up to you. However, knowing the effects alcohol may have on your body and migraine attacks could help you make up your mind.
This all sounds terrible, but low or moderate alcohol consumption that doesn’t overwhelm your antioxidant system and detox capacity is usually acceptable. In turn, especially if we are not eating, this can lead to hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, which can also trigger migraine, which is the third mechanism. Research shows that alcohol is among the most frequently and consistently mentioned triggers for migraine,, but not everyone responds to them the same way. However, there may be more to the problem than meets the eye – learn how alcohol can both harm and help migraines, depending on how you use it.
Finally, it’s important to know the difference between alcohol headaches – also known as hangovers – and migraine. Knowing your own limit on alcohol can help reduce migraine symptoms. This way, you can enjoy social events without worrying about headaches. Beer, especially those with lots of yeast, and spirits like whiskey and rum, are often culprits. But alcohol also makes you lose water and electrolytes with it, which is another migraine trigger. When you’re dehydrated, you’re more likely to get a migraine.
The difference between these two types of headaches is subtle. While anyone can experience DAIH, people with migraine are more susceptible. Even a modest amount of alcohol can cause people with migraine to develop a delayed headache or trigger an attack. The short answer is that while it’s possible for alcohol to cause a migraine attack, it’s often a bit more complicated. In some studies, about one-third of people living with migraine reported alcohol as a migraine trigger (at least occasionally).