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While migraine thankfully does not affect fertility, it can complicate conversations about family planning and infertility treatments. Learn more about the relationship between migraine and family planning. Furthermore, remember that your weight, age, and body composition also affect alcohol metabolism. The older you are, the harder it is for your body to metabolize alcohol. Alcohol stimulates the pancreas to produce toxins that can cause pancreatitis.
She found it somewhat challenging to explain how alcohol reduced the likelihood of migraine attacks. While some research shows that the correlation between migraines and alcohol-related headaches might be weaker than once stated, roughly 30% of people who experience migraines report alcohol as a trigger. In the same study indicating red wine as a frequently cited migraine trigger, vodka (which is primarily comprised of ethanol and water) was least likely to be cited. While a hangover headache can happen to anyone (usually the morning after drinking too much alcohol), people who experience migraines are more susceptible. People who have frequent migraine attacks may wish to consider migraine prevention medications such as topiramate (Topamax), divalproex (Depakote), propranolol (Inderal), or CGRP inhibitors.
Hangover headache
Among the modifiable trigger factors for headache, alcohol is one that patients commonly minimize or avoid. It is important to consider the difference between alcohol-induced migraine and delayed alcohol-induced headache (DAIH). For people with migraine, if there is a headache after drinking alcohol, they may assume the alcohol triggered a migraine attack.
There are many different resources available to support you when you decide to quit drinking and embrace a sober lifestyle. You should seek help from a doctor or treatment center because the initial symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can cause serious health issues. After detoxing under the supervision of a professional, you can choose between outpatient or inpatient treatment. The relationship between alcohol and migraine isn’t clear because alcoholic beverages also contain ingredients such as phenylethylamine, tyramine, histamine, flavonoid phenols, and sulfites.
How to tell if alcohol triggers your migraine attacks
A 5-ounce glass of wine (or 12 ounces of beer or a 1.5-fluid-ounce shot) may Substance abuse be OK every now and then, so long as it doesn’t bring on a headache. If it does, you’ll need to drink less or stay away from all alcohol. After a night on the town, it’s easy to blame a headache on too much alcohol. But if you’re prone to migraine headaches, drinking even a small amount of alcohol can bring on an attack. The severity of your headache depends on the type of alcoholic drink you consume. Drinks with congeners will typically result in the most severe headaches.
Alcohol-induced headaches: Evidence for a central mechanism?
People without migraine who consume greater quantities of alcohol often report immediate headaches. Then again, according to a 2023 review of research, studies have found that alcohol appears to be less likely to cause migraine headaches. Many people have experienced a headache after drinking alcohol — especially after drinking too much. Migraine is complex, and other neurological conditions may cause migraine-like symptoms.
Staying hydrated is crucial to counteract the dehydrating effects of the withdrawal process. The detoxification process typically leads to electrolyte imbalance. In addition, many people experience severe nausea and vomiting during the withdrawal process. These experiences can dehydrate the body, putting additional stress on organs. In severe situations, dehydration will contribute to irregular heartbeat and other serious health complications.
- For those with alcohol-triggered migraines, even a small amount of alcohol can launch an attack.
- Using a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 100 (as much as possible), they rated the intensity of anxiety, tension, sadness, relaxation, energy, and calmness.
- Alternatively, yogurt hydrates your body and can help with nausea by promoting gut health.
These symptoms may begin within minutes or hours of drinking and vary widely in severity. As dehydration can cause headaches, staying hydrated when consuming alcohol is key. Aim to drink plenty of water before, after, and Substance abuse during alcohol consumption. If both stress and alcohol are migraine triggers for you, combining them won’t do you any favors. In addition to this, people are sometimes more likely to drink more when they are feeling stressed and a little reckless.
What alcohol to drink to avoid migraine attacks
- Take control of your migraine journey today with CEFALY and reclaim your life from the grasp of migraine pain.
- If they find this too challenging, they may have alcohol use disorder, which warrants treatment.
- Overindulging can disrupt your sleep patterns and lead to dehydration, both of which are common migraine triggers.
- There was no association between alcohol intake and the probability of a migraine attack one day after the consumption of alcohol.
- 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.
If you choose to drink, do so responsibly and be prepared to adjust your intake based on your migraine symptoms. It’s unclear exactly how alcohol causes a migraine attack to happen. There are a few things at play that could help us understand the connection between migraine and drinking alcohol. Additionally, prospective cohort studies, likely through the use of mobile diary apps in which patients record triggers and headaches on a daily basis, may be helpful. Most likely, a combination of triggers is needed to provoke an attack at a certain time, and these combinations may be different for each patient. When treating migraine after consuming alcohol it is important to be cautious of any medications that are processed through the liver.
In this article, we’ll dig into why alcohol can trigger migraine attacks, how to distinguish between migraine and hangovers, and share some practical tips for navigating alcohol with a migrainey brain. Alcoholic beverages contain several chemical substances suspected to trigger migraines. These include congeners, byproducts of fermentation that give drinks flavor and aroma. Darker liquors like brandy, red wine, and whiskey generally contain higher congener levels than clear spirits such as gin and vodka. While alcohol can cause common headaches, for individuals prone to migraines, it often triggers a full-blown migraine attack.
Non-Alcoholic Alternatives for People With Migraine
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.