Don’t feel embarrassed when talking to your doctor or headache specialist about your triggers—it will help them give you a proper diagnosis and start the best treatment plan for your symptoms. For more information on the various migraine triggers and how to manage them, visit the American Migraine Foundation resource library, or contact us directly. Among other reasons, people consume alcoholic beverages for their ethanol content. Most alcoholic beverages contain smaller amounts of other biologically active compounds, however, including other alcohols. These compounds, known as congeners, contribute to the taste, smell, and appearance of alcoholic beverages. Congeners may be produced along with ethanol during fermentation, generated during aging or processing through the degradation of the beverage’s organic components, or added to the beverage during the production process.

• I didn’t experience any adverse effects from consuming alcohol, but a couple of my friends did.
• It can happen even if you drink less than people who don’t get migraine headaches.
• Those who drink alcoholic beverages may be unable to stand upright and are more prone to fall and hit their head, which may lead to brain damage.
• In addition, alcohol relaxes the throat muscles, resulting in increased snoring and, possibly, periodic cessation of breathing (i.e., sleep apnea).
• Drinking alcohol is a trigger for migraine in some people – one study found around a third (33%) of people who get migraines are sensitive to alcohol.4 Others react to hunger, or certain foods.
• Explore these Frequently Asked Questions about migraine symptoms to see if you might be experiencing migraine.

Why do I get a headache when I drink alcohol?

You may find that alcohol triggers your migraine, or you may see that alcohol has no effect on your symptoms. Once you know what effect alcohol has on your body, you can make decisions about whether to drink at all — and, if so, how much to drink and when. People with migraine might confuse later-occurring headaches for regular hangover headaches, which are different from the migraine kind. Hangover marijuana addiction headaches typically occur when blood alcohol levels go down or reach zero.

• Whiskey and red wine are two of the most common migraine triggers.
• Other potential contributors in red wines include tannins, flavonoid phenols, histamines, and more.
• For example, wine may be a trigger for some but whiskey may not have an influence.
• Similarly, several studies that investigated the hangover effects on a more complex mental task (i.e., simulated automobile driving) did not report impaired performance (Streufert et al. 1995; Tornros and Laurell 1991).
• Other foods the NHS suggests avoiding include citrus fruits and their juices, pork and pork products, broad beans and peas and prawns, shrimps and crab.

Can Alcohol Cause Migraine Attacks?

Understanding the hangover condition, however, will lead to a better comprehension of the physiological effects of alcohol and the adaptive responses that alcohol engenders. Because of the similarity between the acetaldehyde reaction and a hangover, some investigators have suggested that acetaldehyde causes hangovers. Although free acetaldehyde is not present in the blood after BAC’s reach zero, the toxic effects of acetaldehyde produced during alcohol metabolism may persist into the hangover period. Third, the observation that alcohol readministration alleviates the unpleasantness of both AW syndrome and hangovers suggests that the two experiences share a common process. Sympathetic nervous system hyperactivity accounts for the tremors, sweating, and tachycardia observed in both hangover and AW syndrome. Multivariate analysis by linear regression tested independent predictors for hangover symptoms (total HSS at last year and its sub-scales).

Direct Alcohol Effects

• Primary care physician Monica Kalra, DO, explained that alcohol can cause histamine release, and histamine can cause the widening of blood cells in the brain, which may trigger a migraine attack.
• Although a hangover may impair task performance and thereby increase the risk of injury, equivocal data exist on whether hangover actually impairs complex mental tasks.
• The informal poll of our Migraine Strong community members indicated that 53% are triggered by alcohol.
• As a result, eating beforehand reduces alcohol’s potential migraine-inducing effects.
• Alcohol has effects on several neurotransmitters and hormones that are implicated in the pathogenesis of headaches, including histamine, serotonin, and prostaglandins (Parantainen 1983).

Although any type of alcohol can trigger a migraine, people who experience regular migraine attacks cite red wine as the most frequent culprit. Whether alcohol acts as a trigger is really a case-by-case basis for people with migraine. For some people, it could be the amount of alcohol consumed that triggers an attack. For example, wine may be a trigger for some but whiskey may not have an influence. However, if you still experience a migraine attack after drinking any kind of alcohol, the best solution is to avoid alcohol altogether. Researchers don’t know exactly what causes alcohol-induced migraine attacks.

Drink With a Meal

Investigators now believe that congeners may contribute to a beverage’s intoxicating effects and to a subsequent hangover. A hangover also may occur when pure ethanol is administered, however. Despite its long history, however, hangover has received relatively scant formal attention from researchers.

Vertigo treatments

• Such research could help determine whether it is ethanol or congeners that produce the major signs and symptoms of hangover, and an answer to this key question would advance our understanding of hangover pathophysiology.
• This dilutes the effect of alcohol in your system and reduces the chance of an alcohol-induced headache or triggering a migraine attack.
• The American Migraine Foundation is committed to improving the lives of those living with this debilitating disease.
• Regular alcohol consumption can reduce concentration, increase the risk of stroke, and interfere with how the brain processes information.
• 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.

Test to see if alcohol (beer, wine, clear liquors, bourbon etc.) is a trigger by consuming a modest amount and then waiting 30 minutes to 3 hours to see if a migraine attack ensues. About 1/3 of people with migraine say dehydration is a trigger, and for some, even the slightest hint of dehydration can be the fast track to debilitating head pain. Dehydration affects the body on all levels and can cause dizziness, confusion, and alcohol and headaches can even become a medical emergency. When you add the perpetual worry of when the next attack will strike, it can start to feel like a never-ending, exhausting cycle. People who have frequent migraine attacks may wish to consider migraine prevention medications such as topiramate (Topamax), divalproex (Depakote), propranolol (Inderal), or CGRP inhibitors. Alcohol increases urination, which can lead to dehydration, and people who drink alcohol may not drink as much water, intensifying the water loss.

Best wine for migraine

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. 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. 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 =https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to the amount reported in a study on migraine and triggers.