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Why Does Alcohol Give Me a Headache? A Doctor’s Tips for Imbibing

The most common signs and symptoms are stuffy nose and skin flushing. Some of these effects are caused by ethanol itself, and others are from an even more toxic byproduct of its metabolism called acetaldehyde. This chemical builds up in the blood as the liver breaks down the alcohol into a form that can be eliminated from the body.

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  • There are some health benefits to moderate alcohol consumption, but the key is knowing what types of alcohol cause your headaches, in what amounts, and what other factors might be involved.
  • These chemicals may also trigger migraine headaches in certain people.
  • As a result, a female’s blood alcohol concentration tends to be higher, making it more likely for females to experience headaches and hangovers.

If you aren’t sure that alcohol is to blame for your headaches, try keeping a diary. Each time you drink, write down the type of alcohol you have, the amount, and if and when you had a migraine. Include how you felt the prior 48 hours as well as any stress or anxiety you were under at the time.

How to Prevent a Headache After Drinking Alcohol

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. Without a consistent cause-and-effect situation, though, it could be a number of factors — not just alcohol — that are triggering your migraine headache. If you do notice a pattern, especially with particular types of alcohol over others, you may choose to avoid the offending drinks. Avoiding alcohol isn’t the only way to avoid an alcohol-related migraine headache.

What to know about headaches after alcohol

It has also been proposed that alcohol triggers an inflammatory response that can lead to a headache. It can’t prevent a migraine, but it can help stop one after it starts. Triptans work best when you take them at the early signs https://thepaloaltodigest.com/top-5-advantages-of-staying-in-a-sober-living-house/ of a migraine. You could get a headache within 30 minutes to 3 hours of drinking. Some people only sip a glass or two of wine before their head starts to throb. You might have heard that red wine is most likely to cause problems.

why does alcohol cause migraines

Many people find that only certain drinks trigger their attacks, so they only need to avoid specific beverages. However, what applies to one person with migraine might be quite different for another. Hi, I’m Dr. Amaal Starling, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic specializing in headache disorders. Top 5 Advantages of Staying in a Sober Living House Who gets it, the symptoms, the diagnosis, and most importantly, the treatment. Whether you’re looking for answers for yourself or someone you love, we are here to give you the best information available. It affects each person differently with a wide range of disease severity.

Grain Allergy

Sometimes more sulfites are added during the wine-making process to help preserve the drink. Alcohol intolerance is caused by a genetic condition in which the body can’t break down alcohol efficiently. The only way to prevent these uncomfortable reactions is to avoid alcohol. If you’ve consumed too much alcohol and have to work the next day, what do you do? Estimates of lost revenues due to reduced job productivity and absenteeism from alcohol run as high as $148 billion a year in the U.S. alone.

why does alcohol cause migraines

Original studies were selected if they reported in the results a numeric percentage of headache patients referring any ADs as a trigger factor. Other studies useful for the correlation of the results with the pathogenesis of the primary headaches where also selected. In addition to red wine, other alcoholic beverages, including beer, white wine, and liqueur, have also been reported as headache triggers. Whether or not alcohol is a migraine headache trigger is debatable. While some people do experience migraine headaches after drinking alcohol, not everyone does.

  • Blood vessels in the skin dilate, causing flushing and increased cardiac output.
  • Avoiding migraine triggers is one of the only sure-fire ways to avoid migraine symptoms.
  • Years of moderate to heavy drinking can cause liver scarring (fibrosis), increasing the risk of liver diseases like cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer.

Meaning if a parent has migraine, there’s about a 50 percent chance that a child may develop migraine as well. However, this does not mean that if you get a migraine attack, that it’s their fault, that you should feel any guilt or shame for your symptoms. Hormonal changes, specifically fluctuations and estrogen that can occur during menstrual periods, pregnancy and perimenopause can trigger a migraine attack. Other known triggers include certain medications, drinking alcohol, especially red wine, drinking too much caffeine, stress. Sleep changes, weather changes, skipping meals or even certain foods like aged cheeses and processed foods. Alcoholic drinks also contain certain compounds besides the alcohol itself that may trigger migraine attacks – these are the byproducts of alcohol fermentation.

Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss…from exercises to build a stronger core to advice on treating cataracts. PLUS, the latest news on medical advances and breakthroughs from Harvard Medical School experts. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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