Even if you have a history of headaches, see your health care provider if the pattern changes or your headaches suddenly feel different. For some people, a warning symptom known as an aura occurs before or with the headache. An aura can include visual disturbances, such as flashes of light or blind spots, or other disturbances, such as tingling on one side of the face or in an arm or leg and difficulty speaking. When enjoying a night out on the town, there are several triggers you may expose yourself to including bright flashing lights, loud music, food and alcohol. A slice of cheesecake or pizza can do far more damage for some people than others.
Congeners are minor compounds that occur in alcoholic beverages as a natural result of distilling and fermenting. Congeners are primarily found in darker liquors like brandy, whiskey, and wine. There are exceptions to this rule, however, such as tequila—a light-colored liquor that nevertheless carries high levels of congeners. Often, alcohol-induced can alcohol cause migraines headaches also have characteristics that resemble your usual headaches, whether they are migraines, cluster headaches, or tension headaches. The alcohol in the blood increases more quickly with liquor than with beer. For example, if a person drinks liquor before beer, they are likely to feel the effects of the alcohol sooner.
What to know about alcohol and migraine
And many people are surprised to find out that it doesn’t take much alcohol to trigger them. Headaches and migraines can be extremely uncomfortable, and even debilitating at times. Learning more about exactly what causes alcohol-induced headaches can provide motivation for building healthier habits and feeling better. Let’s look at why alcohol makes your head hurt, what you can do to remedy it, and how to avoid headaches down the road.
While headaches are generally recognized as a side effect of alcohol in many people, its reputation as a migraine headache trigger may be overestimated. People who experience a headache after drinking should not assume that it is a migraine, especially if they have symptoms consistent with other types of headaches. For example, a tension headache may cause pain in the neck or shoulders. Of the 1,547 participants, 783 said that alcohol was a trigger, and 195 were not sure. People who experienced migraine with alcohol were more likely to have migraine with aura and to experience more migraine days and more frequent attacks.
Migraine with aura
In a 2018 study involving 2,197 people with migraine, 25% of the participants who had stopped or always avoided drinking did so because alcohol triggered migraine attacks. More than a third of the participants said that alcohol had this effect, with about 78% naming red wine as the most common alcohol trigger. To summarize, for people with migraine, the best alcoholic choices are clear liquors like vodka, gin, or dry white wine.
Other criteria for a person to have a migraine diagnosis include nausea or vomiting and sensitivity to light or noise. Those diagnosed with a specific type of headache may be more prone to develop a specific type of headache after consuming alcohol. In a 2017 study, researchers found that people of East Asian ancestry drink less than members of other groups. Certain genes may influence the tendency to drink and alcohol tolerance to quantities of alcohol. This chemical is a vasodilator, which increases the size of blood vessels in the body. A 2016 study showed that alcohol consistently induced migraine in 10% of people.
Alcohol-induced headaches: Evidence for a central mechanism?
Migraine is complex, and other neurological conditions may cause migraine-like symptoms. For this reason, it is important to see a doctor about migraine symptoms or chronic headaches, with or without drinking. Headaches, including migraine, are treatable with the right combination of medication and lifestyle adjustments. Moreover, people who drink alcohol may not drink as much water, intensifying the water loss.
Learn more about the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol. If a headache persists or worsens, visit a doctor for an examination and treatment recommendations. We recommend exploring complementary treatments such as biofeedback, green light therapy and aerobic exercise.
Symptoms of severe dehydration in infants and young children include:
People with migraine are more likely to have this type of reaction to migraine than those without. There are many possible triggers for migraine attacks, including stress, bright lights, loud noises, weather changes, certain foods and drinks, and changes in sleep or hormone patterns to name a few. A 2008 review compared red wine consumption to vodka consumption in people with migraine who are sensitive to wine. They found that vodka did not act as a migraine trigger in people who reported sensitivity to red wine.
- About a third of people with migraine find that alcohol can trigger their attacks, while about 10 percent find it triggers them on a regular basis, according to a 2016 study.
- And for about one-third of people who have migraines, alcohol is also a trigger.
- Dr. Green cautions, however, that stopping drinking may not resolve the entire problem.
- So, she recommends reducing alcohol intake or stopping drinking altogether if a patient does, indeed, find a connection between drinking and migraine.
- Other potential contributors in red wines include tannins, flavonoid phenols, histamines, and more.
Some studies have reported that alcohol can trigger a migraine headache in people who are sensitive to it in as little as 30 minutes — or it could take 3 hours. Several studies suggest that alcohol, especially red wine, may trigger migraine attacks. Histamine, tannins, tyramine, flavonoid phenols, sulfites, and phenylethylamine are all found within alcoholic beverages and this also includes beer. 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.