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

Many people have experienced a headache after drinking alcohol — especially after drinking too much. While headaches are generally recognized as a side effect of alcohol in many people, its reputation as a migraine headache trigger may be overestimated. Data were analyzed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics, Version 20 software. The presence and strength of hangover symptoms were accessed using the Hangover Symptom Scale (HSS).

• Although genetic factors influence the risk of having migraine, environmental triggers can cause episodes or increase their frequency.
• Talk to your doctor about any concerns and about whether it is safe to drink alcohol with any medications you are taking.
• If you’re enjoying a beer or an afternoon of drinking, make every other drink water.

Include how you felt the prior 48 hours as well as any stress or anxiety you were under at the time. A migraine each time you have a night out should be good reason to abstain. This includes being careful about the amount of alcohol you consume and paying attention to how and when your migraine symptoms flare up in relation to drinking.

Why Does Beer Cause Headaches & Migraines?

In other words, the best treatment for a cocktail headache is actually preventing one in the first place. Before consuming a cocktail, ask yourself if it is worth developing a headache over and ruining your celebration or holiday. It’s well known that drinking too much alcohol can cause a variety of symptoms the next day. It’s easy to find tons of purported hangover headache “cures” that you can make at home and even buy in stores. But most of them have no reliable scientific research that proves they work [2]. Symptoms of PAWS can go on for months or even years after you stop drinking.

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. Drinking alcohol can increase inflammation in the body, which may be why some people experience migraines when they drink. This might also lead to headaches, although not all studies agree on this point. We know that alcohol is inflammatory and that people who drink often get headaches, but the direct relationship between these two is still being debated and researched. You may consider trying to avoid MSG foods if you experience migraines.

Should people with migraine avoid alcohol?

“Hydration is probably the biggest protective factor against headache. A well-hydrated person is the least likely to experience headaches or to can alcohol cause migraines have the least intensity of headache,” Moore says. You can also consider drinking a hydration supplement like Cove’s Oasis to boost that effect.

Red wine is the type of alcohol most often reported as a headache trigger. Tannin, a component in red wine, has been long considered the culprit. 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. 2021 research also linked lifestyle factors with alcohol drinking and smoking to cluster headaches and their severity.

Why Do I Always Get A Headache When I Drink Alcohol

Keep reading to learn more about the connection between migraine and headache. Perhaps inflammatory mechanisms and the known vasodilatatoric effect of alcohol are the link between hangover and migraine. 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.

However, a 2019 study found higher rates of vodka consumption among drinkers with frequent migraine attacks. The response to alcohol varies from person to person, and there is no alcohol that absolutely will not cause a migraine or other headache. If you experience migraine headaches after drinking alcohol, it may be best to avoid alcohol. Talk with a doctor about ways to identify your migraine triggers and what to do if you develop these headaches. To summarize, for people with migraine, the best alcoholic choices are clear liquors like vodka, gin, or dry white wine. The alcohols more likely to trigger a migraine attack are dark liquors like bourbon, whiskey or red wine.

Be Cautious With Pain Medication

This leads to excessive urination and dehydration, which may cause a headache after a small amount of alcohol. While there is some research on each possible reason why alcohol causes headaches, study authors have not definitively proven the link between the two. Relaxation techniques may help ease stress-related migraines, and they may make migraine episodes feel less severe when they happen. Its main limitation is the fact that its data is based solely on self-reported questionnaires. Migraine diagnosis was based on these questionnaires and the students were not examined by a neurologist. A recall bias may be present regarding hangover symptomatology during the last year.

Headaches are one of the most common physical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Headaches can initiate only 6 hours after your last drink and may last anywhere between 3 days to over a year. A person’s alcohol withdrawal timeline depends on a number of factors, including the severity of alcohol dependence, the presence of other health problems, additional substance abuse, and others. The combination of headaches with other symptoms can tell you how serious the withdrawal will likely be. According to NCBI research, tannins in wine are a major player when it comes to headaches.

In fact, around 30 percent of people who experience recurrent migraines report alcohol as a trigger. About half of those with less common headache disorders, such as cluster headaches, paroxysmal hemicrania, hemicrania continua, and familial hemiplegic migraine, also notice that alcohol precipitates their headaches. Whether or not alcohol is a migraine headache trigger is debatable. While some people do experience migraine headaches after drinking alcohol, not everyone does. If alcohol is a confirmed trigger for your migraine, then avoiding alcohol is the best solution. If you’re unsure whether alcohol is triggering your migraine, keep a detailed migraine journal that includes any foods and alcohol consumed throughout the week.

People who suffer from migraine are more prone to these reactions — even after drinking less alcohol than people who don’t get migraine headaches. The questionnaires were filled without the presence of an interviewer, and did not include any recognizable data to assure full anonymity of the collected data. The questionnaires included demographics, headache history and characteristics, health-related habits (smoking and alcohol consumption), and hangover https://ecosoberhouse.com/ symptoms. “Alcohol consumption is one of the most common dietary triggers for migraine sufferers,” says Dr. Sara Crystal, Cove Medical Director, noting that alcohol causes two specific types of headaches. But if you’re prone to migraine headaches, you’ll need to be careful about how much you drink. A 5-ounce glass of wine (or 12 ounces of beer or a 1.5-fluid-ounce shot) may be OK every now and then, so long as it doesn’t bring on a headache.