Alcohol and Migraine: Relationship, Triggers, and Treatment

The likelihood was even lower 24 to 48 hours after consumption. To prevent an alcohol-related migraine headache, try sipping your drink slowly or avoiding triggers. The presence and strength of hangover symptoms were accessed using the Hangover Symptom Scale (HSS). The scale was developed and validated by Slutske et al.9 and was translated and validated to Hebrew by the researchers. 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.

Hangover anxiety can also arise as the brain adjusts to the mental effects of alcohol. Drinking floods the brain with the neurotransmitter (brain chemical) gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which contributes to feelings of short-term relaxation. It also inhibits another neurotransmitter, glutamate, which regulates mood.

Why Does Drinking Give Me a Migraine Headache?

• Alcohol may increase blood flow to certain parts of your brain.
• Neurologist and headache expert Dr. Belinda Savage-Edwards explains that migraine attacks can occur with little alcohol.
• Students who reported marijuana smoking more than once were considered as marijuana smokers.
• Just as alcohol consumption causes a wide range of effects on the body and mind, so does the period of withdrawal.

Beer and hard liquor don’t seem to bother me as long as I am plenty hydrated before I have a drink. Additionally, it’s possible to have migraine episodes and hangovers, Rosen said. But now, a new prospective cohort study suggests that alcohol may be less important as a trigger factor than previously assumed.

Understanding Stress “Let Down” Migraine Attacks and How to Manage Them

Alcohol impacts your intestines’ ability to absorb certain nutrients, leading to shortfalls in zinc, selenium, potassium, iron, and magnesium. Poor or limited sleep causes grogginess and irritability, which can lead to feelings of depression or anxiety. Although alcohol makes you fall asleep faster, it interrupts your natural sleep-wake cycle (or circadian rhythm).

• People who experience a headache after drinking should not assume that it is a migraine attack, especially if they have symptoms consistent with other types of headaches.
• Menstruation was found to increase the likelihood that food and drinks would be more likely to trigger an attack.
• They are then distilled to increase the alcohol content and this process removes the congeners in the alcohol.
• 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.
• It may be worth considering some treatment options to help you manage your symptoms.
• Acetaldehyde contributes to inflammation in the liver, pancreas, intestinal tract, and brain, among other organs.

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. If it does, you’ll need to drink less or stay away from all alcohol. Nausea and/or vomiting is just one of many symptoms a person living with migraine might experience. Because migraine is a highly nuanced disease, it is important to learn about all possible symptoms that may appear before, during or after a migraine attack, including less common ones such as aura. Should you eat or avoid certain foods to prevent migraine attacks?

Similarly, common beliefs may influence patients habits, e.g., the conviction that “red wine causes migraine”, even if studies present conflicting evidence 80, 81. Consequently, it seems likely that people with migraine to some extent avoid alcohol, which would be one interpretation of our results. This data suggests that there may be a misperception that drinks containing alcohol cause migraine attacks. Still, in population-based studies in various countries, including the U.S., Japan and Italy, researchers found that fewer people with migraine consume alcohol than those without migraine. This indicates that people with migraine and other headache diseases may be more likely to give up alcohol because they perceive it as a possible migraine trigger.

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This tendency attenuated through the years, and during the last year they have a similar tendency as compared with nonmigraine sufferers. Nevertheless, the tendency was higher to develop migraine-like symptoms of the hangover. The HSS also allows us to assess the hangover symptoms following early drinking experiences.

Our objective was to compare alcohol hangover symptoms in migraine sufferers and nonsufferers. The migraines tend to start within three hours of consuming alcohol. Sometimes, migraines don’t plague patients until the next morning, just as their blood-alcohol content level is back to normal. Many people confuse this with a regular hangover until the intensity of the migraine sets in. 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.

How much alcohol consumption is too much?

Flavonoid phenols, abundant in red wine, have been studied for their potential role in triggering migraine. Yes, alcohol consumption can potentially exacerbate secondary headaches, particularly those related to cardiovascular disease or blood pressure issues. Dr. Crystal recommends keeping a migraine diary on a daily basis. Recording what you’re eating, drinking, and doing before, after, and during an attack can help you pinpoint patterns in attacks and triggers. It’s unclear why alcohol may trigger migraine, but red wine and liquor may be more likely to do so because of the chemical compounds they contain. Since the research on alcohol as a migraine trigger is limited, and everyone’s body metabolizes foods and drinks differently, it can be helpful to tune into what yours is telling you.

There’s no proof that drinking raw eggs or downing hot sauce will get rid of your morning-after migraine faster. Downing more alcohol (the “hair of the dog” theory) won’t help either. Having a strong network of people who validate your experience and support you on the good days and bad is so valuable when you live with an invisible illness like migraine. If you’re interested in connecting with more people in the migraine community, we recommend joining our Facebook support group, Move Against Migraine. There, you will find a wonderful community of people who are ready to listen and lift each other up.

Additives in different types of alcohol

Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.27 The Biomedical Research Alliance of New York (BRANY) IRB granted full waiver from informed consent on 10 October 2019. At the time of the study the App was only available in English. Participants who registered to use the platform through physician referral, or via the website or the App Store, between October 2014 and March 2018 were eligible. At the time of the study, the app was only available to users of iOS. This will be helpful in guiding conversations with your doctor about your symptoms. You might have tried some alternative therapies, but did you know about these complementary and integrative treatments?

How Do You Know When Alcohol Triggers Your Migraines?

When there was alcohol intake on day‐2 (regardless of intake on day‐1, Figure 1C,D) the probability of migraine attack was lower compared to when there was no alcohol intake in both day‐1 and day‐2 (red dots). On the other hand, the probability of migraine attack when there was no intake on day‐2 was similar regardless of whether there was alcohol intake on day‐1 (Figure 1A,B). There was no association between alcohol intake and the probability of a migraine attack one day after the consumption of alcohol. 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.

They should talk to a medical provider about these triggers in order to minimize their headaches. However, the type of alcoholic beverage that triggers these headaches is not clear. The majority were female (419/487, 86.0%), actively working (293/378, 77.5%). Most of the females had regular menstrual cycles (247/419, 58.9%). Individuals reported a mean (SD) of 6.1 (3.3) migraine days per month and does alcohol make migraines worse 3.7 (1.7) migraine attacks per month. Alcohol’s exact role in triggering a migraine isn’t fully known.

Migraine sufferers consume less alcohol, especially beer and liquors, and are more vulnerable to migraine-like hangover symptoms than nonsufferers. The finding that the tendency to develop migraine attacks affects the hangover symptomatology may suggest a similarity in pathophysiology, and possibly in treatment options. If, after keeping track, you become convinced alcohol is the problem, then it’s now time to identify the symptoms. A common misconception is that overconsumption of alcohol is what triggers headaches. As many migraine sufferers can attest to, sometimes it just takes one glass of wine or even a sip.

Analysis of the 22 included studies revealed 5 cohort studies 36, 45, 52, 55, 58, 11 cross-sectional 26, 27, 44, 46–48, 51, 56, 57, 59, 60 and six case-controls 49, 50, 53, 54, 61, 62. Of the cohort studies, two 36, 66 received fewer than 8 “yes” answers, therefore according to the assessment criteria from the Methods section above, these were assessed as having moderate risk of bias. The majority of cohort studies were within the range of 3–7 points, thus receiving a high risk of bias 52, 55, 58. A detailed description of risk of bias assessment for the cohort studies is presented in Table 3.