This review was performed using a literature search on PubMed from 1988 (date of the first IHS classification) to December 2014. Search terms of “alcohol,” “wine,” “food trigger,” “dietary trigger,” “migraine,” “headache” were used. Additional sources were identified via manual alcohol causes migraines search of bibliographies, references lists, and previous peer reviews. Original studies were selected if they reported in the results a numeric percentage of headache patients referring any ADs as a trigger factor. Thirty-five papers were found corresponding to these criteria.
Dehydration headache
Women suffer from migraines at higher rates than men and experience the effects of alcohol more severely than men, so the combination is especially tenuous for women migraine sufferers. As the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism points out, hangovers usually have several symptoms. If you have other hangover symptoms, like nausea or dizziness, in addition to your headache, then the likely cause of your headache is alcohol. There are some other factors you can look at, too, when you’re trying to figure out if you’re dealing with a hangover headache as opposed to a headache that’s caused by something else. If you’re up and moving around a lot, you may exacerbate a cocktail headache.
Can alcohol give you a migraine attack?
This leads to excessive urination and dehydration, which may cause a headache after a small amount of 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. While there is some research on each possible reason why alcohol causes headaches, study authors have not definitively proven the link between the two.
What Are the Symptoms?
This hormone affects the body in many ways, including affecting the kidney’s ability to reabsorb water. If a person’s body is producing less vasopressin, that can result in dehydration, which can cause a headache. The best way to avoid developing a headache after consuming alcohol is to drink in moderation. However, if a person does develop a headache, there are ways to help manage the pain. Mounting evidence suggests there may be a connection between migraine and mental health.
Because your body views alcohol as a toxic substance, it’s perfectly normal to experience a headache from drinking alcohol. Alcohol’s effects on your body include dehydration, inflammation, reduced sleep quality, and the buildup of toxic substances—all of which can give you a headache. Hangover headaches tend to have symptoms common to many people. The headaches often occur along with other symptoms related to drinking alcoholic beverages.
- This contributes greatly to dehydration, which is the cause of your alcohol-induced headache.
- 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.
- A migraine each time you have a night out should be a good reason to abstain.
- When you consume alcohol, it can cause headaches due to factors.
Hangover Headache Symptoms
If your body already lacks the optimal amount of fluids for your body, the headache will come on a lot faster. 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. In this post, we’ll explore why you get a pounding headache after drinking and why one type of alcohol/s seems to cause more of an issue than others. There is some evidence that certain distilled spirits may cause fewer headaches.
- Alcohol can trigger headaches, including migraines, cluster headaches, and tension-type headaches.
- But that type of headache is caused by the amount of alcohol you drink, rather than what you drink.
- While headaches are generally recognized as a side effect of alcohol in many people, its reputation as a migraine headache trigger may be overestimated.
- In many cases, researchers say it’s more a matter of individual triggers or other factors that coincide with your alcohol consumption, like stress.
- About two-thirds of people who drink alcohol develop these headaches.
Should people with migraine avoid alcohol?
Some people drink water in between glasses of wine, for example. Alcohol’s exact role in triggering a migraine isn’t fully known. For instance, alcohol byproducts called congeners have been linked to headaches.
Gastroparesis: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Life Expectancy
Triptans work best when you take them at the early signs of a migraine. At best, you can drink a lot of water in between drinks and make sure to eat while consuming alcohol to diminish its effects. Tension headaches feel like you have a tight band, like a headband, around your head. They feel different than a migraine and, in some cases, may feel different than a hangover headache. As you may recall, any kind of alcohol will eventually dehydrate you. Dehydration is one of the reasons why you get a headache after drinking.
Living with Migraine
In other words, you will go to the toilet more frequently, but the lost liquid will not be as evenly replaced. This contributes greatly to dehydration, which is the cause of your alcohol-induced headache. Aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) can cause your stomach to make more acid, which can irritate your stomach. And acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) may cause serious liver damage if taken with too much alcohol.