If you tend to get migraines within three hours or less of drinking, this might work best for you. If none of the preventative measures above work or you didn’t know alcohol triggered migraines until after the fact, there are still options available to you. However, if you already have a headache, it is a good idea to stop drinking. 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. While this is not necessarily true for everyone, it’s true for so many people that a trend toward abstinence developed among migraine-sufferers.

Health Conditions

As a person, he is one half of one of two sets of twins in his family. But now, a new prospective cohort study suggests that alcohol may be less important as a trigger factor than previously assumed. Relaxation techniques may help ease stress-related migraine episodes, and they may make migraine episodes feel less severe when they do happen. Brandy, red wine, and rum have the highest levels of congeners, while gin and vodka contain fewer of these chemicals. Keep reading to learn more about the connection between migraine and alcohol.

Some people may feel that they can’t control their drinking, have negative feelings when they don’t drink, or generally feel that their alcohol consumption is negatively impacting their life. If you feel as though you can’t limit how much you drink or if you continue drinking even though it’s hurting you or those around you, it’s time to talk to your doctor. If you really want to drink, you may want to find out if any types of alcohol are unlikely to cause symptoms. You can try sips (or other small amounts) of different types of alcohol to see how your migraine reacts. Keep in mind that you may have to deal with several migraine attacks before you can determine what kind of alcohol causes your symptoms. Given that, this may not be the best approach if you’re unwilling to trade discomfort for a personal “safe” list of beverages.

Stress

Aim to drink plenty of water before, after, and during alcohol consumption. If you know a migraine is likely to come on and plan to drink anyway, triptans can help. Of course, like all medications, they have their own side effects. Also, follow your doctor’s recommendations regarding alcohol consumption. Dehydration triggers some migraine cases; therefore, drinking plenty of water can help, even after the fact. Drinking water helps replenish your fluids and flush the alcohol out of your system.

Signs & Symptoms

Drinks containing more alcohol and congeners may worsen the chance of developing a headache. Other criteria for a person to have a migraine diagnosis include nausea or vomiting and sensitivity to light or noise. As a result, a female’s blood alcohol concentration tends to be higher, making it more likely for females to experience headaches and hangovers. Seven articles used International Headache Society (IHS) criteria from 1988 46, 47, 50, 51, 56, 59, 60. Vives-Mestres acknowledged the evidence suggesting that even low doses of alcohol can cause headache in people with migraine.

1. Whenever one comes on, jot down what you last ate, how much sleep you got, what the current environmental factors are, and anything else that may help you to find out what the cause is.
2. So it’s best to make alcohol the single, isolated factor and journal what triggers each migraine.
3. These signs can reveal a pattern in your symptoms, and even provide you with preventative tools for managing migraine.
4. Remaining hydrated is one way to reduce migraine attacks, but the type of beverage you choose matters.
5. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript..

In this case, a direct action at the vascular system is hardly compatible with TH or MA. More plausible is an action at subcortical pain modulatory circuits, which in some way stimulate the neural generator of CH (hypothalamus?) and of migraine aura (cortex?, thalamus?). Many people find their migraine symptoms are heightened after consuming caffeine or alcohol. Conversely, other people say that a cup of coffee can stop their migraine symptoms, and some medications designed to fight migraine pain may contain a dose of caffeine. Although migraine patients consider red wine the principal alcoholic migraine trigger, studies show that other types of alcohol are just as likely—and sometimes even more frequently—the culprit.

They should talk to a medical provider about these triggers in order to minimize their headaches. I began having migraine attacks when I was a teenager, but was never properly diagnosed until I was an adult. This began 18 years where I was chronic and mostly intractable, resulting in a migrainous stroke in the summer of 2014.

More accurate calculation with amount and various types of alcohol was also conducted in studies 26, 27, 45, 54. Only few studies 46, 48–50, 52 provided the What Is Angel Dust Side Effects, Use, and Risks data about the period in which alcohol drinking was considered and measured. Nineteen studies used questionnaire methods to assess drinking 36, 44–59, 61, 62. In two cases, questionnaires were supplemented by medical interviews 53, 61.

Some studies found that red wine is a main trigger in migraine with aura and cluster type migraine, but they also note that all alcohol could have the same effect. 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 do drink alcohol, it’s important to be mindful of your consumption and to experiment to see what works best for you. One of the reasons certain types of alcohol may be more likely to trigger migraine attacks is the presence of congeners. These are by-products of the fermentation process, and they’re found in higher concentrations in dark liquors.