Red Wine Migraine and Headache: Causes and Cures

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.

• You may learn that certain types of beer create more of a reaction than others.
• While in some cases it is likely the presence of alcohol itself, it is also possible that specific components of different alcoholic drinks act as triggers.
• For instance, alcohol byproducts called congeners have been linked to headaches.
• It’s much more difficult to stop an oncoming dehydration-triggered migraine attack than it is to prevent it, so have fun but remain diligent about how much alcohol you’re drinking as well.
• In fact, an inverse relationship between density and metabolic functioning of regional brain 5-HT system and alcohol preference was repeatedly reported in animal studies [69–72].

Management of alcohol withdrawal headaches is likely best served as part of a treatment program. A person suffering from severe or prolonged withdrawal may need relief from headaches and other symptoms [3]. 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]. Headaches after drinking alcohol, commonly known as hangovers, can last up to 72 hours after drinking, but most are shorter in duration.

Red Wine Migraine and Headache: Why Red Wine Makes You Feel Not So Fine

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

• Some of these effects are caused by ethanol itself, and others are from an even more toxic byproduct of its metabolism called acetaldehyde.
• The interpretation of this data should be cautious, since recall bias is a major concern.
• Migraine sufferers consume less alcohol, especially beer and liquors, and are more vulnerable to migraine-like hangover symptoms than nonsufferers.
• If you’re a lover of lager and don’t want to miss out on your favorite drink for fear of causing an alcohol-induced headache or migraine attack, keep reading.

They are thought to contain chemicals called congeners that add to ethanol’s harmful effects. Most people are well aware of the presence of headache, malaise, diarrhea, loss of appetite, tiredness, nausea and sensitivity to light, sound and motion the day after binge drinking. What may be less well recognized is that manual dexterity, memory, reaction time, visual-spatial skills and attention are all adversely affected, even when your alcohol level has fallen back down to 0. No one is exactly sure how ethanol causes its various effects, but once absorbed from the stomach into the bloodstream it can freely cross out of the blood and into nerve cells of the brain. Once in the brain it causes a chemical release that leads to pleasurable feelings, and it lessens inhibitions by depressing certain frontal lobe functions.

Types of headaches associated with alcohol

You can also take steps to prevent headaches and other hangover symptoms in the future. Foods high in these components include dried fruits, hard cheese, and cured or processed meats. You also put yourself at a higher risk of an immediate alcohol-induced headache, which may put a damper on your evening. Certain alcohol byproducts known as congeners can contribute to a hangover headache. They impede the breakdown of ethanol, making the effects of a hangover stronger and longer-lasting. They can also trigger stress hormones and inflammation, worsening an already brutal headache.

These drinks will have fewer congeners and may be less likely to trigger an attack. Individuals who are already prone to have migraine headaches should be especially aware of alcohol-induced migraines. Roughly 3 in 10 migraine sufferers report that alcohol is a trigger can alcohol cause migraines at least some of the time. Aside from contributing to the flavor of the alcohol, congeners increase the severity and frequency of hangover symptoms, including headaches. Congeners tend to aggravate brain tissue and blood vessels, which contributes to headaches.

Cluster Headaches

« I tell people to watch their diets, but don’t be obsessive. If every time you eat a handful of nuts, you get a headache in the next four to 12 hours, then it’s probably a trigger. » And if your red wine headache is sudden, intense, or accompanied by symptoms you’ve never experienced before like fainting, fever, or stiff neck, see a doctor ASAP. Hangover headaches also happen due to the buildup of acetaldehyde, a toxic byproduct your body makes when it metabolizes ethanol. This buildup also leads to a throbbing head and flip-flopping stomach. If you have a pounding headache the next morning, it’s likely a hangover and not a migraine caused by red wine. Since red wine has more tannins than white wine, tannins are a commonly called-out culprit for those fateful migraine episodes.

• Perhaps slip in a glass of water for every glass of alcohol you drink, preventing dehydration.
• A study conducted by the Migraine Trust and Curelator found that only about 6 percent of migraine warriors have attacks after consuming alcohol.
• There are two main types of headaches that people experience after drinking alcohol, including immediate and delayed alcohol-induced headaches.

In a 2007 study, Austrian researchers examined a number of factors related to migraine, specifically considering consumption of alcohol and other nutritional factors the day before the onset of a headache. They found limited importance of nutrition, including alcohol intake, in the triggering of migraine. If you aren’t sure that alcohol is to blame for your headaches, try keeping a diary.

How Alcohol Triggers Headaches

Ethanol is also a diuretic, which means it signals your body to urinate more frequently than usual, which often leads to dehydration, and the resulting fluid loss can cause an imbalance that triggers a nasty headache. Because that’s just what your body wants during a night of long partying, excessive urination. Yes, alcohol is the direct cause of headaches in a lot of instances.

Another study shows that of the 429 migraine patients, 17% are sensitive to all forms of alcohol, 11.2% to red wine but not to white wine or clear spirits, while 28% are sensitive to beer (none only to this alone) [19]. No differences exist between male and females [17, 22,27–29] in alcohol susceptibility. Paul Mathew, MD, is an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and serves as the director of continuing medical education at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Neurology. This dilutes the effect of alcohol in your system and reduces the chance of alcohol triggering a headache or migraine attack,” he says.

If you suffer from migraines, talk with your doctor about how alcohol may affect you. Chemicals called congeners are also a component of alcoholic drinks. These chemicals may also trigger migraine headaches in certain people. Generally, a larger person will require more drinks to achieve the same blood-alcohol concentration as a smaller person.

However, there isn’t currently enough research to conclusively say why this is the case. Many believe that it is for similar reasons why alcohol causes headaches. In particular, the dehydration aspect is seen as a big migraine trigger. As mentioned above, if you already suffer from things like chronic headaches or migraines, being dehydrated will likely make this worse and cause a migraine episode. Again, it is reported that alcohol is a major trigger for migraines in lots of people.

Wine Is A Frequent Food Trigger For Headaches

We also examine the types of headache alcohol can trigger and the types of alcohol likely to cause more headaches. Keep a record of any symptoms that occur after consuming alcohol and discuss them with your doctor. Identifying your specific food and drink triggers is a key part of any migraine prevention and treatment plan. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Still, it’s possible that citrus fruits might trigger migraines in some sufferers, and they’re certainly on experts’ radars as being a possible—though much rarer—culprit, said Dr. Traub. To help pinpoint what’s causing your migraines, Dr. Traub recommended keeping a headache diary, either on a calendar or in a journal.