Alcohol and Migraines: Can Drinking Trigger A Headache? NHI

can alcohol cause migraines

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. Participants were 18 years of age or older who consumed alcohol. They registered to use the platform between October 2014 and March 2018, and subsequently tracked their symptoms and risk factors for at least 90 of 120 days after registration.

These include water, electrolyte drinks, bone broth, and diluted fruit juices. According to the how old is demi lavato American Migraine Foundation, internationally, about 10 percent of people with migraine report a frequent link between alcohol and headaches. In some parts of the world, that number drops to as low as 1.4 percent.

  1. People prone to headaches may be at a higher risk of experiencing alcohol-related headaches.
  2. 2021 research also linked lifestyle factors with alcohol drinking and smoking to cluster headaches and their severity.
  3. Many things can trigger a migraine, from stress at work to changes in the weather to foods like aged cheese.

The possible triggering site

Most importantly, monitor how you feel when you drink alcohol and be willing to have open and honest conversations about drinking with your doctor and other important people in your life. There was no association between alcohol intake and the probability of a migraine attack one day after the consumption of alcohol. If you’ve identified alcohol as a trigger for your migraine headaches, avoiding it altogether is probably best. The same is true if you find that some types of alcohol trigger your migraine headaches more than others. Avoiding migraine triggers is one of the only sure-fire ways to avoid migraine symptoms. 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.

can alcohol cause migraines

Cluster headache

Whether you’re looking for answers for yourself or someone you love, we are here to give you the best information available. It affects each person differently with a wide range of disease severity. Some have infrequent attacks, but others may have frequent disabling attacks. Expecting someone to push through or just take your mind off of it is never good advice.

Recently another study group reported a high percentage of patients referring red wine as the most frequent trigger between alcoholic drinks 24 but subsequently it did not report any of them as a trigger 30. In a 2018 study involving 2,197 people with migraine, 25% of the participants who stopped or always avoided drinking did so because alcohol triggered migraine attacks. More than a third of the participants said that alcohol had this effect, with about 78% naming red wine as the most common alcohol trigger. 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.

Learn more about the relationship between migraine and mental health in this AMF webinar. 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. A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

Results

A migraine each time you have a night out should be a good reason to abstain. Immediate alcohol-induced headaches are rarer than hangovers, and even a small amount of alcohol might trigger them in people who, for instance, experience migraines. Hi, I’m Dr. Amaal Starling, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic specializing in headache disorders. Who gets it, the symptoms, the diagnosis, and most importantly, the treatment.

What not to drink during a migraine attack?

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Alcohol is embedded in our society, and it is difficult to be in a public space without seeing a reference to alcohol or being offered a drink.

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