The information provided in this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely upon the content provided in this article for specific medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your doctor. If you find yourself struggling to stop drinking or recognize that you have symptoms of alcohol use disorder, it’s important to reach out for help.

  1. Unfortunately, we still don’t know exactly what it is about alcoholic drinks that triggers migraine, and the root cause might be different for different people.
  2. Additionally, alcohol consumption decreases the level of B vitamins in the body, which can make headaches worse.
  3. While headaches are generally recognized as a side effect of alcohol in many people, its reputation as a migraine headache trigger may be overestimated.
  4. We recommend a look at our patient guides, which include useful information including how to talk to your doctor about migraine.
  5. Drinking water helps replenish your fluids and flush the alcohol out of your system.

What Factors Affect the Risk of an Alcohol-Induced Headache?

Many people have experienced a headache after drinking alcohol — especially after drinking too much. While headaches are generally recognized as a side effect of alcohol in many people, its reputation as a migraine headache trigger may be overestimated. Some people think their migraine headaches are triggered by a combination of alcohol and other factors.

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Current medical opinions on alcohol consumption are evolving with research, so it’s important to educate yourself on the effects of alcohol on your health. If you are struggling with alcohol abuse or other dependency issues, there are many resources that are ready to help. While anyone can experience DAIH, people with migraine are more susceptible. Even a modest amount of alcohol can cause people with migraine to develop a delayed headache or trigger an attack.

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People who get migraine attacks during or after drinking should consider reducing or eliminating alcohol. If they find this too challenging, they may have alcohol use disorder, which warrants crack cocaine symptoms and warning signs treatment. People who have frequent migraine attacks may wish to consider migraine prevention medications such as topiramate (Topamax), divalproex (Depakote), or propranolol (Inderal).

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Examples of migraine aura include visual phenomena such as seeing geometric shapes or bright spots, or flashing lights, or even loss of vision. Some people may develop numbness or a pins and needles sensation on one side of their face or body, or even difficulty speaking. At the end of a migraine attack, you might feel drained, confused, or washed out for up to a day. 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. For example, wine may be a trigger for some but whiskey may not have an influence.

Then make an appointment with your health care provider to discuss your headaches. The alcohol in the blood increases more quickly with liquor than with beer. For example, if a person drinks liquor before beer, they are likely to feel the effects of the alcohol sooner. More research will help to determine the effects of specific alcohol content on a person’s headaches. Those diagnosed with a specific type of headache may be more prone to develop a specific type of headache after consuming alcohol. 2020 research shows that females are more likely to experience hangovers, memory problems, and liver disease from consuming alcohol.

Ethanol is found in every alcoholic drink, and is a key reason why any form or amount of alcohol may contribute to headaches. Congeners are minor compounds that occur in alcoholic beverages as a natural result of distilling and fermenting. Congeners are primarily found in darker liquors like brandy, whiskey, and wine. There are exceptions to this rule, however, such as tequila—a light-colored liquor that nevertheless carries high levels of congeners.

After creating and using search terms in databases, the results were searched by three authors (BB, PN and MS1) independently. Then, the results were compared by researchers and duplicates were removed. Any remaining articles were screened by title or abstract randomly by the authors (BB, PN and MS1) with the below presented inclusion/exclusion criteria and PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Hence, papers that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded.

A detailed description of risk of bias assessment for the cohort studies is presented in Table ​Table3.3. In cross-sectional studies, six out of the 11 had a high risk preventing nicotine poisoning in dogs of bias [46–48, 51, 56, 60], because they received fewer than 6 positive answers. Three studies were evaluated as moderate risk, with 6 “yes” answers [44, 57, 59].

Plan to discuss the FDA’s safety guide for medication use during pregnancy. It may be worth considering some treatment options to help you manage your symptoms. It will be crucial to have access to reliable resources on migraine as antibiotics and alcohol you work to manage this disease. The American Migraine Foundation offers extensive resources to help you explore your symptoms and treatment options. This Diagnosis & Treatment page walks you through next steps after a diagnosis.