Taking one before drinking isn’t recommended or known to be effective. Beer and hard liquor don’t seem to bother me as long as I am plenty hydrated before I have a drink. This information is not designed to replace a physician’s independent judgment about the appropriateness or risks of a procedure for a given patient. Migraine.com does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Use of the site is conditional upon your acceptance of our terms of use.
What Causes Migraines?
Moreover, there were significant trends of decreasing prevalence of migraine and non-migraine headache with the increasing number of alcohol units consumed 28, 31. Different types of alcohol are made through a fermentation process. Alcohols like gin and vodka are fermented first from a mash of foods that contain starch and sugar. They are then distilled to increase the alcohol content and this process removes the congeners in the alcohol. As long as you don’t eat meals containing other triggers, this is one of the best things you can do. Try to stick to just a glass or two and eat enough for the food to soak up some of that alcohol.
Best and Worst Types of Alcohol for People With Migraine
This Diagnosis & Treatment page walks you through next steps after a diagnosis. You could also search our Resources Library to learn more about symptoms, triggers and treatments. Receiving a formal migraine diagnosis is the first milestone when working with your doctor to identify a personalized and effective treatment plan. Continuing to talk with your doctor throughout the course of your treatment is important for determining the strategies that prove beneficial and those that may not be as effective. If your support system is lacking, consider joining a support group.
Understanding Stress “Let Down” Migraine Attacks and How to Manage Them
We have created customized plans than have helped more than 12,000 people live the pain-free lives they deserve. 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. If you tend to get migraines within three hours or less of drinking, this might work best for is alcohol a migraine trigger you. Unfortunately, this may lead to inflammation throughout the body, which can trigger migraines in some people.
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Thirty-nine percent of the sample were from the US, and 35% from Great Britain. Together, study participants contributed data on 43,830 diary days; migraine was reported on 9,578 (22%) of those days. No study has yet attempted to simultaneously measure all of these variables, let alone in human subjects.
It’s essential to build a support network of understanding people who can not only check in on you during an attack but also empathize with your experience. Then consider joining the Move Against Migraine support group on Facebook so you can connect with others who live with migraine. The content on this website is provided for educational purposes only. While it is doctor-verified, it is not intended to serve as medical advice, and users are advised to seek the advice of their doctors before making any decisions based on the information in this article.
- Learn how to make healthy nutritional and dietary choices while managing migraine symptoms.
- The migraine experience is far beyond a regular headache’s pressure, throbbing, or pounding.
- Alcohol is broken down in the liver by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase.
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article. Individuals gave consent to their anonymized data being collected and analyzed for research purposes by agreeing to the Curelator Inc. Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.27 The Biomedical Research Alliance of New York (BRANY) IRB granted full waiver from informed consent on 10 October 2019. Participants who registered to use the platform through physician referral, or via the website or the App Store, between October 2014 and March 2018 were eligible.
- Many people have turned to abstinence as their preventative measure for reasons stated above.
- Curiously, in some countries, the percentages of alcohol or wine as migraine triggers were negligible, 6.1 25 and 1.4% 26, perhaps depending on the degree of alcohol habits.
- This work considered the alcoholic drinks and other triggering factors taken the day before onset of headache.
- Health Union reaches millions of people through condition-specific online health communities and a Social Health Network of patient leaders across virtually all health conditions.
- We recommend a look at our patient guides, which include useful information including how to talk to your doctor about migraine.
In fact migraine patients can have headaches triggered by alcoholic drinks such as wine within a few hours or the next morning after the alcohol intake (hangover headache?), with the confounding effect of sleep on the interval determination. A total of 7877 people with migraine registered to use the headache app from October 2014 to March 2018. Among these, 787 were ≥18 years old who tracked ≥90 days with ≥75% adherence. Of these, 651 met the criterion for EM retrospectively, and 493 reported drinking alcohol. Another 6 individuals were excluded because they never tracked alcohol consumption.
This Soothing Ginger and Mushroom Congee is like a warm hug for your brain — gentle, nourishing, and packed with migraine-fighting goodness. But leafy greens have so much more to offer than just a single nutrient — they’re incredibly complex factories producing thousands of beneficial compounds in just the right proportions. So, rather than try to identify a single factor (and then consuming it as a pill), I’d recommend embracing leafy greens and enjoying the mystery of why they’re so good for you. One way to identify potential food culprits is an elimination diet.
I didn’t experience any adverse effects from consuming alcohol, but a couple of my friends did. Many times, they would get a headache after drinking red wine or bourbon. It is possible that alcohol itself can trigger headache, especially when ingested in large quantities such as in hangover headache, and some components of the alcoholic drinks can reinforce alcohol action or vice versa.
Some people only sip a glass or two of wine before their head starts to throb. These headaches cause very intense pain that often primarily affects the area behind one eye. More than half of those who experience cluster headaches say that alcohol is a trigger. A 2024 study explored whether following a diet rich in whole plant foods could influence the chances of having migraines. However, a 2023 review of therapeutic recommendations published in the Journal of Headache Pain listed both “light and moderate-intensity continuous aerobic activity” as generally protective against migraines. In particular, yoga decreased pain intensity, frequency, duration, and disability related to migraines.
Some studies found that ADs trigger also other primary headaches. The studies concerning the role of ADs in triggering various types of primary headaches published after the International Headache Society classification criteria of 1988 were reviewed, and the pathophysiological mechanisms were discussed. Many studies show that ADs are a trigger of migraine without aura (MO), migraine with aura (MA), cluster headache (CH), and tension-type headache (TH). While data on MO and CH are well delineated, those in MA and TH are discordant.
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. 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 treatment. Crunchy kale, beets, and radishes support healthy blood flow, and creamy avocado helps keep blood sugar stable, reducing potential migraine triggers. Topped with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and optional miso chickpeas, this salad is a delicious, feel-good way to nourish your body and your brain.