You’ll need to visit your doctor or trained medical professional to get an official diagnosis. Alcohol disrupts your sleep quality, but get as much sleep as you can, crappy or otherwise. This makes you susceptible to diseases because your body loses the ability to fight off infections. Alcohol interferes with the communication pathways in the brain. PLUS, the latest news on medical advances and breakthroughs from Harvard Medical School experts.

How to Prevent a Headache After Drinking Alcohol

Such headaches can occur while you are drinking, or a few hours after—even if you’ve had as little as one drink. The type of alcohol does not seem to affect whether a person gets a headache. While red wine has been described as a dominant trigger of migraines and cluster headaches, white wine, champagne, sparkling wines, and beer have also been linked to headaches.

• We feel like we might be getting a big eye roll on that one but this is truthfully one of the best ways to prevent a hangover.
• As a result, people feel malaise (a general feeling of unwellness), fatigue, headache, and other physical symptoms.
• Excessive drinking has numerous impacts on your body and mind, ranging from mild to severe.
• Drinking floods the brain with the neurotransmitter (brain chemical) gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which contributes to feelings of short-term relaxation.

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When you consume alcohol, it causes blood vessels to expand or dilate, leading to increased blood flow. This dilation can trigger headaches, especially in individuals who are more prone to migraines or have a sensitivity to changes in blood vessel size. Additionally, alcohol can also cause dehydration, which further exacerbates the headache-inducing effects. Understanding these mechanisms can help us make informed choices and take steps to prevent or manage alcohol-related headaches. Typically, people who experience headaches after drinking wine, beer, spirits or mixed drinks tend to notice the unpleasant correlation and avoid them. People who are prone to migraine headaches are also susceptible to headaches from drinking alcohol.

Alcohol and headaches

Congeners are present in some alcoholic beverages, and can also cause or contribute to headaches. These include hydrating, eating carbohydrates, and taking certain painkillers. A person should avoid acetaminophen as it can worsen the effects of alcohol on the liver. A person should take ibuprofen or aspirin with caution as they could irritate the lining of the stomach. Just like food triggers, alcohol headache triggers are individual, varying from person to person.

• However unpleasant, most hangovers go away on their own, though they can last up to 24 hours.
• He is an active member of the American Headache Society and the American Academy of Neurology.
• Alcohol-induced headaches are common after having a drink or two.
• A hangover is an unpleasant consequence of heavy alcohol consumption and includes a headache and other symptoms.

Some people may experience an alcohol-related migraine between 30 minutes and 3 hours can alcohol cause migraines after drinking. More research will help to determine the effects of specific alcohol content on a person’s headaches. Genes that play a role in opioid, serotonin, and dopamine systems also influence alcohol sensitivity. These genes may affect the likelihood of experiencing symptoms such as headaches after drinking small amounts. Drinking even a small amount of alcohol may trigger a migraine or headache in people with migraine. People who do not get migraines tend to get a headache when consuming a large amount of alcohol.

For example, your genetic makeup may be such that you just can’t tolerate a lot of alcohol, or you may have a naturally-low body weight. That also doesn’t allow for much alcohol in general, beer or otherwise. However, it should be noted that, according to Scientific American, the vasodilator effect of alcohol reverses when you drink higher levels of alcohol. Furthermore, remember that your weight, age, and body composition also affect alcohol metabolism. The older you are, the harder it is for your body to metabolize alcohol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest females limit their number of drinks to one or less a day and males to two or less a day.

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. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Stop drinking completely when you’ve reached your limit (or before then).