These are substances that the alcohol manufacturing process produces. Some research suggests that congeners play a role in hangovers, although factors such as inflammation also contribute. One hypothesis is that red wine causes migraine due to high levels of certain compounds called flavonols, particularly quercetin. This compound might inhibit the body’s ability to break down alcohol, leading to the buildup of a substance called acetaldehyde, which could result in headaches. People who experienced migraine with alcohol were more likely to have migraine with aura and to experience more migraine days and more frequent attacks.

However, in some countries, the occurrence of alcohol as headache trigger is negligible, perhaps determined by alcohol habits. The frequency estimates vary widely based on the study approach and population. In fact, prospective studies report a limited importance of ADs as migraine trigger. If ADs are capable of triggering practically all primary headaches, they should act at a common pathogenetic level.

Nineteen studies used questionnaire methods to assess drinking 36, 44–59, 61, 62. In two cases, questionnaires were supplemented by medical interviews 53, 61. The rest of the studies were based on information obtained during a medical interview 26, 27, 44. 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. Those who met the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition diagnostic criteria for chronic migraine were excluded, as were people who stated they drank alcohol but did not track their consumption.

Learn more about the relationship between migraine and family planning. Pregnancy can add another complicated layer to your migraine journey, but having a strong support system will make it easier to navigate the ups and downs. You can find additional support from people in your position and those who have already experienced pregnancy with migraine in our Move Against Migraine Facebook group. The study investigated four categories of acute-phase pharmacological treatments for migraine, namely triptans, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen, and dihydroergotamine.

• Avoiding drinking is the best way to prevent an alcohol-related headache.
• Do you think you might react to certain alcoholic beverages more than others?
• Congeners can also include chemicals like histamine, which can trigger migraine attacks and headaches.
• For some, making dietary and lifestyle changes plays a critical role in managing symptoms and preventing future attacks.

There are also behavioral treatment options and lifestyle changes that can help. If alcohol is a confirmed trigger for your migraine, then avoiding alcohol is the best solution. If you’re unsure whether alcohol is triggering your migraine, keep a detailed migraine journal that includes any foods and alcohol consumed throughout the week. This will be a valuable resource for you and your doctor to start identifying more specific migraine triggers.

Is low-to-moderate alcohol consumption beneficial for longevity?

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. Finding a community of people who understand exactly what you’re going through is like being welcomed home after a long, tiring day. Our Move Against Migraine support group is a place for you to connect with others (via Facebook) who live with migraine to exchange stories and find community and support. It’s important to work with your obstetrician and your headache doctor when you have migraine to establish a safe treatment plan.

Track what you eat and drink, how much sleep you get, and other potential triggers (such as stress). You may find that alcohol triggers your migraine, or you may see that alcohol has no effect on your symptoms. Once you know what effect alcohol has on your body, you can make decisions about whether to drink at all — and, if so, how much to drink and when. Anytime a person with migraine starts a new medication, it’s important you ask a doctor, neurologist, or pharmacist how the medication might interact with alcohol. If you aren’t sure whether your medication is compatible with alcohol, it’s best — always — to avoid drinking until you have more information.

Availability of data and materials

But experts do not link migraine headaches to sulfates and sulfites alone. Other potential contributors in red wines include tannins, flavonoid phenols, histamines, and more. To define this important issue, we have reviewed alcohol as a trigger of primary headaches and discussed the possible correlation of the results with the principal pathogenetic theories of the primary headaches. 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.

• However, the metabolism of alcohol involves production of an intermediate compound known as acetaldehyde, and it is the build up of acetaldehyde that appears to induce the unpleasant side effects of alcoholic beverages.
• In contrast, prospective studies don’t face those limitations, and tend to report a lower prevalence of alcohol as a trigger.
• These are called 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.
• This study was designed to assess the ability of quercetin and its metabolites to affect the activity of ALDH2.
• The response to alcohol varies from person to person, and there is no alcohol that absolutely will not cause a migraine or other headache.

How to Know if You Have Migraine or Sinus Headache

Our Move Against Migraine Facebook group is full of mothers with migraine who can offer encouragement and support throughout your journey. It’s critical to have a support network of understanding people who can not only check in on you but also empathize with your experience. Then consider joining our 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.

Diet and Headache Control

But now, a new prospective cohort study suggests that alcohol may be less important as a trigger factor than previously assumed. According to Beyond Celiac, distilled gin and vodka are gluten free. It’s important to make sure that no gluten was added after the distillation process, especially if celiac disease is a factor for you. Generally, these clear alcohols are highly distilled and have almost no leftover congeners from the beginning fermentation process. This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article. Beth Ann Mayer is a New York-based freelance writer and content strategist who specializes in health and parenting writing.

Moreover, some of the studies included in our review do not present results in an accurate way or do so without assigning patients to specific headaches. Therefore, it was not possible for our meta-analysis to contain all those studies where drinking was described with primary headache. The ways describing alcohol consumption habits were variously presented in almost each study, therefore could develop the observed heterogeneity among migraine analysis. Also, the majority migraines from alcohol of the studies had high or moderate risk of bias. Alcoholic drinks (ADs) have been reported as a migraine trigger in about one-third of the migraine patients in retrospective studies. Some studies found that ADs trigger also other primary headaches.

The astringency from the tannins is what causes the dry feeling in the mouth when you drink these beverages or eat food high in tannins like unripe fruit. Though this study was well executed, its results only go so far. The use of an in vitro model, in which reagents are simply added together in a test tube, certainly presents a limitation to extrapolating these data to humans. When humans consume quercetin-containing food or drink, it must first be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract and undergo first-pass metabolism by the liver before reaching circulation.

Devi et al. identified a plausible mechanism to explain the headache and hangover symptoms commonly experienced by red wine drinkers. Unfortunately, these mitigation strategies don’t apply universally. If you happen to carry two copies of a defective ALDH gene (common for those of East Asian descent) and experience symptoms after any alcohol consumption, it is unlikely any of these approaches will provide much relief. Further, if quercetin contributes to headaches with red wine, it may not be the only factor that does so. After using the above key terms, 1,892 articles were identified in the three databases.

Migraine without aura

Headache disorders are classified according to the third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) 4, 5 as either primary headaches, secondary headaches or neuropathies and facial pains 4, 6. I began having migraine attacks when I was a teenager, but was never properly diagnosed until I was an adult. This began 18 years where I was chronic and mostly intractable, resulting in a migrainous stroke in the summer of 2014. By implementing the protocols from the Heal Your Headache book by Dr. David Buchholz and the Migraine Strong Treatment Pie, I have been able to reduce my migraine frequency to episodic and maintain that since 2015. The end result of continuing to practice these tools is being able to actively participate in my life as a wife, mother, family member and friend.

The role of alcohol in triggering migraine attacks is unclear, and the research is limited. 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. Clear liquors, like white rum, vodka, and gin, have significantly fewer congeners and may cause fewer headache symptoms.