Alcohol Headache

• Red wine is the type of alcohol most often reported as a headache trigger. Tannin, a component in red wine, has been long considered the culprit. In addition to red wine, other alcoholic beverages, including beer, white wine, and liqueur, have also been reported as headache triggers.
• Substances such as sulfites, histamine, and tyramines are found in alcohol and may contribute to headaches as well. It has also been proposed that alcohol triggers an inflammatory response that can lead to a headache. Alcohol not only contains a chemical called histamine, but it also spurs your immune system to make more. This boosts inflammation throughout your body.
• Alcohol’s exact role in triggering headaches isn’t fully known. Many things are probably at play. For example, alcohol byproducts called congeners have been connected to headaches. Dark-colored alcohols like red wine, brandy, and whiskey may contain more of them.
• A chemical called ethanol is alcohol’s main ingredient. Once it gets into your system, it is converted into a chemical that triggers migraine. Ethanol is also a natural diuretic. That means it makes you pee more than normal. All of these things can set you up for a migraine.

Alcohol as a Migraine Trigger 

Headaches cause pain in the head, face, or upper neck, and can vary in frequency and intensity. A migraine is an extremely painful primary headache disorder. Migraines usually produce symptoms that are more intense and debilitating than headaches. Many people with migraine find that certain factors trigger their symptoms. Drinking alcohol is a trigger for some people with migraine. Alcohol is a diuretic – it acts on your kidneys to make you pee more fluid than you’re taking in. Losing fluid from your body like this can lead to dehydration, which can cause headaches. So if you’re prone to migraines, you might get one if you drink to excess. 

Alcohol Withdrawal Headache & Types Of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Headaches are one of the most common physical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Headaches can initiate only 6 hours after your last drink and may last anywhere between 3 days to over a year. A person’s alcohol withdrawal timeline depends on a number of factors, including the severity of alcohol dependence, the presence of other health problems, additional substance abuse, and others. Headaches are fairly consistent across withdrawal types. The combination of headaches with other symptoms can tell you how serious the withdrawal will likely be.

Alcohol is a depressant that affects the central nervous system. The effects of alcohol can spread through the entire body, and the same can be true when alcohol is taken away from the body. Alcohol withdrawal types can vary depending on your drinking habits and your body’s natural tolerance to alcohol.

Acute Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome (AWS)

A patient can develop alcohol dependence from consistently high alcohol consumption over a long period of time. Once this happens, they may experience alcohol withdrawal when they try to quit. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, or AWS, can start only 6 hours after your last drink.

Headaches are only one symptom of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Other common symptoms of alcohol withdrawal include tremors, anxiety, stomachaches, and palpitations. Headaches caused by AWS tend to last for about 1 to 2 weeks.  If headaches last for longer, this can be a sign that you’ll have more severe withdrawal symptoms. You may want to seek medical care if you feel like your headaches are not going away.

Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)

Withdrawal symptoms can appear suddenly after the acute withdrawal period has ended. This is known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome, or PAWS. During PAWS, many withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, tremors, sleeping problems, and alcohol headaches can come back without warning.

Symptoms of PAWS can go on for months or even years after you stop drinking. Headaches during PAWS can range from mild to severe. People suffering from PAWS may be tempted to go back to drinking just to make the alcohol headaches and other symptoms stop.

Prolonged Withdrawal

Prolonged withdrawal, also known as protracted withdrawal syndrome, is an acute withdrawal that lasts for up to a year, instead of a short-term two-week withdrawal timeline. You may be experiencing painful alcohol headaches for an entire year under prolonged withdrawal. Prolonged or protracted withdrawal can be hard to overcome without medical care or a stay at an inpatient treatment facility. The constant toll on your physical and mental health may increase your chances of relapsing.

Delirium Tremens (DTs)

Delirium Tremens, or DTs, is the most severe form of alcohol withdrawal. The first signs of DTs can come up 48 hours after your last drink, and about 42 hours after headaches have started. Side effects of DTs include visual and auditory hallucinations, increased body temperature, increased heart rate, increased body temperature, high blood pressure, and sweating. Headaches may not feel as intense compared to some of these symptoms. DTs can be life-threatening for some experiencing alcohol withdrawal, especially if medical attention is not given.

Headache After Drinking Alcohol 

Headaches after drinking alcohol, commonly known as hangovers, can last up to 72 hours after drinking, but most are shorter in duration. Again it depends on how much was consumed, how dehydrated you became, nutritional status, ethnicity, gender, the state of your liver, medications, etc.

It’s well known that drinking too much alcohol can cause a variety of symptoms the next day. A headache is just one of them. It’s easy to find tons of purported hangover headache “cures” that you can make at home and even buy in stores. But most of them have no reliable scientific research that proves they work [2].

How to Stop Alcohol Headaches

The best way to avoid a hangover headache is to limit how much alcohol you drink in one sitting. Still, we’ve also got some tips that can help you reduce your chances of having a headache, and a few to ease your pain in case you’ve already got one.

The following may help reduce the symptoms:

• Drinking water: Alcohol makes a person urinate more frequently, often leading to dehydration, in which case it is crucial to rehydrate the body.
• Eating nutritious foods: Healthful foods give the body fuel, nutrients, and antioxidants, which can aid recovery.
• Eating bland foods: When a hangover involves stomach trouble, try bland foods that raise blood sugar levels, such as bread.
• Eating fruit: The fructose in fruit may help the body break down alcohol.
• Resting: Sleep can help speed up recovery.
• Taking medication: NSAIDs, antacids, and some pain relief medications can relieve hangover symptoms.

A person with a hangover should not take pain relief medications or any other drugs that contain acetaminophen. This ingredient can strain the liver — like alcohol — so it is important to avoid combining the two.

What’s the Treatment?

If alcohol is a headache trigger for you, think before you drink. In other words, the best treatment for a cocktail headache is actually preventing one in the first place. Before consuming a cocktail, ask yourself if it is worth developing a headache over and ruining your celebration or holiday.

If alcohol only occasionally causes you a headache, then moderation or striking that balance (as opposed to abstinence), maybe a more reasonable approach. If you do develop an occasional cocktail headache, soothe your discomfort with rest, a tall glass of water, and an over-the-counter painkiller.

If you are experiencing headache as one of the many symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, then you need professional help. Management of alcohol withdrawal headaches is likely best served as part of a treatment program. A person suffering from severe or prolonged withdrawal may need relief from headaches and other symptoms [3].