If a person takes acetaminophen while alcohol is in their system, it may worsen the toxic effects on the liver. This article looks at whether a person can cure a hangover headache, its causes, and possible remedies. Taking over-the-counter pain relievers and staying hydrated may help get rid of a hangover headache. It’s important to stay updated on the latest migraine research and treatment strategies.

Should people with migraine avoid alcohol?

If you’re experiencing an emergency, please call 911 or visit our Resource Hub to view a list of 24-hour support services and hotlines. The single main reason that alcohol is the cause of a headache is that it is what is known as a diuretic. Don’t listen to all the weird, outlandish recipes that are purported to help “cure” a hangover. Ingredients like raw eggs, spices, and the numerous preservatives used in processed or fast foods can make symptoms like nausea and vomiting worse. Alcohol can dehydrate you and drain your body of electrolytes.

• This type of headache can happen to anyone, but people with migraines are more likely to get one.
• Note that to qualify as a cocktail (or delayed alcohol-induced) headache, the pain must start within three hours of drinking.
• Patients sometimes have a tendency not to admit their drinking habits [90].
• Talk to your doctor about any concerns and about whether it is safe to drink alcohol with any medications you are taking.
• Each time you drink, write down the type of alcohol you have, the amount, and if and when you had a migraine.
• But most of them have no reliable scientific research that proves they work.
• Migraine is a disabling disease that no one should have to go through alone.

Medical Professionals

Alcohol can cause two different types of migraine headaches. It’s recommended to consult with a health care provider prior to taking any medications to discuss potential drug interactions. You can also consult the medication’s warning label to understand whether it should be avoided in combination with alcohol. A primary headache is caused by overactivity of or problems with pain-sensitive structures in your head.

• Understanding what causes a hangover headache can help you take steps to mitigate the symptoms, plus give you a heads-up on how to avoid another one in the future.
• However, there has been evidence to suggest that vodka is the least likely alcoholic beverage to cause a hangover.
• It may be that avoiding or moderating alcohol intake is the best decision for you.Talk to your healthcare provider about alcohol use, which can have serious health and social consequences.
• However, the headache is known to clear after 72 hours of abstinence.
• In other words, the only real way out of a hangover is through.

Risk factors

This chemical builds up in the blood as the liver breaks down the alcohol into a form that can be eliminated from the body. The most effective way to avoid a hangover headache is to avoid drinking, or avoid drinking in excess. There is some evidence that certain distilled spirits may cause fewer headaches. This is because beer and wine often contain more toxic byproducts from fermentation, such as aldehydes.

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. A second explanation for the results presented in our meta-analysis might encompass a certain protective role of alcohol with regards to migraine. However, according to this idea, populations with higher migraine prevalence should have lower alcohol consumption. In Europe, alcohol consumption is higher than in Asian countries, but in Europe alcohol as a trigger is reported more frequently than it is in Asia [87]. Therefore, this hypothesis seems a less likely explanation for our results. For healthy adults, moderate drinking means up to one drink a day for women of all ages and two drinks a day for men.

The tables below group alcohol types by the amount of these additives. For example, on average, females tend to weigh less than males. Individuals with lower body weights cannot process as much alcohol as individuals at higher weights. This article will use the terms “male,” “female,” or both to refer to sex assigned at birth. Relaxation techniques may help ease stress-related migraines, and they may make migraine episodes feel less severe when they happen. Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life.

While migraine thankfully does not affect fertility, it can complicate conversations about family planning and infertility treatments. Learn more about the relationship between migraine alcohol causes migraines 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.

• Two of the remaining cross-sectional papers achieved seven or eight points and therefore were low bias-risk [26, 27].
• Many things can trigger a migraine, from stress at work to changes in the weather to foods like aged cheese.
• Many people have experienced a headache after drinking alcohol — especially after drinking too much.

They found limited importance of nutrition, including alcohol intake, in the triggering of migraine. The short answer is that while it’s possible for alcohol to cause a migraine attack, it’s often a bit more complicated. In some studies, about one-third of people living with migraine reported alcohol as a migraine trigger (at least occasionally).

Types of headaches

Red wine often gets the most blame, but beer can also have a significant impact. In fact, in one large survey on cluster headaches, beer was the most common culprit of all alcoholic drinks. Researchers don’t know exactly what causes alcohol-induced migraine attacks. While in some cases it is likely the presence of alcohol itself, it is also possible that specific components of different alcoholic drinks act as triggers.