Headaches following alcohol consumption ...

[Mark46]

   For around three or four years now, I have been suffering from headaches some two hours or more after the consumption of any amount of alcohol - although typically as few as two drinks upwards of any kind of alcohol.  The headaches come on slowly but persistently and follow a line from the left side of my neck across the top of my head to just above the left eyebrow.  They are not sharp pains but more of a constant 'throb' and can go on for hours.  Pain relief medication does nothing and the only relief I can get at all is the application of something topical like '4-Head' or the American 'Head-On'.  Although I have been a reasonably 'active' drinker in the past, if anything now, at the age of 61 (male), I rarely have more than two drinks at a time ... which is why I'm surprised at the onset of these headaches.  My own doctor has, thus-far, not taken it very seriously and tends to take the line that, after years of 'getting away with it, maybe you've finally developed an allergy!'  

[sara12345]

I suppose that I shouldn't have posted it.   I had the exact same triggers in the past, which I just dealt with it. She has a very easy way of controlling her headaches. But I suppose everyone is not as responsive to what their body is trying to tell them.  I do apologize.

[Buzi_Blu]

Why the disparaging remarks about a perfectly reasonable post? No-one has the right to judge whether others have it easier or not. Disgraceful remarks we can do without in this otherwise brilliant forum.

[sara12345]

If only life could be so easy as it is for you.  If you looked further on this website you would find people who are battling severe migraines almost daily or daily with little help from everything that they have been treated with.  

I've known for years that if I didn't eat a good breakfast and if I went too long without eating, I would always get a strong headache.  So I always ate on time.  I also learned that if I don't get enough sleep, that I would get headaches.  I've never been able to drink much.  So no big deal at all.

NOW I've got 24/7 severe migraines unless I get at least 12 hours of sleep since a stroke 4 years ago which caused the migraines.  I need to get Botox injections, nerve block and trigger point injections every 4 to 10 weeks.  I also wear a 24/7 pain patch plus take a daily migraine prevention med.  Plus I need strong pain pills when I get a severe migraine anyway.  

So get with it.  Live a more balanced lifestyle and you will have no problems.  Lucky you.  

[eliv12]

I HAVE ONE RIGHT NOW!!! I am a 28 year old Hispanic female. @ Work right now and I can't even focus. So sick of Migraines!! I've had them for about 9 years. I get them from pretty much everything; sleeping too much, not sleeping enough, not eating at my regular time, stress, hormones, running (I love running and it really ***** that I can't even do that) and of course drinking, I had a couple last night and now I am paying for it. I didn't even get drunk, I had a good buzz, didn't have one last night but this morning it got me but definitely woke up feeling it. On my left side mostly, the light in my office is bright :*(, I threw up this morning, took some meds but- helped for a bit and now it's back on and strong. I am sorry you all go through this, it really is very debilitating. Hope everyone finds something that helps. I will try some of the ideas given here. I didn't get to read the whole thing because the computer is kind of bright and it's hard to keep my eyes open... Thanks everyone!!

[samp162]

Holy Macaroni – I could not believe I found this topic. I have good news and bad news. I was in the same boat as most of you are in the thread. I am a male 42. Have done some damage in my 20’s (You know what I mean). I was suffering from instant headache even after a one glass of beer. And that headache could last 2\3 days or even longer.  This condition started about a year or so ago. I like to have a beer or two over the weekend and I knew I would be having headache for a day or two. The symptoms were not the same all the time. Usually it would be on my left side of the head. I did all kind of things (Lowered the intake of beer, switched to wine, hard liquor , taking an Advil before, or after the drink, Drink plenty of water, Drink slow , ate a piece of butter before the drink.. etc etc.). What usually worked for me was if I drank slow enough the intensity of headache was less. The headache was not pounding like when you have in migraines. It was about 3 to 4 in the scale of 10. It was just fu$$$ing annoying and hampered my regular lifestyle.

Finally I caved in and went to the Doc. My BP was 118\78. He could not tell anything and ordered a MRI. MRI was pretty clean except some sinus congestion! I did not have any congestion or cold or stuffy nose or anything but there was some kind of congestion. Doc asked me to take the Almighty (drum roll please…)
MUCINEX. MUCINEX is usually taken for cough congestion. Doc told me it takes 7 to 8 days to work into sinus area. It has cleared my sinus congestion that I did not know existed and I can have few drinks and I don’t get the kind of headache that I used to get. I am pretty pleased with the results. The MUCINEX I took was just a regular one, no DM etc, attached to it. I do not have any side effects with it. This is over the counter medicine and you can try. This is a good news part. The bad new part is it may not work for all of you.

This is a 21st century condition – I believe is caused by all the processed food that we eat. Our food today comes from a factory belt instead of our back yard!

God Bless!

[Xienen]

My name is Dayle, I am 28, male, and I have been suffering the same as the rest of you for the past 2 years. I don't usually have migraines outside of drinking other than when my blood sugar gets too low for too long(not eating within 30 minutes to an hour of feeling hungry).  The drinking induced migraines have gradually gotten worse to the point of just a single drink giving me a headache or migraine in just 30 minutes to an hour.  Like many of you, my doctor labeled me as an alcoholic, despite my liver function and other bloodwork checks coming back flawless.

I read through this whole thread(took about 4 hours) and took notes on all of the possibilities that may apply to me.  First I took acetaminophen(Excedrin) soon after drinking about an ounce of top shelf tequila on the rocks, just to see if it would work, and it certainly did.  Knowing this wasn't a good idea to maintain such a thing, I went on to the thought of adding sugar to the mix, so I made some simple syrup to go with the tequila and added some lemon juice(margarita-esque) and it seemed to help a bit that night, but the next time I tried it wasn't quite as successful(dull headache after 30 minutes with a headache the next day).

So, I opted to move onto the Kudzu Root idea mentioned and it actually works quite well, particularly when mixed with the high sugar drinks.  I was able to drink 2 pints of Fat Tire the other night without any issue and another night I was able to have 2 fairly strong margaritas(that didn't have nearly as much sugar as the margaritas I was making at home).  I haven't been brave enough to return to drinking whiskey on the rocks like I used to, but I shall do that soon and (hopefully) report back.  Just wanted to chime in to let you know my findings sooner rather than later.  Best of luck to you all with your issues.

NOTE: I would suggest reading about Kudzu Root before just starting on it, as it has a number of impacts on the body beyond its impact on alcohol. It could mess with hormones in pre-menopausal females, for example, due to its interaction with estrogen receptors.