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!'  

[Monag1]

Hello there, I too have these types of headaches over 25 years now and all alcohol related.
1 to 2 glasses of white wine and end up with the 4 day pulsating debilitating pain. I just wanted to see if any of you also experience the pain in to one of your molars/premolars??? I can almost draw a line from right or left hand side above my temple right down into my jaw and into the tooth. My head and tooth pulsate! I can never lie on that side of my face in bed.
I have tried so many things over the years and after some terrible episodes maybe a Christmas party or a very special occasion where I had more that 2 glasses and was very merry! and the next 4 days were just utter hell on earth I have stopped drinking and tell myself I will give up alcohol............. but in time would tentatively take a glass or two at some event.
I am now thinking of totally giving up alcohol. Having read most of the posts here and knowing what I know it seems to be the best solution. However life without a drink now and then seems miserable. I cant really see any alternative as at this stage and having tried most of the mentioned meds on this site I just dont know any viable alternative. I think I will have a rather sad old age as the mellow feelings and creative and enlightening conversations that can be drifted into while drinking will be no more. Hard to bite that bullet!

[nicola66]

Hi guys,

I have been tracking this thread for awhile, and after quite a bit of research and talking to great doctors, I am sure that what I Mark and many others have been experiencing is unfortunately migraines.

Rather than justify all points, I would like to say that really I am 99% convinced at this point.

The best treatments are then:

Head on/ Tiger Balm
Aleve 600 mg as soon as the attack starts then 600mg 6 hours later no more than 9 days a month
A good night's sleep

Triptans may help, but can cause rebound.

What's happening is that alcohol is a trigger, or items in alcohol are triggers-- that's why I was getting headaches even with non alcoholic beer-- fresh fermented things, tannins, cogeners all CAN cause migraines.

Triggers are different for all, so experiment. Read a book, not the net, and find a neurologist.

Good luck treating. I'll come back if I am able to control this with diet or whatever.

[rmsmi]

Has anyone tried N-A-C (N-Acetyl-Cysteine)? I've got the same problem and read that N Acetyl Crysteine helps build up glutathione which breaks down the toxin acetaldehyde produced from alcohol consumption. I think I'll give it a shot!

[rmsmi]

After reading the latest on NAC, I'm retracting my statement about giving it a shot, and possibly tossing it in the trash.

[Dbbjfields]

I have only scanned through, and read a few posts.  I too, (surprise, surprise) suffer from these nasty headaches.  When I was younger, I could keep up with the best of them, but after children, etc., drinking cut back, obviously.  Now, at 43, if I have a glass of white wine (red has always given me headaches) or one cocktail, I will feel the headache coming on, within hours. My neck gets stiff, the pain travels up the back of my neck, usually on one side, to the top Side of my head, and to the center of my brow line...where it meets my nose, but still, the pain stays on one side. Usually stopping right under the inner corner of my brow. Pinching it, or applying pressure there helps...but not a fix. This is so frustrating.

[RuiP]

I just read this entire thread.  Kudos to Mark for keeping this going.

I am a male, 31yo, and I get a headache from drinking alcohol 1 - 2 hours after consumption.  This can be lots of drinks or as little as 1.  Here are some things I have learned after roughly 5 - 6 years of dealing with this.

#1 - As you can gather, this can happen from a very very BROAD ranges for everyone.  Its legitimate to say Mark and I have the same symptoms, but from different triggers.  Just remember that as you read stuff and try and your symptoms to someone else's triggers.  Be truthful to yourself, and do some self research.

#2 - Its true most / if not all MDs will just tell you to stop drinking.  Don't hate them, Doctors are wonderful people who took on the hideous task of listening to people's crap for the rest of their lives.  Unfortunately research costs money, and most MDs are taught the same things over and over, and they honestly could not tell you otherwise.  Once in a while you will find some lone ranger who took a special interest, but like many other professions:  MDs are people too, and just because they are board certified, doesn't make them experts in curing.  In conclusion, be patient with MDs answers.

#3 - What is in your alcohol MATTERs.  This is the hardest part.  Research.  No all alcohols are made entirely the same.  This is where the 'broadness' of it all REALLY comes into affect.  "Hey man I had a beer, and nothing happened, but then I had another 1 the next day and boom, headache!"  Next Person:  "I dont get it with beer, but I got it with wine!".  Yet were all here because of, alcohol.  This is why its so hard for MDs to help you.  The ingredients used in the hundreds of thousands of drinks are what are causing your headache.  No one (honestly, unless they are doing their PHd on it) wants to sign up to figure that out.

#4 - I had sinus issues for a long time, kinda still do.  I had a septoplasty done (I had a deviated septum).  Check this out - I had a Sinus Catscan, and the Radiologist noted I had a deviated septum.  3 MDs looked at this, and it wasn't until I explained I kept getting clogging on my right nostril that they tied this to my headaches.  So be very critical of your results, and ask your MD to walk you through the results.  For reference, at the time I worked in a Primary Care office, and was surrounded by 45 General Practitioners.   Who are all wonderful, helpful people, but just to give you an idea, you (like Mark here) have to keep at this.  Don't expect someone to have a magic cure.

#5 - You (like me), have just built an allergy/intolerance/recently come across a new health challenge that is making this happen.  Cross reference all that alcohol (or what comes in the drink they are mixed with) trigger, and just make a checklist and rule out items.  Again this is another time consuming event.  For me it was histamines.  They triggered my sinuses and explained why even pain killers either barely, or only temporarily subsided my pain.  I now take ani-histamines 1 hour before alcohol consumption, and even then it doesnt work 100%, but it also depends on the type of drink I am in taking.  For example just last night I had a glass of white wine.  No issues at all.  Red wine?  Nope!  Those are just too heavy.

As you see, dealing with this issue much like reading this reply, f***ing *****, and pretty much you just give up halfway through.  (welcome to why MDs don't want to take this on).  You interest level in years of work, is the same as theirs.  If this thread is any evidence, its that everyone's situation is similarly, different.

Read as much as you can, be critical of yourself and your efforts into actions, and I am sure, much like me you will find a healthy/reasonable solution.

Good luck, and post here rather then just reading.  Even if you think you have no value to add, someone out there is much like you, and would be encouraged to hear your story.  I know I was, by everyone elses.  

Isn't the internet great?

[mzxplicit]

Can't believe I'm back after posting for the first time in 2009 - what a clan of sufferers we've amassed here!

Since my last post I've successfully had a 4-year stint where I drank plenty of alcohol, headache-free. I thought I'd escaped the problem forever, until the headaches came back for a month or so - and then I was headache-free for a couple more years - and now the headaches are back.

So I thought this was some kind of periodical/phase thing that comes and goes, until I took more active measures to figure out this thing, given I now knew it was possible for me to drink without getting the headache.

I found that drinking small to moderate amounts of alcohol almost always causes a headache - my body begins to sober up quickly, but lacking the enzyme to break the alcohol down my blood gets poisoned and fires up the pain & the same blood vessel in my head swells up every time, and meds do not help, only time and sleep (but most of all I found that continuing to talk to someone over a cigarette (or none, just keep talking) gets my mind off the pain & rids the headache faster than just sitting there feeling each moment of agony, which keeps the headache going longer.)

Surprisingly, drinking a larger amount consistently without giving a chance for my body to start sobering up seems to let me bypass the headache phase and enter the drunk phase - pain-free.

Currently I'm in my headachey phase again, and I decided to do a test last week - Don't slowly drink a small amount in fear of the pain - but drink faster and more consistently til I feel buzzed - and really, there was no pain! Yesterday I attended an event and had a small amount to drink. The pain was strong last night. The point is - stopping too soon will flare the headache right up. At least in my case.

In addition, since my last post I've figured out that my headaches weren't tension headaches nor migraines, but occipital neuralgia. This is one-sided head/face/neck pain that is not exactly a migraine/tension/cluster headache.