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!'  

[Jlds86]

Looked this up as a fellow sufferer. Also have a varied health background.
Found some good answers through tons of research.
Think good information can be found in the book, Grain Brain, by David Perlmutter, MD. He is a neurologist and specialist in nutrition. His studies as well as many of the latest medical studies seem to point to Inflammation causing neurological damage. This inflammation is a result of long term diets of highly processed food especially forms of sugars/carbohydrates. Along with alcohol, aspartame, msg, and other toxins, these sugars cause the body to create free radicals instead of normal energy in the form of ATP. Over time they build up and cause a chain of chemical reactions in the body leading to cell damage and disease process. He describes Alzheimer's as diabetes of the brain.
The headaches seem to be related to migraines, which is really neuralgia-nerve pain. If one looks at the nerve involved in migraine it travels to the eye socket, edge of the nose (sinus-area), jaw and initiate from the top of the neck. They are associated with vascular/blood vessel constriction and then dilation. So, when one takes a triptan or other nerve medication in addition to an anti-inflammatory to decrease the arterial pressure in the area, relief is usually found. Neck structural issues add to the nerve irritation and so that explains why adjustments can help.
Recommendations by many of these medics are that we try to change average diet to more natural foods, vegetables, some fruit, fish and other healthy protein. A supplement of Omega 3 is highly important as it is a natural anti-inflammatory. And provides Essential fatty acids to repair some of the damage we have done. This will aid enormously in the diabetic condition. As for alcohol intake as a sugar, this may need to be reduced significantly, sorry to say. When you do imbibe, maybe try the triptan and Advil combo, but remember how hard it is on your liver and kidneys.  The timing can be explained for most of us because our diets over the last several decades have consisted of increasing levels of processed foods filled with sugars and preservatives. For convenience and taste. Trust me, I am a sufferer and as guilty as the next person for consuming this way.
Hope this helps.

[Plutes]

Re: your comment: "in my limited experience, the medics usually rush to expound their thoughts about any relatively new health issues...but not in this case. "

Hi asked my new neurologist this very thing. He said, paraphrasing: it isn't fatal and people seem to manage. Basically saying they have bigger fish to fry.  Which I vehemently disagreed because this affects work , home, fitness, social, sleep, weight. And with findings of moderate alcohol extending lifespans, it is robbing us of longevity as well as good times!

We'll keep sharing our findings and let them catch up. But at least they're now taking herbals more seriously now.

[Plutes]

An update:

I did amitriptyline, with success for a year. It was the only thing that prevented the migraines. Unfortunately I gained 15 pounds and was groggy much of the time. Three weeks ago my neurologist switched me to butterbur extract, which seems to be working, without the grogginess, and I've shed four of those pounds. And have more energy for working out and other activities. Try it, it has no side effects for me. Just make sure you get it from a high-quality manufacturer, because if it is not formulated properly, it can cause liver damage.

Still a little too early to tell for sure, as we all know of the placebo effect. But I am cautiously optimistic, and the positive affect on my energy level of going off amitriptyline is definite.

Good luck to you

[mariaps]

Mark congratulations for this forum. It is really an invaluable  source of information, full of people's experiences and pain. I would love to be a student of medicine and/or psychology and use all this information in my research! It would be also lovely to write a novel about every one of us who wants to get wasted and he can't because he or she gets a terrible headache right from the beginning.
Anyway, I would like to add only a little piece of more info to his endless thread...
According to my experience, headache is always related to a threshold of alcohol intake, which is an amount if alcohol during a certain period of time.  However, this is dependent on the time of the day when I have a drink. When I have a few drinks at noon or early afternoon, I rarely get a headache.  If however I drink at night fast and especially on empty stomach, next day -noon- I suffer like someone who never had a drink.  I also used to be a partier and be able to drink along with Irish guys for a couple of days but now it is like It was somebody else in my place. I believe it is a combination of age and maybe a change in lifestyle.  My painkilker is plain aspirin and tons of water. Also mesulid (nimesulide NSAID-excellent painkiller - would be nice if it wasn't toxic to the liver...)
Nice job Mark! Keep walking!

[Mark46]

   That's pretty comprehensive Omega 53, but, speaking personally yet again, I'm also on BP medication (amlodipine) and I had been wondering whether this and other drugs may actually have caused my headaches rather than alleviating them!
   It's reallly gratifying to hear that you feel that your BP medication brings you relief - long may it be so.
   Nevertheless, overall, none of the threads we've had have addressed the perennial question of why this is such a comparatively recent 'phenomenon' ...i.e. no records of it until the last decade or so.
   My own feeling is starting to center more and more around things that have only more recently been introduced into our diets and lives in general as being the root cause - for example, food processsing / additives / pollution, etc., etc.
   Either way Omega 53, as you're just across the Irish Sea, I may well come and join you to crack a few of your BP pills along with a few pints of the black stuff!  Cheers!

[SeaChanger]

Could be there was no internet med sites until 10 years ago ... lol ?

[Omega53]

I have been following this discussion for some years now in an effort to find a cure for my headaches.
For me, it started about ten years ago, when I was 50, and has continued ever since...
Up to then, I could drink alcohol moderately without any problems, only getting a 'hangover headache'
after consuming (very rare) excessive amounts. The headache was always in the same place, across the right side of the head
and the pattern was always the same: one or two (usually only one) glass of wine, everything fine going to bed
but I would wake up with the headache and it would take 6-8 hours to dissipate, after taking several doses
of pain killers. The pain killers became less effective over time - initially just one dose would clear the headache
after an hour or two, then two doses took four hours to work and eventually the daily maximum dose working
in 6-8 hours. I went to my doctor on numerous occasions but he just fobbed me off, saying "Don't drink
and you won't get a headache". Eventually, that's what I had to do but then I found that other things started to
cause EXACTLY the same headaches - Chinese food (MSG, I presume), cheese, chocolate (especially in the evenings or at night)
and red meat (especially beef). It was all very frustating and I simply could not understand how things which I had consumed
all my life were now causing day-long headaches. I tried many of the 'cures' already mentioned in this topic but none of them
made the slightest difference. The headaches were caused by all types of alcohol - wine, beer, cognac, etc.
About two months ago, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension) and given medication.
I began to feel 'calmer' after starting the medication and began to hope against hope that maybe the pills would
help with the headaches. After a week or so, I tried some chocolate one evening - no headache the next day.
I tried more chocolate on another evening - same result. I had some cheese on a few occasions - no problems.
I started to eat Chinese food again - no headaches. I dared to even eat some beef on another occasion - no headache...
And then (for me) the acid test: I had a glass of white wine one evening, followed by copious amounts of water -
no headache the next day. I tried a TWO glasses of wine another night (again with plenty of water) - same result, no headache.
Finally, I took the plunge and split a bottle of wine 50:50 with my wife at dinner one evening (something I had not dared
do in nearly 10 years!), followed by much water (a litre or so) - no headache. I am now drinking 'normally' again and
I am now (hopefully) back where I was ten years ago. The hypertension medication seems to have helped enormously.
I know that this will not be the solution for many of you but I wanted to share this experience with everyone
in the hope that some might benefit. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mark for starting
this discussion and for staying with it for so long. My very best wishes to you all. Greetings from Ireland...