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!'  

[Mark46]

  I recognise that feeling Olive!
  Nevertheless, it's only by sharing experiences that we will eventually beat this scourge...and I know we will,,,eventually!
  Sounds a silly question, but what do the medics say about your particular systems - because they seem to vary slightly from the average ones listed here - i.e. the food references?
  Of course, there is probably no connection and you're probably enduring much the same symptoms as the rest of us.
  Speaking personally, I've had an interesting variation in my own situation since I changed seats in my living area so that, when I watch television (for example) I am looking to my left instead of my right.
  Sounds stupid I know, but my headaches have diminished considerably.
  May be coincidence...but .....?

[olive220]

I also have 2 day long headaches, around my right eye, after drinking as little as 1-2 glasses with dinner. One beer won't usually give me a headache, but 1 glass or wine will. It is worst if I start drinking on an empty stomach.

These only started a few years ago, I am a 51 yo female. I thought it was due to menopause, but apparently not from reading all the stories.

These headaches come in the morning, but I feel them coming on slowly. There is a mild nausea and a feeling of constant hunger, even after eating a meal. The headache will usually go away on the second day, after lunch. It seems that food is the trigger to make the headache go away.
I was hoping to find the magical cure by reading these posts, but it seems that we are doomed.

[arizonajill]

Symptoms:
After any amount of alcohol, the next morning I 'sometimes' have a terrible headache that can last for several days.  The pain is behind my left eye and in lower part of the back of my head where it connects to my spine.  It seems sinus related and I can tell that there is fluid in my upper sinuses and I suspect that it is creating pressure and thus my headaches.  Dark beer and whiskey almost always cause headaches.  Champagne almost always causes headaches.  Sugary drinks seem to cause headaches. I think the sinus pain causes me to tense up in the my neck and back of my head and causes kind of a vicious cycle of pain.  I've also gone to a chiropractor who told me that he thought that I had whiplash and that my neck couldn't hold up my head effectively.  He's done some adjustments but I've gotten headaches immediately afterward, so I stopped going.

Things I've tried that have 'worked' but not consistently:
Neck adjustments by chiropractor
Ibuprofen or aspirin before drinking and afterward
Claritin
Hydration
Multiple hot baths and showers with my head under the water (gives temporary relief)
Inversion - hanging over bed with my head pointed toward the floor
Heavy duty electric massager in sinus area and on back of head.  
Wet, hot washcloth over eyes and back of neck
Breathing steam from boiling water with salt in it
Sudafed - Antihistamines
Aspirin
Wheat beer instead of regular
Straight shots of clear alcoholic beverages (no mixers).  i.e. tequila, vodka, rum.  (Darker liquor seems to always cause headaches.)

My thoughts:
I think that weather, humidity, pollution and pollen are all contributing factors but not the cause.
All of the above 'cures' have helped at one time or another but the only thing that I've found that will get rid of the headaches is somehow draining the sinuses and getting oxygen to the sinus cavity.  The only way that I've found to do this is the put a heavy duty massager on my nose with a towel or something under it (sometimes causes bruising) and forcing air out my nose at the same time.  The vibration loosens the 'snot' and it comes pouring out.  I keep a roll of paper towels to collect it.  This is really gross, but it does work for me.  While I'm doing this I'm 'popping my ears' at the same time to get some oxygen into my sinuses.  Once my ears pop I usually feel better immediately but the headache only goes away once I get almost all of the mucous out of my sinuses.  I know that it's not good for my brain or my nose to have a huge electric massager on it but at that point the pain is so bad that I'll try anything to stop it.  I usually try all of the other 'cures' before I resort to this.

I'd prefer a less dangerous method of clearing the upper sinus cavity.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

[Mark46]

Although there's nothing funny about any of this Whoareyou53 , I had to chuckle at your post due to the apparent fact that, although you've suffered the same as the rest of us, you seem to have chosen some unique routes in diversionary tactics!
Nevertheless, totally agree with you that 21st century stresses and strains don't help situations like this.  
I once read an article by a certain Dr. Curtis Graeber of NASA which stated that, although we had now invented aircraft which could go halfway round the world without stopping, we hadn't invented an aircrew or passenger body to go with it.
In other words, given the incredible increase in technology - especially over the past century or so - the humaan body had not evolved at the same rate.  
In other words...something has to give...and maybe, just maybe, it's US !

[Mark46]

Hi Cathy ...
In a nutshell, there are no easy answers to this...and none that seem to spring out and hit you between the eyes.
The 'headaches following alcohol' issue seems to be a comparatively recent affliction in terms of decades but, as you will have seen from my precis, the suggested causes are a lot more concentrated than the temporary cures.
No need to mention alcohol as the exclusive trigger, but sinus congestion and posture coupled with existing back and/or neck problems feature strongly.  Having said that, it would appear that a considerable number of our correspondents may be unaware of these - i.e. they don't always throw up obvious symptoms.
On a personal basis, it has to be said that, whilst I still get these headaches, my own aversion techniques seem to be keeping them at bay and lessening the severity of them more and more.
I was never very comfortable with the 'pop-a-pill' reaction for obvious long-term reasons.
However when I noticed that (primarily) not sitting on a 'yielding' seat - but rather choosing one that gave firm support to the length of my back - plus firm pressure on the back of the neck on the side of the pain and the application of a topical analgesic to the forehead and neck gave more effective and noticeble results.  
In addition, on the occasions I kept moving through my own 'onset' times (usually two to three hours after alcohol consumption), it was again noticeable that the symptoms were usually less severe.
So...in essence, my sedentary lifestyle following alcohol (sometimes for obvious reasons!) seemed to be the exacerbating feature every time.
The jury's obviously still out on why this appears to be very much a 21st century affliction (not many hereditary connections have appeared here) and I, personally, would discount the theories of additives to our favourite tipples on the basis the headaches seem to happen with ALL of them.
My own thinking leads me (currently at least) towards the pollution / less effective immune systems (due to over-reliance on pills maybe?) / general food additives area.  Our systems are simply not conditioned / unable to cope any more.
But, hey, what do I know?  As has been mentioned many times, the medics seem to have a distinct lack of interest on this subject for whatever reason...and you have to assume they are the only ones that could maybe get to the bottom of this.

[Whoareyou53]

Started drinking mildly at 18 yo then joined USAF for 20 years  married since 21 yo. Then at 42 started getting migraines and before that only headaches and if I drank to much hung over with a headache. So now I rarely drink cause after a couple drinks then the migrain starts. Once in a while I can have a couple and no headache and I think the problem is gone, just fooling myself. Then the next time I have a couple and get a migrain. I have thought about trying grass as an alternative but I did that in High school and never again. I heard eating brownies without smoking will not get you stoned like smoking. Its hard cause I raised two kids and always told them how grass will side track your goals and could get you in trouble. It did me at 16 yo. Well I am 54 maybe when I get close to retirement I will try eating brownies (grass). I figured out how to control migraines pretty good now-its sleeping well-not getting angry over small stuff and drinking a 16oz Gatorade daily. Laughing more also helps; watch comedy type movies, too. STRESS is the number one problem and unless you move to the counry you will only reduce your headaches by controlling stress. We all cant afford to move to the country because the jobs are near big cities. I live outside of Seattle and to many people,cars crime on tv =stress. When you are in your twentys you dont care as much and had less stress and drank as much as you wanted. We cant rewind the clock. So dont embrace technology so much cuase it adds stress. Sometimes when people start getting migraines they also get them from alcohol, then they stop drinking and the migraines pick up because the alcohol was always a stress reliever. Its a ***** because I think this was also the case for me. We are all different and this info is to maybe help some of us. D