Alcohol causing delayed migraine
I have this pattern of migraines, where now and again, if I drink slightly too much alcohol (more than 3 glasses of wine), enough to have a bit of a hangover, but not a ridiculous amount, I then will get a migraine the day following the hangover. Sometimes this migraine will be less intense than a classic migraine, but could bubble away for a few days. Of course, the obvious answer is not to drink, and I generally aim to stick to 2-3 glasses, but it happens infrequently and not every time I drink, so it feels like overkill to give up something I enjoy. I would like to understand what is causing it if possible - I have a feeling there might be a hormonal element to it as well, so perhaps it is related to drinking alcohol at certain times in my cycle? Any insights gratefully received. Btw, I have considered the sulphites angle, but I am pretty sure it is the alcohol, not the wine which is the culprit here.
Thanks so much for chiming in with this question. Alcohol is a pretty classic trigger so that may indeed be what's going on. We have many articles on this topic- here's a link so that you can peruse them and see what's most relevant to you: https://migraine.com/search?s=alcohol
I personally cut out alcohol years ago but my reaction was a bit more cut and dried in that after a few sips I'd have a very extreme and sudden attack. It was clearly not worth it to indulge. Sounds like you've got more of a gray area thing going on there. Sometimes we choose to indulge in the things we enjoy, knowing that they are triggers and will result in an attack. Doing so can put us back into control a bit of a disease that so frequently leaves us feeling out of control. Other times, as you'll see in some of the articles, triggers can cause worsening migraine attacks over time- so they payoff becomes less and less worth it to indulge. Let us know what you think of the articles and what questions you have other you take a look. Thinking of you, Holly (migraine.com team).hey i have a similar thing & just posted a question about it. My alcohol migraines are sporadic- sometimes & can drink 3/4 drinks & be fine but other days just a sip of wine can trigger it. An optician did say that a woman’s menstrual can be linked as blood vessels change & can then be more susceptible to how migraines are triggered opposed to other days in the month.
