Category Archives: Alcohol

Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly

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Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly

Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly

Alcohol related problems put elderly people in the hospital more often than heart attacks. But alcohol abuse among the elderly is more hidden that in any other age group because of social isolation, loneliness and depression. Often the signs of alcohol abuse among the elderly mimic other signs of aging, so doctors misread the signs.

Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly: Causes

Alcohol abuse among the elderly sometimes starts with the life changes that can accompany aging. Many older Americans develop drinking problems due to depression, illness, or death of a loved one.  The death of a spouse can set off a cycle of depression, poor nutrition, alcohol abuse, and abusing medications. The incentives for a younger person to seek help are often not there for an older person. They don’t have the same motivation to recover.

Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly: A hidden problem

Anyone at any age can have a drinking problem. Sometimes, alcohol abuse among the elderly goes unnoticed because the person has been drinking moderately their whole life, and their family does not notice when their drinking suddenly increases. Forgetfulness, loss of balance, and mood swings that may indicate alcohol abuse among the elderly can be chalked up to old age or other health problems.

Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly: Why it is dangerous?

Alcohol abuse among the elderly deserves particular attention because the aging process affects how the body handles alcohol. The same amount of drinks can have a greater effect as a person gets older. Also, many older Americans take prescription medications on a regular basis. Their medication can interact with the alcohol and cause dangerous, even deadly, side effects. Some medical conditions that are common among older people, such as high blood pressure, ulcers, and diabetes, can get worse with alcohol use.

Even drinking a small amount of alcohol can impair judgment and reaction time leading to an increase in accidents and falls. Accidents and falls in elderly people can be particularly dangerous since their bones are often more prone to break and they don’t recover as quickly from injuries. Alcohol abuse among the elderly can also cause cancer, liver cirrhosis, and brain damage. Alcohol also affects blood sugar levels in elderly people with diabetes.

Alcohol Abuse Among The Elderly: Getting help

Doctors may be hesitant to confront an elderly person about alcohol abuse. Many of them consider it to be a sensitive issue. Elderly people are also less likely to disclose alcohol abuse to their doctor. Also, there are far fewer treatment programs for elderly people with alcoholism, so doctors may not know where to send patients for help. An elderly person may have a hard time at a traditional treatment program since many of the clients are much younger. A 75 year old alcohol abuser may have a hard time relating to a 20 year old cocaine addict.

However, if they do seek help, elderly people often do very well in treatment. The hard part is long term recovery once they are home and alone again.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Drinking to Cope

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Drinking to Cope

Drinking to Cope

Many studies into drinking alcohol have indicated that multiple that do drink alcoholic beverages, do so as a means to cope with life and its stress. There are so many stresses in life too, for which drinking can be a simple solution. For instance, you can drink to cope with economic stress, job stress, marital problems, and family problems etc. Drinking to cope could mean drinking due to anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger too. Today’s society is so fast paced and there is little support and this could be why some people find themselves drinking to cope.

Do you drink to cope?

When it comes to drinking in order to cope it is not so much the alcohol that is the problem but poor coping skills within the individual. Even though this is quite apparent, a lot of people try to cope with stress by using alcohol and this is actually counterintuitive. Drinking to cope doesn’t actually deal with the problem it just masks the stress. Then people end up having to drink more and more alcohol to gain the same amount of relief from drinking. This is how drinking to cope can easily lead to alcohol abuse and then to alcoholism. Drinking to cope can lead to physical, psychological, health, and social problems. In fact drinking to cope can actually reduce an individual’s ability to cope with stress.

Drinking to cope doesn’t solve anything all it does is create more problems for the individual trying to deal with whatever is going on. Drinking to cope is the equivalent of pouring gasoline on a fire in order to put it out. This may sound extreme but it is true. Drinking to cope will only make things worse especially for the individual who is drinking to excess. An individual who hasn’t reached the point of alcohol abuse doesn’t have to totally abstain from alcohol, but they should cut back from drinking alcohol or try not drinking to cope because it is absolutely vital to their wellbeing to not drink too much. Drinking too much in order to cope with problems is when many people  fall into the grips of alcoholism and once a person has reached that point, there is no coming back. Alcoholism is a lifelong issue and can be really hard to overcome for the person who has drank to the point of changing their brain chemistry.

There are multiple alternative to handling stress other than drinking to cope. For instance many people use yoga to distress. There are also tons of other holistic coping skills and therapies to help with building healthy coping skills. Drinking to cope isn’t the only option.

Here are some healthier alternative other than drinking to cope:

  • Individual therapy
  • Yoga
  • Massage therapy
  • Exercise
  • Meditation
  • Acupuncture
  • Breathing exercises
  • Long walks
  • Cleaning
  • Talking to someone

No one has to drink to cope. Drinking to cope is a choice that can be changed. The consequences of drinking to cope can be very grave and those consequences don’t have to be felt if other coping strategies can be implemented. Healthy coping skills are a tool that an individual can keep with them forever too in order to instill a permanent sense of wellbeing within them. This is much better in comparison to drinking to cope and just compounding the problems.

Sources:

http://stresscourse.tripod.com/id86.html

http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/stress-and-drinking/

 

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Another New Year’s. Another Hangover.

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Another New Year’s. Another Hangover.

New Year's Party Hangover

New Years are the chance at a fresh start and they are a chance to implement new habits to change your life for the better. It is funny that right before we make a choice to change our lives for the better with multiple New Year’s resolutions and goals we party like the world is going to end. New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest party days of the entire year. It is a huge celebration! Unfortunately this day of partying usually leads to quite the hangover on the first day of a fresh new year. Some of us may have spent another New Year’s drinking and woken up with another hangover, so we decide to do something different with our lives. We decide to stop drinking. Multiple people including myself have done this. The New Year is a fresh start and it can be if you want it to, be a year of sobriety.

At the end of the year we always look back on what we have done with our lives in the past 365 days. For some of us in the grips of an addiction and alcoholism, we look back at the year and all we say are blurred days, blackouts, hangovers, and a whirlwind of destruction. It can cause a lot of pain to those of us who can’t stop drinking or using drugs. So, we spend one more New Year’s Eve drinking the pain away and doing the drugs that give us relief to only wake up in a new year with a new resolve to change our lives for good.

This New Year can be a new start if you want to do things differently. Whether it is to start working out or to get sober, it truly all is possible. There doesn’t have to be another New Year that comes around where you wake up wanting more than anything for your hangover to go away. You can spend the New Years to come sober and happy and with a clear and calm memory of what happened that night. I know this to be true because I relapsed at the beginning of the year 2011. I stopped drinking for good on January 4th, 2011 and have had a sober way of life ever since and it is exponentially better than the days that dragged on while I was drinking. I woke up from New Year’s Day with a clear conscious, with a clear memory of what happened not only the night before but the entire year, and a resolve to take my life to the next level.

It can be really hard to want to start off a New Year fresh and find yourself so drunk that you cannot move the next day, with your head pounding, vomiting, and not remembering what happened. That’s why you can take this New Year and turn it into your year. This can be the last year you ever had New Year’s accompanied with another hangover. Hangovers and drinking are overrated anyways. Don’t have another New Years with another hangover.

Sources
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topics-in-brief/prescription-drug-abuse
http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/monitoring-future

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism

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Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism

There has often been a lot of controversy about housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism. The people who enter these programs are used to people giving up on them and thinking they aren’t worthy of time or energy. There are plenty of places that will house homeless people if they are willing to give up drugs and alcohol. However, there are relatively few places that will let you continue to live there if you continue to drink.

Unlike other shelters and public housing, housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism will allow alcoholics to continue to drink in their rooms. They will not be forced to choose between housing and sobriety.

Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism: Public opinion

People living in neighborhoods where these housing programs are being started often worry that they will flood the streets with alcoholics. Taxpayers often object to paying for housing that allows homeless alcoholics to continue drinking. Also, the idea of giving chronic alcoholics access to their drug of choice on the taxpayers’ dime is unacceptable to most addiction counselors. To them, it is basically giving up on a treatable disease.

Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism: Harm reduction

Much of the idea behind housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism is to cut down on simply cycling people from doorways and alleys to emergency rooms and jails. Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism actually save taxpayer money, improve community livability, and uphold people’s innate dignity. An ambulance ride and trip to the emergency room can easily cost $2,000. One night in detox is about $220. In one year, a chronic drinker can cost the taxpayer $50,000. Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism cost about $13,000 per resident annually.

The aim of housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism is to reduce alcohol’s harm to themselves and to the community at large. Drug and alcohol treatment services are available, but participation is not a requirement to stay.

Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism: Hopeless cases

Most of the people who end up in housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism have been to treatment numerous times. Sometimes there are alcoholics that can’t be treated-like those with such severe brain damage, there’s no chance of meaningful life, and those with irreversible liver damage who do not meet criteria for transplantation. However, for some who are not hopeless, avoiding the consequences of their addiction (like living on the streets) may aid them in avoiding changing their behavior. These wet houses may be the best place for hopeless cases-basically a place where they can drink until they die with a little dignity. However, it can be dangerous for someone who can recover to go to a wet house. They have no reason to quit drinking. Their meals, housing, and even their booze is paid for by tax dollars. Housing programs for people living with chronic alcoholism can rob these people of the chance to get better.

 

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake”

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Jake Leg

Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake”

Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” was a medication available in the 19th century. During prohibition, Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” became a convenient way to get around laws preventing the sale of alcohol because it contains 70-80 % ethanol by volume.

Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake”: History

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, many pharmacies provided Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake.” The medicine came with claims of treating minor colds, headaches, menstrual cramps, and digestive problems. After the stock market collapse of 1929, Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” became increasingly popular as a low-cost alternative to buying expensive bootlegged liquor.

Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake”: Jake Leg

By early 1930, a confusing new illness began spreading across the country. It was characterized by aching calf muscles, numbness in the legs and eventual loss of sensation. The disease progressed into muscle weakness and paralysis which was sometimes irreversible. Over the first six months of 1930, more than 600 cases were reported throughout the United States. Doctors were perplexed. What was causing this bizarre sudden paralysis?

The culprit, it turned out, was Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake.” This was considered odd at first because Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” had been sold for decades and there had never been any reported problems. The condition became known as “jake leg.”

Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake”: Mystery Solved

Authorities had long been suspicious that people would use products like Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” to circumvent prohibition. In an effort to avoid that, the U.S. Treasury Department required formulations of Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake to contain a certain amount of ginger solids per cubic centimeter of alcohol. The increased ginger content made it very bitter and difficult to drink. They figured people would be less inclined to abuse it.

Regulators tested Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” by boiling it down and measuring the amount of solids left over. But some clever manufacturers figured out ways to fool the government tests. They would add castor oil or molasses to replace the ginger solids. Their formulations only contained a small amount of ginger, so they were easy to drink.

Then a Harry Gross and Max Reisman came along. They wanted to find another substance that would fool the government’s boiling tests but also provide a “kick” to the alcohol content. They decided on tri-orthocresal phosphate (TOCP), an industrial plasticizer. TOCP was originally thought to be non-toxic, but later it was shown to have a neurotoxic effect in humans and animals.

Gross and Reisman went into mass production of Jamaican Ginger aka “Jake” in 1930. They made thousands of bottles. Due to investigations of cases of “jake leg,” the bootleggers were indicted in December of that same year. Gross served a two year sentence while Reisman avoided serving any jail time.

Sadly, many of the victims of jake leg were people with very little political influence like immigrants, migrants, or itinerants, so they never received any kind of compensation for their injuries. The company that manufactured the Jamaican Ginger aka Jake was bankrupt, and attempts to petition Congress for financial support failed. The epidemic was especially common among lower-class African-American men, many of whom were not allowed in hospitals where they might have sought treatment. There was an extreme amount of stigma attached to sufferers of jake leg.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

5 Best Hangover Songs

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margaritaville jimmy buffet

5 Best Hangover Songs

Music comes in all different forms and talk about all kinds of topics. It isn’t unusual to hear songs about drinking, using drugs and partying either because many musicians are living that kind of lifestyle. A hangover is almost universally relatable because almost everyone has had a drink and nearly every high school student, college student or adult has had a moment where they drank way too much.

That is why we made the 5 best hangover songs that include some of our favorite songs of all time. Who doesn’t like a song that reminds them of that crazy night with their friends? Okay maybe not all of us remember but we do like to relate. Hangovers bring all drinkers together in a common bond of headaches, puking and forgetting what they did the night before. The famous are not immune to it either. Check out our 5 best hangover songs and see if you can understand what they are talking about, if you have ever drank too much we are sure you can.

1. “Me and My Wine” – Def Leppard. Ah, the 80s metal bands sure knew a lot about drinking and partying and an equal amount as much about hangovers. It seems a lot of you can identify with lyrics like “Lying half dead on the floor, I don’t remember anything. What happened the night before?”  We’d like to thank the British beer swigging musicians for giving us our first best hangover song of all time.

2. “Rude Awakenings” – Dropkick Murphy.  Everyone has had a morning like this: “With equal surprise she opened her eyes, sat up and shouted ‘for Christ’s sakes who the hell are you?'” Not much more to say than this is one of the best hangover songs about one of the worst hangover situations.

3. “What Happened” – Sublime. “There’s no recollection of the evil things I’ve done. My head feels like I musta’ had some fun.” Sound familiar? Yep, that’s why Sublime’s “What Happened” is the third best hangover song of all time.

4. “My Own Worst Enemy” – Lit. Any song that starts (and ends) with, “Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk? I didn’t mean to call you that. I can’t remember what was said or what you threw at me. Please tell me,” is incapable of eluding a best hangover songs list! Not surprisingly it’s in the top 5 at least.

5. “Margaritaville” – Jimmy Buffet. This is our best hangover song ever because anyone who’s ever had a hangover can identify with the great Jimmy Buffet when he sings, “But I know it’s my own damn fault.”

Doesn’t matter if its rock and roll, country, or reggae all musicians speak the universal hangover language. The 5 best hangover songs are also some of the greatest and most well-known songs in the world. Coincidence we think not. Drinking is a social and relatable experience. Just makes sure to take it easy. Maybe we should start taking these songs as a warning not a push to try to experience the songs ourselves.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Alcoholism Risk Factors

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Alcoholism Risk Factors

Alcoholism Risk Factors

There is no stereotypical alcoholic. Alcoholics come in all shapes and sized and from every socioeconomic background. Neither money nor fame can protect a person from the disease, as we see all the time in the media. Alcoholics living in homeless shelters or under bridges actually account for a very small percentage of the total. Most alcoholics are employed and have homes and families. Anyone can suffer from alcoholism. However, there are certain people that are at a greater risk than others.

Alcoholism Risk Factors: What is a risk factor?

While there is no one cause for alcoholism, certain psychological, economic, and social aspects that can increase the likelihood that someone will become an alcoholic. These are known as risk factors.

Alcoholism Risk Factors: Who is at risk?

Psychological risk factors for alcoholism include mood disorders like depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, as well as personality disorders like antisocial personality disorder. Social risk factors for alcoholism include male gender, being between 18 and 44 years of age, Native-American heritage, unmarried marital status, and lower socioeconomic status.  Environmental factors, including a person’s family’s beliefs and attitudes and exposure to a peer group that encourages alcohol use, seem to play a role in initial alcohol use. Studies also suggest that there is a genetic component to alcoholism. People who have immediate family that suffer from alcoholism or drug addiction are more likely to abuse alcohol themselves.

Alcoholism Risk Factors: What are the lifestyle alcoholism risk factors?

Some of the alcoholism risk factors have nothing to do with your gender, race, mental status, marital status, or socioeconomic status. Some of them simply have to do with how you drink and how drinking affects you. Those who abstain from alcohol aren’t at risk for becoming alcoholics, so any alcohol consumption increases your risk of alcoholism. However, people who drink moderately are at much lower risk than people who drink heavily. Another one of the lifestyle alcoholism risk factors has to do with the age you are at when you start drinking. People who start drinking earlier in life have a greater chance of becoming an alcoholic. Likewise, the longer you drink, the greater chance that you will become alcoholic.

Alcoholism Risk Factors: What are the personality alcoholism risk factors?

For some time, we’ve known that people who suffer from certain mental illnesses are at a greater risk for developing alcoholism. In recent years, however, it has been shown that certain personality types are at greater risk as well. These traits are now considered personality alcoholism risk factors. These personality alcoholism risk factors include:

  • Having a low tolerance for frustration
  • Having aggressive tendencies or difficulty with impulse control
  • Needing an inordinate amount of praise
  • Feeling unsure or not worthy
  • Demanding perfection

Alcoholism Risk Factors: What if you have no alcoholism risk factors?

It is important to note that even if you don’t have any of these alcoholism risk factors, you can still develop alcoholism. Alcoholism risk factors do not cause alcoholism, and lack of alcoholism risk factors does not prevent it.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Long term effects of alcohol abuse

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Long term effects of alcohol abuse

Long term effects of alcohol abuse

Long term effects of alcohol abuse

If all the long term effects of alcohol abuse were written out in detail the result would be something like a book. Alcohol abuse penetrates every cell in a person’s body resulting in multiple long term effects. Alcohol is one of the most threatening drugs when abused for a long period of time.

The first and most obvious long term effect of alcohol abuse is alcoholism. Alcoholism is the physical addiction to alcohol to the point of having serious withdrawal symptoms if the drinker tries to stop consuming alcohol. That’s probably one of the least worrisome long term effects of alcohol abuse. Long term effects of alcohol abuse, more generally, are the risks of cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and chronic pancreatitis.  Damage to the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system are long term effects of alcohol abuse. The long term effects of alcohol abuse are seen in every system in the body.

Adolescents are especially susceptible to the long term effects of alcohol abuse. This is because the adolescent brain is still developing. In unborn babies the long term effects of alcohol abuse are grave and could result in fetal alcohol syndrome.

The long term effects of alcohol abuse on the cardiovascular system can be life threatening.  The long term effects of alcohol abuse in the cardiovascular system are peripheral arterial disease, intermittent claudication, heart attack and stroke, cardiomyopathy, hematologic diseases.

The long term effects of alcohol abuse on the nervous system severely impair brain development. The long term effects of alcohol abuse on the nervous system are brain shrinkage, dementia, physical dependence, brain lesions, brain damage, chronic fatigue, nutritional deficiency, alcohol withdrawal, risks of stroke, loss of memory, learning disabilities, and blackouts.

The long term effects of alcohol abuse also impact the digestive system and can cause serious weight gain because of the high sugar/high calorie content of most alcoholic beverages. The long term effects of alcohol abuse on the digestive system in general are chronic gastritis or stomach inflammation, cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis, and pancreatitis both chronic and acute. The long term effects of alcohol abuse can also lead to metabolic syndrome. The long term effects of alcohol abuse also have a large impact on the gallbladder. Long term alcohol abuse can lead to gallstones and gallstone disease.

Long term effects of alcohol abuse always negatively affect the liver. The liver clears the blood of any impurities so the liver has to filter alcohol directly from the blood when an individual drinks. Alcohol liver disease is a main effect of long term alcohol abuse. Not only that but the long term effects of alcohol abuse on the liver are fatty liver, cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, liver disease and liver cancer. In worst case scenarios heavy alcohol consumption for a long period of time can result in needing a liver transplant.

Long term alcohol abuse also affects the lungs by impairing some of its critical cellular functions. This means that long term alcohol abuse can cause lung disease, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The long term effects of alcohol also move into the kidneys and cause kidney stones. Not just that but the list of long term effects goes on and on. The effects of alcohol abuse in the long term can end up being sexual dysfunction, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and problems with the skin such as psoriasis or flushing and rosacea. Alcohol abuse can also affect the immune system. There is not really a whole lot long term alcohol doesn’t affect.

Alcohol can be very dangerous when used for long periods of time. The effects are grave and sometimes irreversible. What we thought was a social drink that may even be considered safe is far from safe when used for in the long term.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Smoking and Drinking Together Cause Massive Hangovers

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Smoking and Drinking Together Cause Massive Hangovers

The other morning I woke up with what felt like a massive hangover. My head hurt, my eyes were grainy, and I felt sick to my stomach. The funny part was-I hadn’t had any alcohol the night before. I’d stayed out late, and I’d smoked a lot of cigarettes, but I didn’t have an alcoholic drink. I’d never thought about it before, but that morning I realized that part of the reason I felt so terrible after a night of drinking was the fact that I got very little sleep and smoked a lot of cigarettes.

Smoking and Drinking Together Cause Massive Hangovers: The Research

A lot of people smoke and drink at the same time. Even many nonsmokers will have a few cigarettes when they are out on the town. But studies suggest that smoking and drinking together cause massive hangovers. Findings published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that at the same number of drinks, people who smoke more have been shown to have more intense hangovers the next day. Smoking itself was shown to increase chances of a hangover more than nonsmoking. The subjects in the study were asked to rank hangover symptoms like nausea, headache, and difficulty concentrating.

Smoking and Drinking Together Cause Massive Hangovers: What causes a hangover?

Alcohol is broken down in the liver first to acetaldehyde, then to harmless acetic acid. Acetaldehyde is the main chemical that is responsible for the symptoms of a hangover. Smoking also increases your acetaldehyde in the body and this is why smoking and drinking together causes massive hangovers. The severity of a hangover is directly connected to the amount of alcohol an individual drinks and how much sleep he or she has gotten, and according to this new study, whether or not the person smoked a lot of cigarettes.

The hangover symptoms that individuals feel can be caused by:

  • urination (resulting in dehydration)
  • immune system response
  • stomach irritation
  • poor sleep quality
  • drop in blood sugar
  • dilation of blood vessels

Smoking and Drinking Together Cause Massive Hangovers: Prevention and cures

There is no real “cure” for a hangover. Most of the classic hangover cures really don’t work. The only really cure is time or preventing the hangover in the first place. Obviously, if you want to lower your chances of getting a hangover you can cut down on the amount that you smoke while you are drinking or not smoke at all. Also, getting adequate rest and drinking a lot of water have been shown to reduce your chances of getting a hangover. The main cause of hangovers, however, is binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as having more than four drinks in a sitting for men, and five drinks for women. This type of drinking, where your blood alcohol content increases quickly in a short amount of time, is the most important factor in getting a hangover. This is because your body gets overwhelmed and cannot break down the alcohol as quickly as you are consuming it, causing a buildup of acetaldehyde.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Alcohol and Migraines

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Alcohol and Migraines

Alcohol and Migraines

Migraines are severe headaches that may last for a period of hours or days.  Migraines are a recurrent throbbing headache that typically affects one side of the head and is often accompanied by nausea and disturbed vision. The symptoms can incapacitate the migraine sufferer, who may need to lie down in a dark space until the headache has passed. Nausea and vomiting are side effects of severe migraines.

Migraines may be induced by triggers. Triggers for migraines can include anything from stress, to hunger, fatigue, and menstruation. Diet can also trigger migraines and alcohol is one of those things in someone’s diet that can cause migraines. Although, the underlying cause of migraines is unknown but they are believed to be related to a mix of environmental factors such as diet, lifestyle etc. and genetic factors.

So what about alcohol and migraines?

Alcohol is a common trigger in migraine sufferers for a couple of different reasons. First of all, alcohol is known as a vasodilator. This means that it causes the blood vessels in the body to dilate, or expand. This is what causes the reddening of the face in an individual who has been drinking. Dilation of the blood vessels in the brain is through to be the cause of a migraine, so this response to alcohol may trigger a migraine in individuals who are prone to migraines. Even a small amount of alcohol may cause the blood vessels to dilate.

There are also substances in alcoholic beverages that some people are more sensitive to. One of these substances is the amino acid tryramine – a well-known trigger for migraine or cluster migraines. Tyramine is found in red wine and champagne, as well as dark alcoholic beverages like scotch, beer, and bourbon.

Congeners, a chemical found in some alcohols, can also cause migraines in some individuals. Congeners are believed to trigger migraines because they make slight changes to the chemical composition of the body. Hard liquors, especially darker, amber liquors, usually contain more congeners than lighter liquors. Individuals who are sensitive to sugar may get a migraine due to the high sugar content in alcohol. Some alcoholic beverages use artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, which cause migraines in some people.

Ethanol has a diuretic effect on the body, causing it to produce more urine. This excess urination causes dehydration, which contributes to the symptoms of a hangover which can include migraines. Getting migraines is a common symptom that many drinkers experience after a night of excessive drinking. One way to prevent this from happening is to drink plenty of non-alcoholic beverages during the day if you know you’ll be drinking that night.

The best bet if you get migraines is to avoid alcohol all together because alcohol and migraines do not mix well because of the multiple migraine trigger substances within alcohol. Not just that but because of the dehydration alcohol causes. If you want to drink and are prone to migraines it is best to only drink small amounts and to stay hydrated.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.