Wine Headache Testimonials

It is clear that wine can induce terrible headaches.  If we can find a significant number of people who will step forward for science, maybe we can figure out what is up.

Mr. Waterhouse,
....
I am a 48 year old male and this reaction to drinking wine has only started in the last 3-4 years.  Never had a problem before that.  I am a very light drinker.  When its light, I drink.  No, seriously, I've never been much of a drinker.  For many years whenever I felt like having beer in the house it was the "premium" non-alcohol kind because regular beer gave me severe headaches.  Way worse if I drank it on an empty stomach.  Don't know why but the non-alcohol brews didn't affect me.  However, a few years ago, maybe 3 or 4, I decided to try my hand at a good regular brew again and to my surprise - it tasted like pee pee.  Oh, and no headache!  Zero, zippo, nada!  Since then I made a drastic taste switch and occasionally buy a case (lasts 3-4 months) of regular beer and have never had a reaction of any kind (other than an extra couple restroom stops).  As I write this email I've realized for the first time that it was around the same approximate time that I was no longer able to drink wine without severe migrain headaches the next day.  I know our bodies go through changes as we get older but this is a little odd.  My body changed to switch drinks?  The only other drink that affects me is apple juice or apple cider, which is odd since my mother grew us kids up on the stuff rather than feed us sugar laced sodas.  Sometime in my late twenties I couldn't drink anything with apple in it as I would get a severe stomach and chest pain and pain that would radiate through my whole body for about 20-30 minutes and then dissipate.  However, I can eat an apple or two and not have a reaction.  The migrain headaches I get seem to be mainly stomach related.  Other than wine, if I have too much ice cream, say, a full Ben And Jerry's Chunky Monkey (hands down favorite) 3 or 4 nights in a row I'll end up with bad migrains for a few days (non-stop).  I've tried everything and the only relief I get is to induce vomiting to clear my stomach and/or Alka-Seltzer.  Actually, the Alka-Seltzer on its own most of the time will relieve or eliminate my migrains.  The migrains I get have only been in the last 3-4 years.  I must have gone through some change in my early to mid forties for these things to start happening.  If I keep my guard up I can go a few months without a single headache but usually I crack by then and go on an ice cream binge or eat something my stomach can't handle too well and I end up with a paralizing migrain that lasts 2-3 days.  One thing for sure, I don't touch wine as just a couple swallows and within 8-12 hours I get the worst paralizing skull crushing migrains that nothing relieves (other than induced vomiting to get as much out of my stomach as possible).  It's been almost 2 years since I've touched any wine and if I remember correctly both red and white wine gave me the same reaction.  However, to be 100% sure on the white wine I suppose I would have to drink a glass and see what happens.  I would very much hesitate to do this as the pain that might follow is beyond belief.  I would give up our entire national security just to make the pain stop.  What goes on inside the body to make a persons head hurt so bad is something I woud very much like to understand.  Another reaction I get is that when I had a glass of wine or if I now have a beer my hands feel like every molecule of moisture has been sucked out of them.  My mother used to say when I was teenager that her hands would swell a bit when she had any wine and that's what it feels like to me now.  As if my hands are swelling, stretching my skin to make them feel as though they are dehydrated.  Both wine and beer does this to me although no longer headaches with beer. 
 
Sorry to blab so much in this email but I wanted you to have a good idea as to what I'm dealing with.  If you want to use me for some mind altering, highly classified and controversial experiments, I am at your service.  Just no headaches.  Although I would really like to know what the root cause of this type of reaction is.
BP, Arizona


Hello,
Please add my name to the list for possible future study involving headaches and wine. For all of my adult life I could only consume maybe a glass of red wine. It seems the last couple years have gotten worse for negative effects from wine consumption. Severe headaches, nausea, vomiting. This would almost always happen if I had 2 glasses of wine. Sometimes a single glass would do it as well.Well, my wife and I just returned from a Trip to Italy. When over there I was able to consume large quantities of wine. Some evenings at least a bottle with no negative side effects. I would surely love to know what the difference was. I am going to conduct some informal studies at home trying some Italian wines as well as some organic wines.As far as the sulfite issue. I never looked at bottles, either here or Italy, to see if they contained sulfites. I assumed my problem was strictly alcohol related. Someone suggested the sulfite connection and thus led me here.
JC, Virginia

Andrew,
I have long ago stopped drinking any alcohol in the US. In my family we are all prone to get sinus headaches, and they can be brought on by a number of things, but we have always known that red wine is the worst, and white wine and beer are close behind. My brother, sister and mother have always shared information on both how to prevent them, and how to get rid of them. It has always been interesting that our bodies respond in such an identical way to the same causes, drugs and other preventative approaches. My mother also has found that she never get Novocaine shots at the Dentist since it causes the same headaches, and the Dentist told her that Novocaine contains a large amount of Sulfites.
I also travel quite a bit and have long found that I can drink wine and beer without problems outside the US. I am a very modest drinker, and find half a glass of red wine can put me in bed for a day and a half with a horrible headache. I will go to Canada, the UK, Europe and have no trouble but in the US it seems different. I had long believed that this is because of preservatives the FDA requires in Wine and Beer. Everyone in my family has found a similar experience in drinking outside the US. The only other issue I can think of is the very high average humidity in Boston.
I have never research Sulfites until today when I was looking into buying wine over the internet so I could get wine without Sulfites. I saw your piece on Sulfites and thought I would respond. Most of what I know about Sulfites is from your piece. However, I have this empirical experience.
I’m happy to be in your study, although I believe you are in CA. I also offer my whole family, which live in NE, and all suffer the same issue.
I would also appreciate other ideas on what might be the issue other than Sulfites. Thank you for providing the information on your web-site.
HG, Massachusetts

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