Red wine headache solution or snakeoil

Young, overextracted red wines like many 05 Bdx give me incredibly painful sinus headaches. Which wines and the circumstances do not seem predictable other than it is the young, massive wines that are the triggers. I’ve only suffered this afflication since trying recent vintages of young Bdx. Antihistamines do not seem to help.

Has anyone tried a product called the “Wine Enhancer”?? Any success with it?

Alternatively, anyone tips other than avoid young wines would be appreciated. (I hope this belongs in wine talk, I could not find any other posts on the subject)

http://www.wineenhancer.net/about-wine-headaches.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.wineenhancer.net/Wine-Enhancer-Promo-Movie.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blog.wineeducation.com/2006/08/testing-wine-enhancer.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like the product does not produce a significant difference in the tasting experience.

Bob knows that the enhancer works

Ed:
I have suffered with wine induced migraines for many years. In fact, I am recovering from one right now (last night’s wine triggered it for whatever reason) so I apologize for being slow- being migrainoid makes me pretty slowed down.
First thing I would say is get to a neurologist. I would be willing ot bet that you are not experiencing sinus headaches, but migraines. The symtpoms can be confused, but you need a doctor to tell the difference.
There are a number of triggers for HA, and a number of mitigators as well. My neurologist told me that I cannot have too many triggers at one time. In other words, it really is about life style modifcation. There are supplements and other meds that can help. My doc also said that young reds and old whites seem to trigger migraines. I have also found it is a problem with certain wines. I love Zinfandel and pizza, but ZIn can trigger a migraine with just the first sip. I remember many times taking a sip of Turley, and literally getting a migraine before the first sip of wine hit my stomache. So, I don’t drink Zins at all any more.

I seriously doubt this device would work. It makes no sense to me. If I were you, I find a HA specialist. I didn’t drink wine for a couple of years because of this problem (a search for my TN’s shows that I posted virtually none over a period of a couple of years, and that was why). So, I know what a problem this is. Sorry if this is a bit rambling, but as I said, I am not at my best this morning.

Acupuncture made a word of difference for me.

edit… that would be world…

Last time I researched this and posted on the site that is no more, phenethylamine was strongly implicated.

Simply google phenethylamine migraines and perhaps wine as well.

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/9/817" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Such amines are thought to cross the blood-brain barrier with ease…

Thanks Bob. I stopped all wine recently for 2 months and the unexplained headaches went away.

I don’t recall ever getting one drinking mature wine or white wine. Last night, I had 2 glasses of a dense, young Bdx and I am sure you understand the pain.

Maybe I will try a tritan if (when) it happens again or see a specialist.

Thanks, Ed

I am working on slow today as I said above, so I forgot to mention this. IT helped me a lot, too.

Our 2 cents (with medical consultations from customers):

http://www.wineexpo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Check this out: An Exploration Of 'The Migraine Brain' : NPR" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Disclaimer: I haven’t read the book but I heard the article on Fresh Air and it sounded pretty interesting.

I think you may receive a lot of conventional wisdom on wine and migraines but the bottom line
is that it’s a complex and very individual problem. I was afflicted for most of my life but after
identifying many of my triggers I am now happy to report that I am now headache free. My primary trigger: salt.

Yeah, it kinda sucks that I have to limit my salt intake but it’s nice to enjoy wine again without having to deal with
the migraines.

Good luck,
Reese.

Dr Bernstein is a very bright person, and a good physican from what I am able to tell from seeing her lecture. Thanks for the link, and I will look forward to listening to it.

Great post, Bob.

I sometimes get migraines from wine, too. What I can add that might be helpful is pay attention to the trigger. Like Bob mentioned - with the first sip, I can feel the trigger pretty much instantly. If you can recognize that, you can spit out the wine and dump the glass. You’ll still probably have a bit of fuzziness for a bit, but have prevented a massive headache.

There was an article about a decade ago (and haven’t been able to find reference to more recently) about a study that broke down the various chemical sources of red wine headache. I remember histamine accounting for 35%, other amines another 35%. (Sulfite was down near the bottom of the 10 or so causes with 4%.)

An additional source of histamine that some winemakers suspect is insects such as wasps and bees.

I, too, have never experienced this with aged wines. That’s an interesting observation.

Roberto

Interesting link.

I did have these two glasses on an empty stomach while watching some golf.

PM sent. Thanks, Ed