Caffeine helping migraines
How Caffeine May Help (and Cause) Headaches
Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors
Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on January 25, 2022
In this Article
- How Caffeine Helps
- How Caffeine Hurts
- What You Can Do
Everyone gets headaches from time to time. And most of us have caffeine in what we drink and eat every day. Have you considered whether there’s a connection? It’s possible for caffeine to both cause and cure a headache.
How Caffeine Helps
When your head hurts, you want relief fast. Whether it’s a run-of-the-mill tension headache or a migraine, caffeine can help. That’s why it’s an ingredient in a lot of popular pain relievers. It can make them as much as 40% more effective. Sometimes you can stop the pain in its tracks just by having caffeine alone.
Caffeine helps reduce inflammation, and that can bring relief. It also gives a boost to common headache remedies. Whether you use aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen, they work faster and better and keep the pain away for longer when combined with caffeine.
A very rare condition called hypnic headaches responds especially well to caffeine. These strike older people, waking them in the middle of the night with severe pain. Doctors typically tell people who get these to have a cup of coffee before bed.
How Caffeine Hurts
Oddly enough, what makes caffeine effective in pain relief can also cause headaches.
Since caffeine narrows the blood vessels that surround your brain, when you stop taking it they expand again, and that can cause pain.
Withdrawal: It’s easy for your body to get so used to the effects of caffeine that when you don’t have it in your system, you have withdrawal. A headache is one of the symptoms. This can happen when you have caffeine regularly, even as little as a cup of coffee a day.
Too Much Medication: Caffeine can also a factor in what’s known as a medication overuse, or rebound headache. This can happen when you take too much of any kind of pain reliever or take it too often.
When the medicine wears off, the pain comes back worse than before. When you combine caffeine with pain relievers this condition is more likely.
What You Can Do
Be aware of how caffeine affects you, and pay attention to how much of it you drink and eat. If you get migraines, or if you find yourself having headaches frequently, you may want to try to cut down on caffeine or avoid it completely. It’s best to do that gradually. For example, if you normally have 2 cups of coffee in the morning, start by cutting back to one. If you quit suddenly, it can take up to a week to get past the withdrawal symptoms.
Keep track of your headaches and what seems to help. Get good sleep, and drink plenty of water. A nutritious diet and daily exercise can also help. Try to manage stress. You might be able to beat a headache with relaxation techniques, meditation, or massage instead of using medicine or caffeine.
How Caffeine May Help (and Cause) Headaches
Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors
Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on January 25, 2022
In this Article
- How Caffeine Helps
- How Caffeine Hurts
- What You Can Do
Everyone gets headaches from time to time.
And most of us have caffeine in what we drink and eat every day. Have you considered whether there’s a connection? It’s possible for caffeine to both cause and cure a headache.
How Caffeine Helps
When your head hurts, you want relief fast. Whether it’s a run-of-the-mill tension headache or a migraine, caffeine can help. That’s why it’s an ingredient in a lot of popular pain relievers. It can make them as much as 40% more effective. Sometimes you can stop the pain in its tracks just by having caffeine alone.
Caffeine helps reduce inflammation, and that can bring relief. It also gives a boost to common headache remedies. Whether you use aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen, they work faster and better and keep the pain away for longer when combined with caffeine.
A very rare condition called hypnic headaches responds especially well to caffeine. These strike older people, waking them in the middle of the night with severe pain. Doctors typically tell people who get these to have a cup of coffee before bed.
How Caffeine Hurts
Oddly enough, what makes caffeine effective in pain relief can also cause headaches.
Since caffeine narrows the blood vessels that surround your brain, when you stop taking it they expand again, and that can cause pain.
Withdrawal: It’s easy for your body to get so used to the effects of caffeine that when you don’t have it in your system, you have withdrawal. A headache is one of the symptoms. This can happen when you have caffeine regularly, even as little as a cup of coffee a day.
Too Much Medication: Caffeine can also a factor in what’s known as a medication overuse, or rebound headache. This can happen when you take too much of any kind of pain reliever or take it too often. When the medicine wears off, the pain comes back worse than before. When you combine caffeine with pain relievers this condition is more likely.
What You Can Do
Be aware of how caffeine affects you, and pay attention to how much of it you drink and eat.
If you get migraines, or if you find yourself having headaches frequently, you may want to try to cut down on caffeine or avoid it completely. It’s best to do that gradually. For example, if you normally have 2 cups of coffee in the morning, start by cutting back to one. If you quit suddenly, it can take up to a week to get past the withdrawal symptoms.
Keep track of your headaches and what seems to help. Get good sleep, and drink plenty of water. A nutritious diet and daily exercise can also help. Try to manage stress. You might be able to beat a headache with relaxation techniques, meditation, or massage instead of using medicine or caffeine.
Coffee can help with migraines and headaches
For some people, coffee is great for headaches. So why don't doctors recommend this method to everyone?
Anastasia Nikiforova
May or may not help
If an annoying headache makes you want to crawl to the coffee maker, then we have some pretty conflicting information for you.
In short, coffee can help you, or it can hurt you. Want details? Let's tell!
Do you drink coffee when you have a headache?
According to experts, caffeine can both relieve and aggravate a headache: the effect depends on many factors specific to you and your habits. So before you head out for a cup of coffee or a bottle of cola - caffeine, after all - there are some data to consider. Here's what you need to know.
Caffeine relieves headaches - in some cases
Caffeine, according to nutritionists and doctors, does not always help headaches. For pain caused by dilated blood vessels in the brain (a condition known as vasodilation), caffeine can help. It causes blood vessels to constrict, which reduces painful swelling.
Caffeine can also relieve tension headaches by relaxing spasmodic muscles in the neck or back of the head (a slightly paradoxical but real effect).
And here lies the difficulty: an excessive amount of caffeine can make the muscles tighten and even overexert. And, characteristically, he will do it very quickly and without declaring war.
There is no magic dose. And specific too
It would be great if we knew exactly how many cups of coffee it takes to relieve a headache. We would also agree to the recommended dosage of pure caffeine in milligrams per kilogram of body weight, if only it could do something with a heavy head in the morning.
But this is unknown to science, alas. And we are unlikely to get more specific answers: caffeine affects people too differently.
Some people are genetically more sensitive to caffeine and should avoid coffee as a pain reliever. If after one cappuccino you're running around like an energizing bunny, maybe you should spare your tender receptors.
In any case, one or two cups is enough for everyone.
In extreme cases - three or four, more definitely not worth it. After a certain amount of coffee, many people even begin to feel sleepy. But we do not recommend using it instead of sleeping pills, there will be problems with falling asleep or with the quality of sleep.
Source of caffeine matters
Coffee, tea, chocolate, and soda are some of the most common sources of caffeine. Particular caution should be exercised in relation to energy drinks - doctors associate their use with dizziness, convulsions and even strokes, and at a very young age. If you are fond of energy drinks and suffer from headaches, it is better to quit - the neurostimulants contained in them only harm you.
For information, an ordinary cup of coffee contains from 106 to 164 mg of caffeine, and a can of soda contains from 38 to 46. Sugar and other chemicals can worsen your well-being, and cheerfulness from a sweet fizz will pass faster than from a cup of aromatic drink.
It's very individual
Some need ibuprofen and a half hour nap, others need a cold compress on their eyes for a few minutes. For someone - a massage of the cervical-collar zone (try it if you haven't tried it yet). And, of course, sometimes coffee will also flash among these methods. Different people are helped by different ways of dealing with headaches.
And if you suffer from headaches, a holistic approach can make all the difference. Sleep schedule adjustment, enough water, physical activity should come first in the fight for a clear mind.
Only then does it make sense to find out how caffeine affects you and whether you need other medications or stimulants. Lack of sleep, an unhealthy diet, and a sedentary lifestyle cause headaches more often than you might think.
If system changes are far ahead, and your head hurts now, try to relieve your condition:
- take a walk in the fresh air
- turn off the lights and sit in silence
- drink water
- eat something light if the body allows
- massage the lymph nodes, near the temples and under the jaw
- do breathing exercises, which will saturate the blood and, accordingly, the brain with oxygen
Fresh your head!
Also Read: Forgetting Coffee: How to Quit Caffeine in Large Quantities
Three Alternatives to Caffeine
Source
Migraines, Headaches and Caffeine | Articles
Migraine with caffeine
Caffeine can both improve and worsen the condition of people suffering from headaches.
In some cases, it can serve as a remedy, or vice versa, it can cause the headaches to recover.
What is caffeine?
Caffeine is a widely used drug that increases focus, reduces fatigue, and improves muscle coordination. While coffee comes to mind when thinking about the most common source of caffeine, it is also found in abundance in foods such as tea and chocolate.
It is often added to soft drinks and over-the-counter medications such as pain relievers and cold remedies. All people have different susceptibility to caffeine. If you get too much caffeine, it can cause anxiety, sleep disturbances, and even muscle cramps or stomach pain.
Headache treatment with caffeine
Caffeine
is a common ingredient in many prescription and over-the-counter headache medications.
Adding caffeine
- increases the effectiveness of painkillers in the treatment of headaches by 40%.
- promotes better absorption of these drugs by the body.
- allows you to limit yourself to a smaller amount of the drug to achieve the desired effect.
- reduces the risk of possible side effects and drug addiction.
Some products containing caffeine:
- Milk chocolate, hot chocolate and other chocolate drinks;
- Cocoa blends, malt powder;
- Cola and other carbonated drinks;
- Tea;
- coffee liqueurs;
- All chocolate products, including pastries, cakes and eclairs;
- Chocolate ice cream or puddings;
Withdrawal syndrome
In general, withdrawal syndrome is a rather rare occurrence, even for avid caffeine drinkers. However, if you consume it in excess (more than 500 mg per day, which is about the equivalent of five cups of coffee) for a long period of time, and then suddenly stop, the withdrawal syndrome may take its toll.
You can avoid this by limiting your daily caffeine intake. By being aware of the sources of caffeine, you can gradually reduce your intake rather than stopping use abruptly.
