celticfife

The Mystery of Caffeine

Posted on 05/18/08, 09:09 pm

Caffeine, an additive and natural substance in many products - can both cause and abort headaches and migraine.

Caffeine taken daily, just like any other medication, can cause rebound headache. And in some people, caffeine by itself is a trigger.

There are many people, however, that caffeine can assist their headache. This is why they include caffeine in Excedrin and some other pain medicines. This is why they are also testing blending Rizatriptan (Maxalt) with caffeine. Caffeine acts as a stimulant to 1) help the medication reach the body quicker 2) constrict the blood vessels to allieviate pain.

It can't hurt to make sure that you aren't suffering rebound headache or withdrawal from caffeine. Make sure you take stock of chocolate (which has a small amount of caffeine in it), tea, coffee, soda, Red bull, and any type of dieting substances that have guarana listed. Also make sure you read the label on OTC medication you take, because you could be getting caffeine from them as well.

If you are using caffeine as an abortive, as with all abortives - you should keep it to 2-3 times per week.

• Reply #1 05/19/08  12:47pm
  
  Jill08
  Thank you! I am 100% one of those people who are assisted by caffine!
  I will never forget the day I was at the mall. I got hit hard, really out of the blue with a knock down drag out migraine. I went to the candy store- got 2 pieced of dark chocolate, then a cup of coffee. I sat for about 15 mins or so... The headache was GONE. Caffine is my friend.
  
  My neuro's have been using caffine with me since I was first diagnosed at the age of 3.
  
  thanks again for the info:)
  Jill
• Reply #2 06/25/08  4:10pm
  
  RobinLuvyall
  I wish mine were that easy...maybe I just didn't get enough caffeine... It has helped to ease it, but never stopped it.
• Reply #3 01/20/09  6:47pm
  
  iwannabeame
  I am also helped by caffeine. When I get one of those debilitating severe migraines, I usually get a double chocolate frappe with an extra shot of expresso.
  

This is a place to post information about migraines as an adjunct to the main group. If you have venting or questions, please speak to the main Migraine group. This group is here as a resource so when you are in the middle of a cycle and do not want to have to search 25 pages back you do not have to.