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Caffeine Withdrawal and Migraines |
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Written by Chrissy S.
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Sunday, 29 October 2006 |
Caffeine Withdrawal and Migraines
Overdoing it on caffeine has been found to cause migraines. On the other hand, taking in just enough caffeine has been found to successfully prevent migraines. What's the deal?
Caffeine withdrawal is the primary cause of caffeine-related migraines. Thus,one can go about utilizing caffeine as a preventative method for migraine relief in two ways. The first is the simplest, and paradoxically also the hardest. Simply reduce your consumption of caffeine to nothing. No caffeine, no caffeine withdrawal. Get it? The second method takes a little work, but it does work. All you have to do is to take in enough caffeine over intervals that are close enough together to guarantee that you don't go into withdrawal. There are pros and cons to both methods. Both require some sacrifices, but more importantly, both work to keep caffeine withdrawal at bay which keeps migraines at bay.
You would think that total abstinence from caffeine would signal the end of migraine headaches. But this is not always so. In theory, it works just fine, but as a relief program it suffers the same fate as sexual abstinence: Not everybody is able to stick with the program; the urges are simply too strong to deny. Another problem is that it's all too easy to put caffeine in your system without even being aware that you are doing it. Complete and total caffeine abstinence requires becoming aware of all possible sources of caffeine. It's not going to be enough just to give up coffee and Mountain Dew. In order to successfully avoid caffeine you have to know where else you may find it. If you have decided to give up caffeine altogether, for example, you'll have to be prepared to give up or use alternative non-caffeinated versions of: tea, chocolate, liqueur, pudding, pain-relief medications, energy drinks, diet pills, stay-awake pills.
So perhaps, then, the option of keeping up regular caffeine intake appeals to you more. The advantage here is that you don't need a long list of all the products in the world that contain caffeine. You just merely need to take control over when you take in caffeine and how much you ingest. Once you establish that control, however, you are close to kissing your migraine goodbye.
This method involves making sure you receive regular doses of caffeine It works best if you have a plan whereby you can intake the caffeine at regular intervals. Now don't get all excited about stopping by Starbucks throughout the day or heading for the coffee pot. Coffee and tea rely on caffeine infusion methods and so aren't the best method of ingestion using this particular method. Because of the diffusion, your caffeine amount can differ from one cup to another. Ideally, you should buy either caffeine tablets or soda. This will better allow you to properly monitor the amount of caffeine you are actually taking in.
You can get caffeine tablets that contain 100 mg or 200 mg per dose. It's a little cheaper to purchase generic rather than brand name tablets. As for soda, the amount of caffeine varies somewhat with Mountain Dew on the high end, though if you want to take the trouble to search them out you can also find higher-dosage soft drinks specifically designed to give you a jolt. For instance, Jolt Cola!
The following caffeine amounts are found in 12oz servings of these soft drinks:
Mountain Dew: 55 mg of caffeine.
Coca-Cola: 34 mg of caffeine
Diet Coke: 45 mg of caffeine
Pepsi Cola: 38 mg of caffeine
Once you have decided how you are going to go about keeping up your caffeine infusions, the next thing to do is to take the time to keep a detailed journal of your dosing. Keep an accurate record of the date and time you take the dose, the amount of the dose, how you ingested the dose (tablet, soft drink, medication, etc.), the time of dose and the amount of dose, etc. Also note any headaches you get and be sure to include such information as date, duration of headache, severity, etc. If you don't see a change right away, try adjusting your plan a little by either changing the times you ingest the caffeine or the amount. Once you've found a regimen that does the trick, stick with it and say goodbye to headaches. |
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