6 ms·

If you suffer migraines and you drink coffee, STOP drinking coffee immediately. Even if you've been drinking coffee forever with no migraines until recently, t

If you suffer migraines and you drink coffee, STOP drinking coffee immediately. Even if you've been drinking coffee forever with no migraines until recently, trust me, stop the coffee.

SebastianKumor 6y ago
My experience is that caffeine helps me against migraine. Do you take caffeine from some other source ?
- aSockPuppeteer 6y ago
  I switched to ginseng primarily. Green tea some but not much and not daily. I cut out coffee for 3 weeks for another reason and the migraines went away. They come back with stress, not enough breaks from mobile/monitors, and other unknowns. Exercise daily getting your heart rate up has helped also. There’s a migraine book out there about the exclusion diet where you slowly cut things out and make detailed logs. Log what you eat, what you did, felt, a super detailed journal. I never make it more than a few days of that.
loeg 6y ago
This is a bit odd considering Excedrin (OTC migraine product; not especially great compared to the prescription ones, but it's easier to get) contains caffeine as one of the ingredients. It seems like you're speaking from anecdotal experience rather than any sort of scientific study? If that's not true, can you provide some evidence for your recommendation?
- ashtonbaker 6y ago
  Anecdotally (and I was under the impression that this was more widely known), caffeine can both cause migraines and give relief from them. Kind of a “hair of the dog” effect.
  - loeg 6y ago
    So as a general recommendation, "if you haven't already, try eliminating caffeine and see if it helps you?" That is probably more useful than "eliminate coffee, trust me."
    - ashtonbaker 6y ago
      Yes, that's the recommendation I would give. I personally don't think that eliminating my 1cup/day of coffee has a major effect on my migraines (based on my long history), but I would expect it to be almost curative for some others.
galgalesh 6y ago
Caffeine can have both effects. Long-term use triggers it. Short-term use helps. Speaking out of personal and family experience.
qazwse_ 6y ago
I've had migraines for 10 years. I would guess about 1 per week/fortnight on average, lasting for 8ish hours. Never drank coffee until this year, when I started drinking it along with a high dose of aspirin (~1000mg) when I felt a migraine coming on. Almost a complete cure for me, much better than the medicine my doctor prescribed for me. So, for anyone else reading, like everything with migraines, your mileage may vary.
- nervousvarun 6y ago
  That sounds similar to Excedrin Migraine (which also adds acetaminophen and ibuprofen).
  - qazwse_ 6y ago
    Yeah I’ve heard about that, but I haven’t been able to find it in Canada. I’ve tried a combination aspirin + caffeine pill, but it didn’t seem to work as well as coffee.
jwmoz 6y ago
The caffeine thing is very confusing-there is plenty of advice that says caffeine helps a headache or migraine and the opposite says it is bad.

If you suffer migraines and you drink coffee, STOP drinking coffee immediately. Even if you've been drinking coffee forever with no migraines until recently, trust me, stop the coffee.

SebastianKumor 6y ago

My experience is that caffeine helps me against migraine. Do you take caffeine from some other source ?

aSockPuppeteer 6y ago
I switched to ginseng primarily. Green tea some but not much and not daily. I cut out coffee for 3 weeks for another reason and the migraines went away. They come back with stress, not enough breaks from mobile/monitors, and other unknowns. Exercise daily getting your heart rate up has helped also. There’s a migraine book out there about the exclusion diet where you slowly cut things out and make detailed logs. Log what you eat, what you did, felt, a super detailed journal. I never make it more than a few days of that.

loeg 6y ago

This is a bit odd considering Excedrin (OTC migraine product; not especially great compared to the prescription ones, but it's easier to get) contains caffeine as one of the ingredients. It seems like you're speaking from anecdotal experience rather than any sort of scientific study? If that's not true, can you provide some evidence for your recommendation?

ashtonbaker 6y ago
Anecdotally (and I was under the impression that this was more widely known), caffeine can both cause migraines and give relief from them. Kind of a “hair of the dog” effect.
- loeg 6y ago
  So as a general recommendation, "if you haven't already, try eliminating caffeine and see if it helps you?" That is probably more useful than "eliminate coffee, trust me."
  - ashtonbaker 6y ago
    Yes, that's the recommendation I would give. I personally don't think that eliminating my 1cup/day of coffee has a major effect on my migraines (based on my long history), but I would expect it to be almost curative for some others.

galgalesh 6y ago

Caffeine can have both effects. Long-term use triggers it. Short-term use helps. Speaking out of personal and family experience.

qazwse_ 6y ago

I've had migraines for 10 years. I would guess about 1 per week/fortnight on average, lasting for 8ish hours. Never drank coffee until this year, when I started drinking it along with a high dose of aspirin (~1000mg) when I felt a migraine coming on. Almost a complete cure for me, much better than the medicine my doctor prescribed for me. So, for anyone else reading, like everything with migraines, your mileage may vary.

nervousvarun 6y ago
That sounds similar to Excedrin Migraine (which also adds acetaminophen and ibuprofen).
- qazwse_ 6y ago
  Yeah I’ve heard about that, but I haven’t been able to find it in Canada. I’ve tried a combination aspirin + caffeine pill, but it didn’t seem to work as well as coffee.

jwmoz 6y ago

The caffeine thing is very confusing-there is plenty of advice that says caffeine helps a headache or migraine and the opposite says it is bad.