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This is likely not due to any analgesic property of caffeine (not sure there is any) but rather due to many headaches being caffeine withdrawal.
by gumby 4y ago
This is likely not due to any analgesic property of caffeine (not sure there is any) but rather due to many headaches being caffeine withdrawal.
- eigenvalue 4y agoI always thought it was more about the constricting of blood vessels that caffeine causes, which reduces the blood supply that is a main cause of headaches. So it alleviates the underlying cause rather than reduces the pain.
- tomjakubowski 4y agoCaffeine dilates blood vessels - withdrawal will make them constricted
- tedunangst 4y agoBackwards. It's a vasoconstrictor.
- felixg3 4y agoExactly, and some types of headaches come from vasodilation (like migraine pain).
- tomjakubowski 4y agoit's complicated... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003984/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003984/ "A mild and transitory vasoconstrictor effect exists, which depends mainly on the caffeine concentration in the VSMC. However, the main and predominant effect of caffeine on the vascular wall is vasodilating, acting equally on the VSMC directly or indirectly and also on the endothelial structure." The paper also says that withdrawal headaches are caused by vasodilation so I was wrong about that. "When you abruptly stop the consumption of caffeine in a habitual consumer, there is a greater number of available adenosine receptors, which potentiates the vasodilation produced by adenosine, causing the symptoms"
- bryanlarsen 4y agoThe primary mechanism is believed to be due to the reduction in blood flow in the brain that caffeine triggers. But your comment is spot on for many, caffeine withdrawal is also a major headache trigger.