Caffeine is a migraine on/off switch. It can be such an essential factor in helping some migraine sufferers deal with their pain that it is a main ingredient in certain pharmaceutical prescriptions against migraines.
For some unlucky migraine sufferers, caffeine can be a vital migraine headache trigger.
What logic lies behind those extremes in reaction? Why is caffeine a double-edged sword?
Your migraines may be an inherited condition, but that does not mean you need to deal with them the same way your suffering relative does. Remember that you are not a twin of your migrainous parent – 50% of your body chemistry and genetic makeup stem from the other side of the family tree, and therefore, your migraines may present differently, and your reactions may well be different from your migrainous relative.
You really need to experiment to see what works best for your particular case. My migraine-suffering mother used heat – hot water bottles, electric heating pads, creams to find relief from migraine pain. In my case – applying heat significantly worsened the pain and caused my feelings of nausea to be much more intense. In my case, migraine symptoms found relief in ice packs.
My migrainous mother used a famous brand name prescription containing caffeine to deal with her migraines. In my case, I discovered that caffeine is one of my main triggers!
I had to wean myself off an 8-cup-a-day coffee habit. Rather than quitting cold turkey – which could easily precipitate a withdrawal headache, it took me several months to slowly drink a quarter cup less per day. In the meantime, I was sleeping more and doing more exercise, so I needed less coffee to function.
After decades of complete migraine pain relief, I began to drink strong coffee daily. After a few months, I felt a familiar buzz, a slight tingling on the right side of my face and temple – I recognized the warning signal of oncoming migraines. I instantly replaced the coffee with enough sleep, more exercise, other liquids and the telltale buzz warning of oncoming pain evaporated, not to return.
I can still enjoy the occasional designer coffee without any effect except to keep me awake or more alert while driving, and I enjoy and prepare mocha desserts, with coffee liqueur and coffee as a recipe ingredients, but I don’t crave coffee.
As far as cooking with coffee is concerned, I’d be curious about discovering substitutes for the coffee taste, without the negative coffee effect if caffeine is your migraine trigger. Example: capomo – a tree growing in Mexico, whose fruit is not unlike a coffee bean in appearance and is treated the same way – dried and roasted – has a coffee-like flavor that is quite pleasant and satisfying.
Which do you prefer dealing with? Satisfying your craving for a substance, or finding migraine pain relief by dealing with your craving? If you discover that drinking coffee is a trigger for your migraines and you want to eliminate caffeine from your diet, find out what foods you eat or drink that contain caffeine.
Then see if you cannot eat or drink a substitute that doesn’t include caffeine. It will be easier for you to step away from a migraine trigger if you do not feel deprived when adopting a pain-relieving habit.
It’s a tough trigger to give up. Coffee is legal, it’s a booming industry, it’s socially very acceptable and very much encouraged, it’s a daily presence – the coffee culture elements around you at home, in the workplace, advertised visually and audibly, sensually – the aroma from someone next to you drinking a cup of java, or the numerous coffee businesses you walk by that send out attractive whiffs of coffee.
You’re special – contrary to the majority of people around you, you suffer from migraines. So give yourself permission to join the majority of people who do NOT suffer from migraines and treat yourself with special care.
You might even start a trend: I did so, inadvertently, when the aroma from my daily mugs of a nutritious fruit smoothie attracted attention in my office. When the office coffee machine went on the permanent fritz, the co-workers pitched in, asked me to buy a blender and paid for baskets of fruit so I could prepare my mixed fruit concoction and they lined up for their share (which led to jokes about mug sizes compared to the share of financial contributions).
Discover teas or infusions that satisfy your need to carry a mug or a cup, to drink in a social situation so you don’t stand out, say, at the workplace. Maybe, later on, when you are less “special” due to migraines, you can go back to enjoying a cup of really terrific coffee – without suffering any adverse consequences.
