Caffeine is a chemical that you can found in tea, cola, coffee, mate and different products. However, caffeine is commonly used to enhance mental alertness but it can also be used for other purposes too.
You can even treat your migraine if you consume caffeine through the mouth or the rectal combination of some pain killers like aspirin and acetaminophen along with ergotamine a chemical. Moreover, caffeine is included in FDA approved products that can be used to treat migraines when taken with a painkiller. Also, for a simple headache, you can take your painkillers with some caffeine shots. The caffeine dose is also helpful for treating severe headaches after epidural anesthesia.
Caffeine can be given to treat the breathing issue in newborns and to increase the flow of urine under the supervision of Healthcare provides. FDA also approved the use of caffeine products for the people who recently underwent surgery to prevent headaches.
However, many people who consume caffeine regularly experienced caffeine headaches. One can feel the headache timely even after taking a good amount of caffeine through food and beverages. It is because of the caffeine. This natural stimulant can cause and cure headaches.
In this article, we will cover both the cure and cause of caffeine headaches. This includes:
- How does caffeine help headaches?
- How caffeine can cause headaches?
- Caffeine headache location
- Causes of Caffeine headache
- Remedy for caffeine headache
- How to get rid of a caffeine headache
Table of Contents
How does caffeine help headaches?
During the extreme headache state, regardless of the type of headache you are facing, all you need is a quick relief. Trust us caffeine can help you with the headaches either migraine or due to tension. In combination with the painkillers like aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen, which is more effective and you can rapid relief for a longer time. Moreover, even without painkillers, you can still treat your headache. Additionally, caffeine has a chemical substance that helps you in reducing inflammation. Moreover, it also brings relief to you.
Hypnic headache or sometimes named as alarm clock headache is a very rare type of medical condition. People with this condition woke up in the middle of the night and cause severe pain. Mostly this condition strikes elderly people. Hence, the doctor recommends people who are suffering from a hypnic headache to take a cup of coffee before going to bed.
With the simple addition of 130 mg of caffeine into the formation over the counter pain medication can help in improving the headache relief by 40%. However, the problem part is to take the caffeine itself. As a result, it is hard to differentiate whether headache treatment is due to elements present in medicine or due to caffeine.
The average headache can also be cured by drinking caffeinated beverages such as soda, tea or coffee. This method of curing headaches is still unclear. As the cause of headache can be due to either hunger or low blood sugar so, the dose of sugar, cream or both in caffeine can help to ease the headache.
Undoubtedly, caffeine stimulants effect on the brain. Some experts even believe that these stimulants help in relaxing and opening of blood vessels while providing ease to headaches. However, the evidence of this theory is still under research.
How caffeine can cause headaches?
Oddly enough, the natural stimulant that brings relief to your headache can also cause a painful headache. Caffeine headaches can be extremely dangerous and in some cases can be highly risky. Usage of caffeine narrows down the blood vessels surrounded with the brain and when you stop taking enough caffeine these vessels start expanding again. As a result, a very painful caffeine headache arises.
Caffeine Headache Location
Finding the exact caffeine headache location is a bit tricky. You can feel the caffeine-induced headaches that initiate right behind the back of your eyes. Gradually it increases upwards toward the head and increases the intensity of headache. So if not properly treated or checked you might face deliberately extreme headache issues. This headache for few people can cause them to trigger a migraine. However, the severity of the pain varies from case to case, for some people this pain can be moderately painful and for others it could be extremely painful.
Causes of Caffeine Headache
Depending upon the cause of caffeine headache the severity of the pain can be determined as well as treatment to get rid of caffeine headaches can be initiated. Following are the main causes behind caffeine headache:
- Caffeine withdrawal
- Caffeine overdose
- Caffeine allergy
- Varied caffeine consumption
- Caffeine sensitivity
Caffeine Withdrawal
Quitting caffeine or withdrawing caffeine is a major cause of caffeine headaches. This state can be extremely serious for the people who suddenly switch from daily caffeine to no caffeine at all. It is difficult for an individual to quit caffeine all at once from all sources of food and beverages such as coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, chocolates, tea, etc. You can have symptoms of caffeine withdrawal within a few hours after you miss your caffeine dose. These symptoms get worse in time if you continue your caffeine withdrawal journey. Trust us you will not die because of caffeine withdrawal, these symptoms are due to detoxification of caffeine from your system. Caffeine withdrawal symptoms include:
- Headaches
- Sleepiness
- Constipation
- Muscle Pain, Stiffness, Cramping
- Flu-like symptoms
- Nausea and Vomiting
- Brain Fog
- Heart Rhythm Abnormalities
- Irritability
- Lethargy
- Depression
- Lack of Concentration
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Dizziness
Caffeine Overdose
Due to the higher range of caffeinated products in the market, caffeine dose is increasing tremendously. While people are more depending upon the use of caffeine. The symptoms of this state include:
- Scattered thoughts
- Inability to focus
- Elevated blood pressure
- Nausea
- Heart palpitations
- Sweating
- Vomiting
- Nervousness, Jitters, and Restlessness
- Excessive talking
- Irritability
- Increased heartbeat
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Dizziness
- Cardiac arrest
Caffeine Allergy
Allergic to caffeine is no more a strange thing. People around the globe have experienced skin sensitivity reactions due to the consumption of caffeine. These were the reported symptoms caused by the reaction of having a moderate or little amount of caffeine from different caffeine food/beverage products such as tea, coffee, soft drinks.
- Headaches or migraines
- Can’t focus or concentrate
- Heart racing or palpitations
- Fatigue
- Extreme jitters
- Depression
- Muscle pain
- Delusions or hallucinations
- Vision problems
- Eyes swollen shut
- Skin problems such as eczema, acne, hives, rashes, severe itching
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Swelling in tongue, throat or glands
- Angry, Bad, irritable mood
- Dizziness
- Chest Pain
- face, hands, or feet numbness
- Shortness of breath
- Flu/ cold-like symptoms
- Cold sweats
Varied Caffeine Consumption
There are two extreme stages of caffeine consumption i.e. caffeine crash to caffeine hangover.
Caffeine Crash: This state occurs after a few hours when the person consumed the moderate or high dosage of caffeine and also when a person is very tired. These are the symptoms of a caffeine crash:
- Inability to concentrate
- Dozing off
- Extreme tiredness
- Irritability
Caffeine Hangover: A state of having caffeine more than required normally takes you to a roller coaster ride of caffeine hangover. Excess of everything is bad so taking caffeine more than required will trigger the side effects that include:
- Caffeine headache due to overdose is quite similar to the feelings of a hangover from alcohol.
- A high level of caffeine builds neurotransmitter adenosine in the brain, resulting in lethargy and extreme tiredness.
- Caffeine overdose causes nausea and vomiting
Caffeine Sensitivity
The efficiency of the human body to metabolize and process caffeine is generally termed as caffeine sensitivity. Caffeine sensitivity can be determined by the amount of caffeine effect of the person. There are three levels of caffeine sensitivity.
- Hypersensitive
- Normal Sensitivity
- Hypo-sensitivity
Caffeine Headache Remedy
One of the major reasons behind caffeine headache is due to caffeine withdrawal. A person can have a mild headache even if he declines a small amount of caffeine in his daily routine. So people who are on caffeine detoxification, miss their cup of coffee for a day or more and who are consuming less than average coffee usually experiencing caffeine headaches due to caffeine withdrawal.
So the best remedy for caffeine withdrawal headache is when you start tightness behind your eyes
- Consume more caffeine, evaluate your recent caffeine consumption.
- Moreover use painkillers such as Excedrin, which has added caffeine and pain reliever.
How to get rid of caffeine headache?
Prevention is better than cure, we believe in that quote too. The best way to get rid of a caffeine-induced headache is to take proper precautionary measures. These are our suggested precautionary measures that eventually help you keep away from a caffeine headache.
- Consumption of the same amount of caffeine daily: It’s better to keep on following the same track of consuming caffeine every day without experimenting on increasing or decreasing it.
- Consume zero to a small amount of caffeine: those who use a small amount of caffeine can easily eliminate the caffeine from their routines without having caffeine withdrawal headaches.
- Being mindful of how much you are consuming caffeine from caffeinated products can help you in keeping the track and save you from having a caffeine-induced headache.
- Stay Hydrated
- Take enough sleep
- Reduced the caffeinated products
- Naturally, boost your energy
Read More: Caffeine Pills or Coffee – Which one you vote?
Caffeine Headache – FAQs
1. How one can detoxify after having too much caffeine?
For those who are purposely detoxifying the amount of caffeine should perform these steps:
- Take pain relievers such as acetaminophen, naproxen ibuprofen, and Aspirin as per directed.
- Drink water, plenty of water
- Avoid caffeinated medications, foods, and beverages
- Sleep and take rest
2. Are Caffeine Sensitivity and Caffeine Tolerance the same?
No, they both are different. Caffeine Sensitivity is the efficiency of the human body to metabolize and process caffeine whereas Caffeine Tolerance is how a body responds to caffeine over time.
3. Do the consumption of too much caffeine cause skin cancer?
Although consuming too much caffeine can cause severe reactions, there is no evidence of skin cancer occurred due to caffeine consumption.
4. How long do caffeine headache last?
The caffeine headache due to caffeine withdrawal should only last for a few days or a few weeks. The caffeine withdrawal headache occurred within a few hours of caffeine cut down and the peak intensity of the symptoms last for 24-48 hours.
5. How to decrease caffeine withdrawal symptoms?
The best way to decrease caffeine withdrawal symptoms is through:
- Hydrating the body
- Cut back to caffeine regularly
- Have enough rest
- Search for other natural energy sources that keeps your brain active and focus.
