A Surprising Migraine Treatment that Worked for Me

[Andrew Joiner]

Hopefully my story can help someone.

I've had migraines for about 8 years, about 1 a week. I tried prescription and over the counter drugs. Aleve, Ibuprofen or Tylenol worked the best, but 20% of the time nothing would stop the headache. I have Hepatitis C, so I want to protect my liver. Aleve, Ibuprofen and Tylenol are hard on the liver. I dread getting the headache and taking the maximum doses of drugs that could stress my liver.

A month ago I read this:
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Dr. Weil first recommends eliminating coffee (including decaffeinated coffee) as well as all other sources of caffeine from your daily routine. Make sure you are not taking any OTC or prescription drugs that contain it. Once you are completely off caffeine, you can use coffee or other forms of caffeine as an effective and immediate treatment for migraine. Drink one or two cups of strong coffee at the first sign of an attack, then lie down in a dark, quiet room.
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I was a daily coffee drinker. Usually one strong cup a day, more if I was busy. I'd avoid coffee after 3pm because it would keep me awake. I was hesitant to use caffeine to treat migraines. Why would I want to be awake and alert with a migraine? I was desperate so, I quit coffee after an MD friend of mine also recommended the Dr Weil method.

Now weeks later I can report that the coffee treatment works better than any drug for me!

A big plus is I don't dread the migraines as much because I love coffee. Now I get to have a cup or 2 if I feel a migraine coming on. Trouble getting to sleep hasn't been as big a problem as I thought.

[David Weaver]

Is there anything out of the ordinary in terms of your migraines? Once per week is a lot.

[Myk Rian]

Did you stop drinking coffee, or do you have 1 or 2 cups if you feel a migraine coming?
I'm confused.

[Larry Edgerton]

Thanks Andrew, I will pass this on to my wife who gets migraines occasionally.

I was told by my doctor that Aleve was not hard on your liver. I take two every morning so I can work. I'll research more.....

Larry

[Andrew Joiner]

David, No, according to my Dr, some people get them even more often. It's once a week on average for me.

Myk, Yes, I quit the daily use of coffee. Dr Weil and my Dr friend say this works best. I drink
coffee as soon as I feel the migraine starting.

Larry, My Dr tells me Aleve, Ibuprofen and Tylenol are all OK, even for me with Hep C. I'm being extra cautious. Aleve, Ibuprofen and Tylenol are all in the same family. My research indicates that for people with Hep C Tylenol is not as hard as Ibuprofen on the liver. Aleve is newer so there's not much info on it yet.

Here's the link to the page that inspired me:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03106/Migraine-Headaches.html

[Phil Thien]

Wow, that is awesome, I'll remember this and pass it on!

Thank God I don't have migraines, I'd have trouble giving up coffee.

Me <- coffee addict.

[Justin Ludwig]

Wow, that is awesome, I'll remember this and pass it on!

Thank God I don't have migraines, I'd have trouble giving up coffee.

Me <- coffee addict.

+1 I can drink a pot (literally) and go to bed.

Ibuprofen and Aleve are both NSAIDS, and taken daily could cause liver damage. Tylenol is aspirin (acetaminophen) and a pain reliever and if abused could also cause liver damage. The key here is in one of Ben Franklin's 13 virtues: moderation.

The biggest misuse of Ibuprofen and Aleve are to reduce chronic inflammation. This merely masks the symptoms and does not treat the cause. Compression, Elevation, and Mobilization (used to be Rest Ice Compression Elevation) are the best remedies for chronic inflammation.

Sorry to hear about your Hep C. My Dad was diagnosed in 1990 and ended up doubling his interferon medication against doctor's orders - he was sick of giving himself shots. 2 years later he tested clean of Hep C and has been clear ever since. None of the specialists could explain it.

[Fred Perreault]

I am 66 years old now, but suffered from serious migraines at an early age.... from about 10 y.o. till about 30 years old. I was advised to not take coffee, chocolate, tea, cheese, nor to smoke of be around second hand smoke. That seemed to be good advise, but not always successful. In addition to the advise, I also took a prescription medication at the early onset of a migraine. The medication was called Cafergot. It solved my headaches ususally, and quickly at that. The medication was composed of Ergotamine, and caffeine. The caffeine was the delivery mechanism for the active ingredient. The point.... I was to not consume caffeine, yet caffeine helped solve the headaches. ????

[Brian Elfert]

I get really bad headaches about once a month. (They could very well be migraines. I don't know.) One of the active ingredients in Excedrin is caffeine.

I should probably quit drinking diet Mountain Dew to get rid of caffeine in my diet. Apples are supposed to have something in them that acts as a stimulant similar to caffeine.

[Jason Roehl]

I am 66 years old now, but suffered from serious migraines at an early age.... from about 10 y.o. till about 30 years old. I was advised to not take coffee, chocolate, tea, cheese, nor to smoke of be around second hand smoke. That seemed to be good advise, but not always successful. In addition to the advise, I also took a prescription medication at the early onset of a migraine. The medication was called Cafergot. It solved my headaches ususally, and quickly at that. The medication was composed of Ergotamine, and caffeine. The caffeine was the delivery mechanism for the active ingredient. The point.... I was to not consume caffeine, yet caffeine helped solve the headaches. ????

As with most (all?) stimulants, the body can become desensitized to them. By cutting out caffeine entirely, then when it's used only occasionally, it is much more effective at smaller doses. I drink a large (20 oz) cup of fairly strong coffee every day. If I have another dose of caffeine later in the day, it's a pick-me-up. However, if I have that second dose every day, it ceases to be effective after about a week or so. If I drink a huge amount of caffeine, such as a quad-shot of espresso in addition to my usual, I will be visibly jittery and not able to sit still.

[Shawn Pixley]

Tylenol is aspirin (acetaminophen) and a pain reliever and if abused could also cause liver damage. The key here is in one of Ben Franklin's 13 virtues: moderation.

Tylenol is Not asperin. Asperin is acetylsalicylic acid and an NSAID. Tylenol is acetominephin, not in the family of NSAIDs. Both can be abused and cause health issues.

I have been a migraine sufferer my whole life. Coffee or no coffee is not a trigger for my migraines. But it or other trigger factors have been identified for many people. There is no real good understanding of all migraines. My doctor has me on an abortive therapeutic. When you feel it coming on, you take the medicine. Recently my therapy has been put into self adminstered injectables. They work much faster than swallowed drugs. If you don't catch it, you have to suffer it out or receive strong pain killers.

[Don Morris]

I too have been a life long migraine sufferer (I'm 74). The most qualified physicians to treat migraines are Neurologists. IMHO, that's who you should see. The General Practitioner may or may not be trained in Migraine therapy well enough to give the best advice. Even within the Neurology specialty, they branch out to Neurologists who have a heavy emphasis or even specialize in treating Migraines. There are many forms of migraine, some coffee will bring on and some coffee has nothing to do with them. I don't drink a lot of coffee, but will take a large dose of Aspirin (250mg) with Acetaminophen (250mg) and caffeine (65) when I get that prodromal syndrome. Often that aborts the migraine, but certainly not always. I'm fortunate in that I can then take Imitrex (Sumatriptan: I prefer the nasal spray for it's rapid onset) which always, so far, aborts the migraine. I'm also on one of those anti-seizure drugs mentioned in the referred article: Topomax. That seems to help minimize the intensity and frequency, but I still get them. There are many roads to migraines and it's treatment. Over the years I've been down just about all of them.

[Jim Koepke]

Has anyone tried using feverfew to control migraines?

Many years ago after a head injury I experienced migraines for a few years. At one time when a headache was felt coming on I would brew a tea of feverfew, lavender and rosemary. This seemed to work. Currently I do not recall my last headache. I am thinking it was at least 5 or 10 years ago.

Not all people respond to all medications or even herbs the same.

Not all people have the same causes of migraine headaches.

jtk

[Larry Edgerton]

.
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The biggest misuse of Ibuprofen and Aleve are to reduce chronic inflammation. This merely masks the symptoms and does not treat the cause. Compression, Elevation, and Mobilization (used to be Rest Ice Compression Elevation) are the best remedies for chronic inflammation.

Misuse? I'll just call it use, because I am just plain wore out and masking some of the pain works for me.

Larry

[Chris Kennedy]

My brother and I suffer from what are called migraine-equivalents. Caffeine has long been known to be a treatment. One of the first meds I was put on was called cafergot (ergot was one drug and caf as caffeine). That as over twenty-five years ago.

Chris