
There’s still a small amount of caffeine in those products, so if you’re really sensitive to caffeine, you may also want to avoid decaf.īut of interesting note, if you’re traveling, know that you might be able to enjoy two cappuccinos instead of just one. That’s about one to two cups of regular coffee.Īnd don’t think that you’re in the clear if you drink decaffeinated coffee. Try to limit yourself to 150 to 200 milligrams each day. So, be aware of the amounts of caffeine in the serving sizes of drinks. “Drinking one venti at Starbucks is far different than drinking one tall.” “The biggest thing to be aware of is the serving size of caffeinated beverage you are consuming,” says Dr. So, how much caffeine is too much? And what can you do to make sure you don’t consume more than advised? If you take too many pain relievers that have caffeine or use it too often, you may experience a medication overuse headache. Some pain relievers like Excedrin® Extra Strength and Excedrin® Migraine contain caffeine.Īccording to research, caffeine can help increase how well medication is absorbed, which can provide relief a lot faster.īut it’s a slippery slope. Research shows that caffeine withdrawal symptoms typically start within 12 to 24 hours after you stop consuming caffeine and that they can last anywhere from two to nine days. One of the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal can be migraines.Ĭaffeine constricts the blood vessels in your brain, but once you stop consuming caffeine, those blood vessels open back up, and that can lead to pain. If you regularly consume caffeine and then go a day or two without it, you can go through caffeine withdrawal. Both those factors can trigger a migraine.Īnd it’s important to note that drinking too much caffeine can turn those episodic migraines into chronic migraines (defined as 15 or more headaches a month). And drinking too much caffeine can lead to dehydration, as well as loss of magnesium, from frequent trips to the bathroom. While caffeine can be beneficial when kept under two servings per day, once you reach three or more servings, that’s where you can run into trouble.Ĭaffeine is a diuretic, which can make you urinate (pee) more. How caffeine causes or triggers migraines of energy drink - had no effect on migraines on the same or following day.Ĭaffeine reduces inflammation, which can help with migraine pain. Research shows that for people who experience episodic migraines (defined as 0 to 14 headaches a month), one to two servings of caffeine may limit headache occurrence throughout the day.įor regular caffeine consumers, one to two servings - that’s 8 ounces (oz.) of coffee, 6 oz.
#REDUCING CAFFEINE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS HOW TO#
Headache specialist Emad Estemalik, MD, explores the complicated relationship between migraine and caffeine and offers some practical advice on how to have your coffee and drink it, too. It all depends on how much caffeine you consume. Yes and no, so don’t put your coffee mug away so fast. If you have chronic migraines, you’ve probably tried to avoid caffeine at all costs for fear it could trigger a migraine.īut does caffeine actually help migraines? We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Advertising on our site helps support our mission.

The researchers believe that the open-label placebo effect seen in the study is driven by a strongly conditioned withdrawal-reduction effect.Īs Dr Mills explains, the “pleasing increase in alertness and energy” habitual coffee drinkers feel on having their daily cup is, in fact, just caffeine withdrawal being reversed.Īccordingly, after years of associating the smell and taste of coffee with such withdrawal reduction, just drinking decaf can elicit the same response - even without the expectation that it will.Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center.

“The reduction they experienced was contrary to what they expected would happen when they were given water and decaf.” “Withdrawal in the group we gave water to didn’t drop at all, whereas the people who were given decaf experienced a significant reduction. What the team found more surprising, however, was how the participants rated the expected effects of drinking decaf coffee and water.ĭr Mills explained: “Funnily enough, they actually expected water to reduce their withdrawal more than decaf. Predictably, the subjects said that they expected the greatest reduction to come from drinking caffeinated coffee. Prior to being given their experimental beverages, the participants were also asked to rate how much they would expect various drinks to reduce their withdrawal symptoms.
