Taking in too much caffeine has been found to cause migraines. On the other hand taking in just enough caffeine has been found to successfully prevent migraines. What's the deal?

Caffeine withdrawal is the primary cause of caffeine-related migraines. Therefore, using caffeine as a preventative method in migraine relief can be done in two ways. The first is the easiest, and paradoxically also the most difficult. Simply limit your ingestion of caffeine to zero. No caffeine, no caffeine withdrawal. Get it? The second method involves a little work, but it does work. All that is required is to take in enough caffeine over intervals that occur close enough together to ensure that you don't go into withdrawal. Both methods have their advantages and their disadvantages, both require certain sacrifices, but more importantly both work to keep caffeine withdrawal at bay which keeps migraines at bay.

You would think that complete abstinence from caffeine would thoroughly rid yourself of migraine headaches. And yet this is not always the case. In theory, it works just fine, but as a relief program it suffers the same fate as sexual abstinence: Not everybody is capable of sticking with the program; the urges are just too strong to deny. Another problem is that the all too easy intake of caffeine without realizing you are doing it. Complete and total caffeine abstinence requires educating yourself on all available sources of caffeine. It's not nearly enough just to give up coffee and Mountain Dew. In order to successfully avoid caffeine you have to be aware of all the sources of caffeine. If you are going to take the route of giving up caffeine altogether, for instance, you'll have to be prepared to give up or use alternative non-caffeinated versions of: tea, chocolate, liqueur, pudding, pain-relief medications, energy drinks, diet pills, stay-away pills.

So perhaps, then, the route of maintaining caffeine intake appeals to you. The advantage here is that you don't have to print out a twenty-page list of all the products in the world that contains caffeine. You just merely need exert control over when you take in caffeine and how much you ingest. Once you establish that control, however, you can practically kiss your migraine goodbye.

This method involves the process of making sure you receive doses of caffeine It works best if you set out a pattern whereby you can intake the caffeine at regular intervals. Now don't get all excited about stopping by Starbucks throughout the day or going to the coffeemaker. Coffee and tea rely on caffeine infusion methods and therefore aren't the best method of ingestion in this particular method. Because of the diffusion, your caffeine amount varies significantly from cup to cup. Ideally, you should purchase either caffeine tablets or soda. Using these gives you much more precision over controlling the amount of caffeine you are actually taking in.

You can find caffeine tablets that contain 100 mg or 200 mg per dose. Save yourself a little money by purchasing generic rather than brand name tablets. As for soda, the amount of caffeine varies somewhat with Mountain Dew on the high end, though if you want to take the trouble to search them out you can also find higher-dosage soft drinks specifically designed to you a jolt. For instance, Jolt Cola!

The following caffeine amounts are found in 12oz servings of these soft drinks:

Mountain Dew: 55 mg of caffeine.

Coca-Cola: 34 mg of caffeine

Diet Coke: 45 mg of caffeine

Pepsi Cola: 38 mg of caffeine

Once you have decided how you are going to go about ingesting the caffeine, the next thing to do is make sure you keep a detailed journal of your dosing. Keep an accurate record of the date and time you take the dose, the amount of the dose, how you ingested the dose (tablet, soft drink, medication, etc.), the time of dose and the amount of dose, etc. Also note any headaches you get and be sure to include such information as date, duration of headache, severity, etc. If you don't see a change immediately, try altering it a little by either changing the times you ingest the caffeine or the amount. And make sure you keep to the regimen once you've found one that words.

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Taking in too much caffeine has been found to cause migraines.   On the other hand taking in just enough caffeine has been found to successfully prevent migraines.  What’s the deal?

Caffeine withdrawal is the primary cause of caffeine-related migraines.  Therefore, using caffeine as a preventative method in migraine relief can be done in two ways.  The first is the easiest, and paradoxically also the most difficult.   Simply limit your ingestion of caffeine to zero.  No caffeine, no caffeine withdrawal.  Get it?  The second method involves a little work, but it does work.  All that is required is to take in enough caffeine over intervals that occur close enough together to ensure that you don’t go into withdrawal.  Both methods have their advantages and their disadvantages, both require certain sacrifices, but more importantly both work to keep caffeine withdrawal at bay which keeps migraines at bay. 

You would think that complete abstinence from caffeine would thoroughly rid yourself of migraine headaches.  And yet this is not always the case.  In theory, it works just fine, but as a relief program it suffers the same fate as sexual abstinence: Not everybody is capable of sticking with the program; the urges are just too strong to deny.   Another problem is that the all too easy intake of caffeine without realizing you are doing it.    Complete and total caffeine abstinence requires educating yourself on all available sources of caffeine.  It’s not nearly enough just to give up coffee and Mountain Dew.  In order to successfully avoid caffeine you have to be aware of all the sources of caffeine.  If you are going to take the route of giving up caffeine altogether, for instance, you’ll have to be prepared to give up or use alternative non-caffeinated versions of: tea, chocolate, liqueur, pudding, pain-relief medications, energy drinks, diet pills, stay-away pills.

So perhaps, then, the route of maintaining caffeine intake appeals to you.  The advantage here is that you don’t have to print out a twenty-page list of all the products in the world that contains caffeine.  You just merely need exert control over when you take in caffeine and how much you ingest.  Once you establish that control, however, you can practically kiss your migraine goodbye.  

This method involves the process of making sure you receive doses of caffeine  It works best if you set out a pattern whereby you can intake the caffeine at regular intervals.  Now don’t get all excited about stopping by Starbucks throughout the day or going to the coffeemaker.  Coffee and tea rely on caffeine infusion methods and therefore aren’t the best method of ingestion in this particular method.  Because of the diffusion, your caffeine amount varies significantly from cup to cup.   Ideally, you should purchase either caffeine tablets or soda.  Using these gives you much more precision over controlling the amount of caffeine you are actually taking in.

You can find caffeine tablets that contain 100 mg or 200 mg per dose.   Save yourself a little money by purchasing generic rather than brand name tablets.   As for soda, the amount of caffeine varies somewhat with Mountain Dew on the high end, though if you want to take the trouble to search them out you can also find higher-dosage soft drinks specifically designed to you a jolt.  For instance, Jolt Cola! 

The following caffeine amounts are found in 12oz servings of these soft drinks:

Mountain Dew: 55 mg of caffeine.

Coca-Cola: 34 mg of caffeine

Diet Coke: 45 mg of caffeine

Pepsi Cola: 38 mg of caffeine

Once you have decided how you are going to go about ingesting the caffeine, the next thing to do is make sure you keep a detailed journal of your dosing.  Keep an accurate record of the date and time you take the dose, the amount of the dose, how you ingested the dose (tablet, soft drink, medication, etc.), the time of dose and the amount of dose, etc. Also note any headaches you get and be sure to include such information as date, duration of headache, severity, etc. If you don’t see a change immediately, try altering it a little by either changing the times you ingest the caffeine or the amount.  And make sure you keep to the regimen once you’ve found one that words.

The problem with migraine prevention is that there isn’t just one cause for the headaches. There are very many triggers for migraines, in fact, and trying to avoid them all would be an exercise in hermitry. Who wants to spend the rest of their life living in a cave just to avoid headaches? That being said, there are a few things you can do to avoid migraines and here are the top ten.

1) Cut the caffeine. Among the multitude of products linked to migraines is caffeine. Taking in too much can lead to a headache of monstrous proportions. Unfortunately, it’s not only too much caffeine that lead to a headache, it’s caffeine withdrawal if you’re used to taking in a lot. Best to cut back slowly.

2) While we’re talking about caffeine, let’s also talk about NutraSweet. Aspartame has been the culprit for many people who have complained of migraines. Go in search of why aspartame causes migraines and you will run into what seems like the biggest cover-up since Roswell. Most of what you’ll read hasn’t been proven, but then again neither have the makers of NutraSweet proven that their product doesn’t contribute to migraines. Avoid it and you may well avoid a horrendous headache.

3) There are more reasons to give up smoking than you can count, but avoiding migraines is another reason to put on the list. Of course, that’s easier than said than done if you are the smoker, but remember, secondhand smoke is just as likely to cause a migraine headache as actual smoking. So if you can, remove yourself from the environment in which people are smoking. Better yet: Get them to remove themselves. You do have the right to not have to be around their smoke, especially if their smoke is causing your headaches.

4) Establish a regular pattern of sleeping and waking. In fact, get as anal-retentive as you can about this. A regular pattern of going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time, on weekends as well as weekdays, can do wonders. Many people who have instituted a rigid routine of sleeping and waking have discovered that their migraines disappear completely and forever. Or at least as long as they continue the pattern.

5) Give up the pill and try another form of contraception. Birth control pills and their effects on hormones can be a major hazard when it comes to migraine pain. You don’t necessarily have to go off the pill entirely. Some people have found that merely changing brands puts an end to their migraine misery. If that doesn’t help, however, you may look into other forms of female contraception or, if you and your partner don’t mind, switching over to condoms.

6) Change your lighting. Very bright lights can often trigger very severe migraines. You might consider using the softer, filmy kind of light bulbs. Or use lamps instead of overhead lights. Or stop using fluorescent lighting, if that’s possible. If you spend a lot of time at the computer monitor, take frequent breaks and get as far away from the pulsating waves of the monitor as possible.

7) Cheese, chocolate and wine may sound like the ideal ingredients for a romantic picnic, but if you are prone to migraines the last thing you may be feeling is romantic following that afternoon getaway. Aged cheeses especially are dangerous because they contain the amino acid tyramine. Chocolate contains phenylethamine. Both chemicals contribute to migraines and alcohol is a trigger as well. Stay away from all three and find other ways to get in a romantic mood.

8) Use body wash to smell good instead of perfume or cologne. Odors and aromas are major causes of migraines and those that make you smell good are among the worst. Keep yourself clean instead of daubing with the smelly-goods.

9) Being an aerobic exercise program. Exercising regularly helps to increase your cardiovascular capacity and improper blood flow is linked to recurrent migraines.

10) Driver or take a train when you can instead of flying. The lowering of cabin pressure on airplanes is a sure-fire migraine trigger and one easily avoided when the trip can be made by alternative means of transportation.

Migraines occur far more frequently in women than in men. In fact, in adult women the rate of frequency is roughly fifteen to seventeen percent, whereas in men it is only about five percent.

Studies have concluded that estrogen withdrawal is a key factor in migraines related to menstrual cycles.

Twenty-five to thirty percent of all women in their 30s experience at least an occasional migraine.

Menstrual migraines generally last longer than non-menstrual migraines and often are much more difficult to treat effectively.

Sixty to seventy percent of women who suffer from migraines have menstrual-related migraine.

Ten to fourteen percent of women with migraines have them only during menstruation. These types of headaches are known as ‘true menstrual migraine’.

Premenstrual migraine may in fact be part premenstrual syndrome (PMS), the menstrual related mood disorder. Symptoms of PMS include fatigue, irritability or depression, bloating and, yes, headache.

Two-thirds of women who suffered from pre-menopausal migraines find their condition improve with physiologic menopause. On the other hand, it has been found that surgical menopause worsens migraine conditions in two-thirds of cases.

Migraine attacks usually disappear during pregnancy. At the same time, however, some women report an initial onset of migraines during the first trimester of pregnancy, with the disappearance of their headaches after the third month of pregnancy.

Treatment options for menstrual migraine

When choosing to treat menstrual migraines with medication, the drugs used most often are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs). The NSAIDS of choice in treating menstrual migraines are:

ketoprofen (Orudis)

ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin)

fenoprofen calcium (Nalfon)

naproxen (Naprosyn)

nabumetone (Relafen)

For best results when using NSAIDs to treat migraines, usage should be started two to three days before menstrual flow actually begins and the therapy should be continued throughout the period. Gastrointestinal side effects are generally not serious enough to be considered because the therapy takes place over such a short period, no pun intended.

For patients who suffer from more severe menstrual migraines or who desire to continue taking oral contraceptives, doctors also recommend taking a NSAID. This therapy should begin l9th day of your cycle and continue through the second day of the next cycle.

Some women have found antinausea medicine and pain relievers like aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen sufficient enough to dull the pain. Others trust in analgesics or serotonin agonists such as Imitrex, Zomig, Amerge or Maxalt. When using medications, it is extremely important to be aware of the dangers of avoiding a repetitive pattern of medication or overuse of medication as this can cause rebound headaches.

You might also consider using an estrogen skin patch. This treatment is utilized in the days leading up to your period and may either delay or actually prevent the onset of a menstrual migraine.

Some studies have found that daily doses of magnesium may help menstrual migraines in certain women. In addition, vitamin and herbal treatments have been found to be effective. The herb feverfew or vitamin B2 when taken on a daily basis may reduce

Either the severity or the frequency of headaches, though research does not point to

menstrual migraines in particular.

Even though two-thirds of women do report improvement in their migraine condition with the onset of natural menopause, two-thirds of women report a worsening with surgical, therefore neither a hysterectomy nor an ovarian removal are recommended.

As always, you should consult your physician for a proper diagnosis before discontinuing or launching on kind of new treatment, including over-the-counter medication treatments.

Every person has a unique health profile that includes aspects specific to their physiology and family history and that may preclude them from taking certain medications.

Some final tips

There enough different migraine triggers to fill a book and keeping track of them can be a full time job. It is highly recommended that you keep a trigger diary that includes a record of foods you eat, weather conditions, medications you have taken, stressful events, menstrual activity, etc.

Also of benefit is developing a plan around your period. Reduce stress as much as possible by planning work and leisure commitments around your cycle so as to cut back on menstrual-related triggers as much as possible.

Your child brings home a report card filled with low marks. Your dog just bit your neighbor, and the sink in the kitchen no longer works. You feel you’re under major stress. As a result, you find yourself tossing and turning at night, unable to get a good night’s sleep. This is truly unfortunate, because sleep can re-charge a person’s batteries, enabling him or her to better tackle the stressors that come along the road.

Stress-induced insomnia can take a variety of forms. For instance, you may have difficulty falling asleep in the first place. Or you may wake up hours earlier than you should. You may find yourself waking up several times during the middle of the night. Or you may even find that you feel tired when you wake up in the morning because you didn’t get good quality sleep.

One important point to remember is that you are not alone. Just about everyone suffers from lack of sleep at some point in life. That said, dealing with insomnia can be exhausting. You might feel run down during the day and have difficulty concentrating. You may turn to coffee in order to keep awake during the daylight hours, which can lead to a feeling of restlessness. You may even try taking a nap in the mid-morning or late afternoon, only to find that you have difficulty sleeping again at night.

While old age, depression, and substance abuse can all lead to insomnia, it might be said that the number one cause is stress. If your insomnia persists for a week, you should contact your doctor. He or she may prescribe medication to enable you to get to sleep more quickly. But you should be aware that there are other techniques you can use to deal with stress-related insomnia.

To begin with, try to determine the root cause of your stress. This might be your job, your home life, or even some of your recreational activities. Next, determine whether you are overscheduled. By eliminating some of your commitments, you might be able to seriously reduce your stress level. Then, do some problem-solving. How can you make a stressful situation better? It could involve engaging in positive thinking, changing your attitude about the situation, or coming up with solutions to resolve the situation.

There are also some concrete steps you can take to improve your sleep. For instance, make sure that your bedroom is conducive to sleep. This means finding the most comfortable bedding available, decorating your room with soft, subtle colors, and eliminating clutter or other signs of work in progress.

In addition, condition yourself to associate your bed with sleep. This means resisting the temptation to do work in bed, or study for your classes while lying down. You should even try to avoid watching TV programs in bed. The idea here is to eliminate stimulants from your sleeping area which could prevent you from falling asleep. If you like to read in bed, make sure that you read only fun, pleasurable books, not significant tomes that could keep you up at night.

One other helpful tip is to set up a regular routine prior to going to bed. It may involve taking a bath or shower to relax you or drinking some milk right before settling down to sleep. Also, try to get up at the same time every morning so that you are following an established schedule. In addition, make sure that you do not engage in drinking beverages with caffeine or alcoholic drinks after dinner.

Insomnia is one of the most dangerous side-effects of stress. It can rob you of your energy, strength, and endurance. It can make the simplest tasks difficult to handle during the course of the day. And it can even lead to major depression. If you find yourself having trouble getting to sleep at night, take immediate action. Don’t wait for your body to feel the stress of night after night of sleeplessness. The more proactive you are, the greater the likelihood that you’ll be able to combat insomnia, as well as the stress that goes with it. Refreshed and renewed, you’ll be able to take on the challenges that come your way, once you’ve gotten enough sleep.