Acalabrutinib headaches

[Katie-LMHC-Artist]

I’ve been on Acalabrutinib for almost a year and continue to have morning headaches. A cup of coffee in the morning seemed to work to manage the morning headache. I decided to switch over to tea in the mornings and it didn’t have the same effect as the caffeine in coffee. My headache lingered for the day. My oncologist in the beginning told me to drink coffee in the morning. Why does coffee manage the headaches and not tea? Thanks!

[albie58]

Hi Katie!

I'm on Calquence as well and coffee always worked better for me than tea. It's most likely due to the coffee having more caffeine per cup than tea does. An 8 oz cup of coffee has 100 mg of caffeine. An 8 oz cup of black tea has 46 mg. You can take tylenol with your coffee and that should help as well.

[Katie-LMHC-Artist in reply to albie58]

Thanks! I actually was making the tea double strength! Lol! Coffee works better! I switched over because of some digestive issues in the morning. I deliver a meal to an elder every morning and was starting to have diarrhea. I now take “Natures Plus maximum strength Ultra-Zyme” before I go to bed. After the coffee in the morning I have toast with a banana and it seemed to do the trick. Thanks for your feedback! 😊

[MisfitK]

As albie58 said, a cup of coffee has at least double the caffeine of a similar cup of tea. And the headaches were being managed by that higher level of caffeine intake. Without that sufficient caffeine level, your headache can be reduced, but not eliminated.

So, if it were me, I'd go back to morning coffee or find a 2nd caffeine source to have with the tea.

[Katie-LMHC-Artist in reply to MisfitK]

👍😎

[kitchengardener2]

I was generally drinking decaffeinated tea and coffee but like you I had morning headaches after starting treatment. I was given Acalabrutinib, Allopurinol, Aciclovir and Co Trimoxazole. From what I was told, it was the Allopurinol which was the culprit. This was taken for three cycles and then stopped. When it stopped the headaches were much reduced. I have always been a tea drinker in the morning, coffee makes me feel ill. So I reverted to strong, 'normal ' tea with a cup of normal milky coffee mud morning. Decaffeinated tea after 3pm, I try to drink plenty of water. I get very few headaches now.

In general I feel very well and the medication is working very well, everything within normal ranges. My consultant says that I have good partial remission.

[Katie-LMHC-Artist]

Thanks for sharing. I drink a lot of water and after being on Acalabrutinib for almost a year continue to have the early morning headache. I’m back to drinking the morning coffee and it helps to manage it. I then drink my tea for the rest of the day. Take care!

[steve_canada]

when I was on Calquence the headaches rally affected my quality of sleep . I started taking these acetaminophen with caffeine tablets before bed and worked like a charm.

[Katie-LMHC-Artist]

Through this site I discovered “Excedrin Tension Headache”. I took it the first month and it was a game changer! I then weaned myself off due to not wanting to have rebound headaches. I now take it as needed. It has the caffeine in it. Thx!

[Westie11-]

Not sure if it would help but I always take the morning tablet in middle of my breakfast so it's going down with food. No sickness or headaches since doing it that way.

[Katie-LMHC-Artist in reply to Westie11-]

Thanks. I wake up with headaches. The morning coffee is working. We all have different experiences. I appreciate the feedback.😊