I find that drinking instant coffee brings on migraine. However, fresh "proper" percolated coffee is fine. Does anyone know why this is?

[yvonne_c]

Strangely, I have even seen suggestions on the internet that a cup of instant coffee can relieve migraine.

[Hidden]

It might be the way that instant coffee is freeze dried, or the chemicals involved in the process.

There is no one trigger that affects all migraineurs in the same way. Some migraineurs won't touch coffee at all, some find they can only drink it at certain times of the month. I didn't drink any for 3 months, then slowly introduced de-caff filter coffee to see if it was a trigger - it does me no harm (though it also has chemicals from the process used to de-caffeinate it).

Caffeine is believed to be a problem for many by some specialists, but not all. I haven't seen that instant coffee can relieve migraine, but I have read other sufferers say a normal coffee, when taking their tablets, seems to pep them up (probably the caffeine, I think it might enhance/speed up the impact of the drugs too). A lot of over the counter pain killer preparations have caffeine in them as they give you that burst of energy.

Enjoy your cup of percolated coffee!

[yvonne_c]

Many thanks for the detailed information! By the way, tea is no problem for me.

[Joannelouiselander]

My neurologist advices all migraine sufferers to cut caffeine out and switch to decaf ! My physio who was dealing with my jaw problem told me this also it is put in pain killers because it speeds up the effect in the blood and make them travel to the site of the Paine faster but it also causes blood vessels to constrict and this is what happens in migraines the blood vessels in the brain constrict and hence if your a migraine ur you will get pain!

[Migraineboy]

110%

I have the same freaking problem. I always thought its the coffee, but after 25 years I realized it was NEVER the coffee, it was the 'Instant' coffee that immediately triggered my migraine. Am glad I am not alone

[Nellie01]

I'm the same. Fine with filter coffee but something on instant kicks the Migraine's off.

[Anonymous227]

Yes. I hadn’t had a migraine in 20 years, and started drinking instant coffee because my wife drinks it. I had a migraine but couldn’t figure out what triggered it. A short while later I had another migraine, and I strongly suspected that it was the instant coffee but it wasn’t until my third one just a few days later that I determined it had to be the coffee since all I had to eat or drink in any of the previous episodes was instant coffee. It was so frustrating to go 20 years without a migraine and then have 3 successive migraines due to instant coffee.