Headache pills have caffeine.

[Aleish]

I use excedrin for tension headache daily and at least 4 of them. They are loaded with caffeine but the ones without caffeine really don’t work. Is the caffeine a major problem here. I am going to try curcumin.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Why would the caffeine be a problem? If they work and the sort without caffeine don't it isn't a problem is it?

[nymima01 in reply to PMRpro]

I would never sleep. I wish they could come up with a better solution other than caffeine.

[Blearyeyed in reply to nymima01]

The caffiene is in it to add to the efficiency of the pain relief itself.

[nymima01 in reply to Blearyeyed]

Yes - I understand this, but I bet many can’t take it due to sleep deprivation.

[Blearyeyed in reply to nymima01]

Yes , it is swings and roundabouts unfortunately with severe head pain and the side effects of what might cure it.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to nymima01]

The caffeine in a painkiller is about the same as a cup of coffee - I imagine if you take it early in the day it doesn't make much difference. But actually it doesn't improve the effect for more than about 10% of patients - just they can charge more!

[HeronNS in reply to nymima01]

I assumed that caffeine was in the pill to counteract the potential for the active ingredient to make you sleepy. I think tablets with codeine have always contained caffeine. I think all sorts of pain medications do not include caffeine. The only one I have in the house with caffeine is otc codeine + acetaminophen.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

No - it actually speeds up the effect:

"Analgesic effects of acetaminophen and acetaminophen plus caffeine but not caffeine alone caused a significant reduction of pain-related cortical potentials beginning 30 minutes after medication. The combination demonstrated an enhanced effect throughout the observation time up to 3 hours. Caffeine accelerated acetaminophen absorption, indicated by enhanced early AUCs. Significant analgesic effects of the combination on tonic pain ratings were found throughout the observation time as compared to acetaminophen and placebo. In this study, caffeine enhanced and prolonged the analgesic activity of acetaminophen."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/174...

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

Well that's good then. I suppose those of us who stay mildly caffeinated all day don't need to pay attention to this?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

Don't know! Washing the pills down with a cup of coffee seems to be one approach? And the pleasure of the coffee to boot ...

[SheffieldJane]

I don’t think Caffeine is a massive problem for us Aleish. Your body’s telling you it’s ok.

[Soraya_PMR]

Both can raise blood pressure, but that may not be a problem for you.

Caffeine can also disturb sleep.

I shocked myself when I actually calculated the amount of caffeine I ingested a day (there was a Googled page where it listed content with brands of tea and coffee). And I don’t drink coffee, only tea, but gallons of it! If you do decide to cut it out, don’t be silly and go cold turkey like I did, do it gradually.

I can’t take paracetamol/caffeine tablets as for me it makes the headache worse.

But why put up with tension headaches? Visit a chiropractor, it’ll be PMR muscles tensing up that are causing it.

[Aleish in reply to Soraya_PMR]

They are actually more like migraines and I started getting them in July 4, 1982 following a c section., when most of my autoimmune type symptoms turned in. They are from leaky gut syndrome and that means food intolerances to almost everything. Have been to see the chiropractors and accupunvturists to last a lifetime. They cannot help me in almost 40 years. Only time I was free of headaches is when I was on 20 mgs of prednisone or much higher. Actually the 20 quelled the headaches. Only other thing would be codeine and we all know that is limited in use. I use Excedrin with caffeine for many years. I am going to be ordering some curcumin and see if it helps.

[Louisepenygraig in reply to Aleish]

15 mg Prednisolone stopped my headaches too. No I'm down to 10 they've come back. When I need it I take zolmitriptan which helps. If my head is still bad after 2 days I switch to paracetamol and codeine. I'm careful not to take too much of eithrr for fear of triggering rebound headaches.

For months I rarely needed the Zolmitriptan but now I'm back to needing it. Caffeine doesn't trigger headaches for me.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Aleish]

In all those years I assume you have been to a Pain clinic to be assessed for your types of headaches and been tried on different types of drugs . If not , I would ask for a referral now so you can have a drug regime or other help that fits in with your PMR and steroid use.

In the UK we have a drug that comes in two parts called Migraleve that is very good for all types of mid range migraines and tension headaches. Have choices got something similar . It is an over the counter drug.

But a trip to the Pain Specialist , especially if you haven't seen one since your diagnosis is the way to go.

[Aleish in reply to Blearyeyed]

Pain clinic doc never helped. The guy gave me shots in head that made me worse at the time. I’m also not a candidate for Botox. Food rotation and total illimination of triggers enables me to function.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Aleish]

Pain clinic didn't help me , the first time . Second time , I got the shots like you , total rubbish , then my GP got back a full potential treatment suggestion from them with a note to contact them for an appointment to try various things , my GP never told me or organised it.

So , it still may be worth trying with your new diagnosis and past history they may be of more use this time.

I added some more natural ways to help your headache alongside migraine medication , like Migraleve , further down your replies , perhaps that will work.

At least , it is worth discussing other drug options with your GP , some of those may stop the headaches coming in the first place.

[Ciar]

I’ve had a severe migraine problem for almost 30 years. The first thing my headache specialist did was take me off my daily excedrin. He replaced these with various and many heavy duty pharmaceutical drugs, none of which truly worked very well. Decades later, I’m still on 2 of these, still coping with side effects like drying eyes and mouth, and serious weight gain. I often wonder if my health would be better if, like you, I had just stayed with the exedrin, or just toughed it out. To be fair, the excedrin had stopped working for me...nothing really helped much. If you stop the Exedrin, be prepared for your headache to get worse.

[nymima01]

Has anyone tried “tapping”? You can look at videos on YouTube. It’s for headaches, sinus problems or other issues. I think it works!

[Blearyeyed in reply to nymima01]

Tapping can help relieve , or distract your nerve pain reception from the headpain and give some relief for low level headpain.

Gently squeezing your ears during a headache for 30seconds then quickly releasing then repeating for about five minutes , then changing to the opposite ear and doing it again as the head ache continues also has a similar distraction effect and is recommended by Accupressurists.

Smearing some menthol rub like Vicks on your temples , behind your ears and down your neck in line with the blood vessels and across the sinus area if the pain is there as well gives alot of relief ( be careful not to get it too close to or in your eyes ) I do this with my worst tension migraines , your eyes can water a little but that is not a bad thing. It rapidly cools the area.

With some headaches and migraines , putting light pressure on the pain points on your head , temples , sinus , behind the ears gently pressing with your fingertips then releasing after a few minutes and starting again for up to ten minute only in a half hour helps.

Drinking water slowly during a headache and sitting comfortably in a quiet dark place helps , sometimes the head is triggered by dehydration even if you think you have drank enough.

Increasing your vitamin C and Magnesium intake each day helps to prevent them , trying relaxation techniques , gentle head rolling exercises every morning and keeping away from triggers will help.

But we some severe headaches , migraines and muscle or specific nerve related head pain you need the the drugs , holistic things will not remove or subdue it alone , after decades with extreme headaches and Neuralgia I have learnt this. You need the right drugs , to find which natural things work for you in combination with the drugs , and more often than not if it continues to try and get to sleep in a dark , quiet room to help it subside .

And if any head pain continues not stop at a severe level forcthree or more days despite the use of your drugs and treatments you need to see a doctor for extra advice.

Hope my experience helps xx