Cargando…

The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment

Migraine is a chronic disorder, and caffeine has been linked with migraine for many years, on the one hand as a trigger, and on the other hand as a cure. As most of the population, including migraineurs, consume a considerable amount of caffeine daily, a question arises as to whether it influences t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nowaczewska, Magdalena, Wiciński, Michał, Kaźmierczak, Wojciech
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7468766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32731623
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu12082259
_version_ 1783578289486430208
author Nowaczewska, Magdalena
Wiciński, Michał
Kaźmierczak, Wojciech
author_facet Nowaczewska, Magdalena
Wiciński, Michał
Kaźmierczak, Wojciech
author_sort Nowaczewska, Magdalena
collection PubMed
description Migraine is a chronic disorder, and caffeine has been linked with migraine for many years, on the one hand as a trigger, and on the other hand as a cure. As most of the population, including migraineurs, consume a considerable amount of caffeine daily, a question arises as to whether it influences their headaches. Indeed, drinking coffee before a migraine attack may not be a real headache trigger, but a consequence of premonitory symptoms, including yawning, diminished energy levels, and sleepiness that may herald a headache. Here, we aim to summarize the available evidence on the relationship between caffeine and migraines. Articles concerning this topic published up to June 2020 were retrieved by searching clinical databases, and all types of studies were included. We identified 21 studies investigating the prevalence of caffeine/caffeine withdrawal as a migraine trigger and 7 studies evaluating caffeine in acute migraine treatment. Among them, in 17 studies, caffeine/caffeine withdrawal was found to be a migraine trigger in a small percentage of participants (ranging from 2% to 30%), while all treatment studies found caffeine to be safe and effective in acute migraine treatment, mostly in combination with other analgesics. Overall, based on our review of the current literature, there is insufficient evidence to recommend caffeine cessation to all migraine patients, but it should be highlighted that caffeine overuse may lead to migraine chronification, and sudden caffeine withdrawal may trigger migraine attacks. Migraine sufferers should be aware of the amount of caffeine they consume and not exceed 200 mg daily. If they wish to continue drinking caffeinated beverages, they should keep their daily intake as consistent as possible to avoid withdrawal headache.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7468766
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-74687662020-09-04 The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment Nowaczewska, Magdalena Wiciński, Michał Kaźmierczak, Wojciech Nutrients Review Migraine is a chronic disorder, and caffeine has been linked with migraine for many years, on the one hand as a trigger, and on the other hand as a cure. As most of the population, including migraineurs, consume a considerable amount of caffeine daily, a question arises as to whether it influences their headaches. Indeed, drinking coffee before a migraine attack may not be a real headache trigger, but a consequence of premonitory symptoms, including yawning, diminished energy levels, and sleepiness that may herald a headache. Here, we aim to summarize the available evidence on the relationship between caffeine and migraines. Articles concerning this topic published up to June 2020 were retrieved by searching clinical databases, and all types of studies were included. We identified 21 studies investigating the prevalence of caffeine/caffeine withdrawal as a migraine trigger and 7 studies evaluating caffeine in acute migraine treatment. Among them, in 17 studies, caffeine/caffeine withdrawal was found to be a migraine trigger in a small percentage of participants (ranging from 2% to 30%), while all treatment studies found caffeine to be safe and effective in acute migraine treatment, mostly in combination with other analgesics. Overall, based on our review of the current literature, there is insufficient evidence to recommend caffeine cessation to all migraine patients, but it should be highlighted that caffeine overuse may lead to migraine chronification, and sudden caffeine withdrawal may trigger migraine attacks. Migraine sufferers should be aware of the amount of caffeine they consume and not exceed 200 mg daily. If they wish to continue drinking caffeinated beverages, they should keep their daily intake as consistent as possible to avoid withdrawal headache. MDPI 2020-07-28 /pmc/articles/PMC7468766/ /pubmed/32731623 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu12082259 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Nowaczewska, Magdalena
Wiciński, Michał
Kaźmierczak, Wojciech
The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment
title The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment
title_full The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment
title_fullStr The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment
title_full_unstemmed The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment
title_short The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment
title_sort ambiguous role of caffeine in migraine headache: from trigger to treatment
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7468766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32731623
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu12082259
work_keys_str_mv AT nowaczewskamagdalena theambiguousroleofcaffeineinmigraineheadachefromtriggertotreatment
AT wicinskimichał theambiguousroleofcaffeineinmigraineheadachefromtriggertotreatment
AT kazmierczakwojciech theambiguousroleofcaffeineinmigraineheadachefromtriggertotreatment
AT nowaczewskamagdalena ambiguousroleofcaffeineinmigraineheadachefromtriggertotreatment
AT wicinskimichał ambiguousroleofcaffeineinmigraineheadachefromtriggertotreatment
AT kazmierczakwojciech ambiguousroleofcaffeineinmigraineheadachefromtriggertotreatment