Why You May Want to Avoid Caffeine If You Rely Heavily on Over the Counter Pain Relievers for Headaches

Could you unknowingly be making the pain worse?

Taking a lot of aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen during a month may be necessary for those constantly challenged by headache pain from migraines, allergies and sinus conditions to make it through a day.  However, if you are a heavy coffee or tea drinker or consume a lot of caffeine-fueled drinks and have been noticing those headaches returning around the same time almost on a schedule to meet the next dosage, then you may be suffering a rebound headache.

You may find it helpful to switch to decaffeinated beverages or drink something else for the days you need those pain relievers.  The reason is that once caffeine is introduced into your system with those types of drugs, it can lead to dependency.  This is why your headache pain may get worse when the mediation wears off.

Another way to test for a rebound headache is noticing how you feel once you get out of bed.  Waking up most mornings with a headache can be a clue.

You might suddenly find it harder to concentrate or remember things.  

Then you might notice that you lack the same energy.

A rebound headache could also make you easily agitated and more restless than normal.

Something else to look for is if you could be getting nauseated.

Occasional headaches are one thing, but headaches in general shouldn’t be taken lightly.  This information that I’m passing along to you isn’t meant to diagnose a complicated health condition like headaches, only suggest a possible self-help solution.  Only your physician can make a medical determination as to the real cause of that pain through a thorough examination and tests.  

Good News for Coffee Lovers When It Comes to Your Health!

My grandmother used to live with us when I was young.  She constantly used to scold my mother for drinking too much coffee threatening it would kill her liver.  My mother's typical reply was that she only had a cup at a time with a straight face.  

Her response always frustrated my grandmother.  She would shake her head, frown, and then point to my mother's cup saying, "That is not a cup."  She would point to her small cup.  "This is a cup." 

My mother would shrug.  "So my cup happens to be a little bigger, " she would answer back. 

Grandma would roll her eyes and then eventually try to hide my mother's soup bowl-sized mug before the next meal.  This became a ritual when I was growing up because my grandmother was convinced coffee would damage livers!

I do not know if too much coffee or caffeine will damage livers.  In fact, one day we hear coffee and caffeine are bad for you.   Other times, we hear that drinking coffee and tea with caffeine is good for us.  I just know that I love my coffee and would have a hard time giving it up.  Although, I have been cutting back and drinking more water with meals instead.

According to a new study, however, women should continue to enjoy our coffee with at least three or four cups because it may help prevent  endometrial cancer.   Those women that did drink more than four cups of coffee cut their chances of developing endometrial cancer in half. 

This study also found if you had only two to three cups of coffee a day, you still reduced your chance of having a stroke by 19%.

Another thing these researchers found was that drinking two to three cups of coffee before exercising helped relieve muscle pain that followed their workout.