This week, Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Howell Jarrard about caffeine and headaches. Dr. Jarrard is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and a neurologist specializing in headaches at MUSC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Research suggests that caffeine can sometimes help relieve certain types of headache, and in some cases, caffeine or excessive caffeine can actually trigger a headache. Doctor Howell Jarrard is here to talk about the details. Doctor Jarrard is an Assistant Professor of Neurology, and he's a neurologist specializing in headaches at MUSC. Doctor Jarrard, tell us about the possible connection between caffeine and headaches.
Dr. Jarrard: Bobbi, It's complicated. Like you said, it sometimes can help. It sometimes can hurt. In the short term, it certainly can help. And that's why you actually find caffeine combined with certain over-the-counter medications to be taken as needed for headache. But in the long term, there is a chance that too much caffeine can actually even trigger or make somebody's headaches worse over time.
Conner: Tell us more details about the quantity of caffeine that we're talking about that can either help with headaches or create problems in headaches.
Dr. Jarrard: So, the quantity of caffeine is so, so different among medications that it's in, and also in even drinks like coffee. So, a lot of these over-the-counter medications that have caffeine in them for reference have about 65mg versus if you make a cup of coffee at home, about an eight ounce cup of coffee has 100mg. And if you go to a local coffee shop, the milligram content is usually much higher, anywhere from 200 to 250mg. So, it really depends where you're getting that caffeine. And just to put it in perspective, I generally tell my patients to try to limit to no more than 150mg of caffeine a day, if they're able.
Conner: And tell us more about the connection between people who drink a lot of caffeine and then possible headaches from that caffeine.
Dr. Jarrard: You know, we think actually it's probably when their body is what we say withdrawing from caffeine. So, when their body is clearing the caffeine, it probably lowers the threshold and triggers a specific headache.
Conner: And so, for someone who might drink, you know, 4 or 5 cups of coffee a day and then they go to bed, they may get headaches in the middle of the night because their body doesn't like this situation with no caffeine.
Dr. Jarrard: Absolutely. So, they'll have a lot of the middle of the night headaches. Patients will also wake up in the morning with headaches, or they develop before they have that first cup of coffee. And that's why we have the certain limits to try to keep the caffeine to a lower content. Or if you want to be as aggressive as possible, trying to completely stay away from caffeine if you are able.
Conner: Any tips for people who are trying to wean themselves off of caffeine? I'm guessing they're going to have some withdrawal headaches for days or weeks. Or how does that really work?
Dr. Jarrard: You're absolutely correct. A lot of times if you stop the caffeine, suddenly you will have a headache that can come up and it can go on for days, probably even up to a week. I generally still tell people to try to abruptly stop if they're able, because I think the chances of successfully stopping in the long term are higher.
Conner: And for people who seem to have a lot of trouble if they abruptly stop, do you put them on a little different plan?
Dr. Jarrard: You know, sometimes there is, of course, short medical treatments that we can do to help ease the transition if they are having a headache. But I would always caution that if anybody has ongoing headaches to seek talking with their doctor, because there certainly is a number of medications that we can help treat these headaches in the long term if they don't always improve with caffeine withdrawal.
Conner: Doctor Jarrard, thanks for this information about caffeine and headaches.
Dr. Jarrard: You're welcome.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
