Cluster Headaches And Caffeine

In 2011, frequent headaches, the presence of pain in the head, scalp or neck, affect nearly 50 million people in the United States, according to the Foundation for Better Health Care. Doctors classify your headache based on the type, location and duration of pain and the presence of associated symptoms. Some types of headache, including tension headache and migraine headache, may occur in response to a trigger like caffeine intake. Caffeine may also help treat these types of headache. Cluster headaches, which affect only 1 percent of the population, do not have any known association with caffeine.

Cluster Headache

Cluster headaches cause severe and sudden pain that can last from 15 minutes to three hours. The distinguishing feature of a cluster headache is that the attacks are recurrent, usually occurring around the same time each day. Cluster headaches may affect a patient for a week, a month or even a year and then will stop, allowing the patient pain-free periods for a month or longer. Research published in the "Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases" reports alcohol intake as the only known dietary trigger for cluster headaches. This information confirms that if you suffer from cluster headaches, you can drink beverages containing caffeine without fear of stimulating the onset of a cluster attack.

Caffeine as a Trigger

Caffeine is a chemical classified as a stimulant. Caffeine occurs naturally in coffee, tea and chocolate and manufacturers add caffeine to soft drinks and medications. Approximately 20 percent of the population in the United States consumes 500mg of caffeine per day while 10 percent consumes 1,000mg per day, as reported by the American Pain Foundation in 2009. If you consume excessive amounts of caffeine, you may experience symptoms of a caffeine withdrawal when caffeine levels drop. Common symptoms include anxiety, irritability, rapid breathing, light headedness, nausea, vomiting and headache. Drinking too much caffeine may also trigger a tension headache or a migraine headache.

Caffeine as a Treatment

A caffeine-withdrawal headache is the easiest to treat. It resolves when you consume caffeine. Information provided by the National Headache Foundation reports that caffeine increases the absorption of analgesics like acetaminophen and aspirin, which increases their ability to treat tension and migraine headaches. For this reason, some pain relievers also contain caffeine. Patients who take analgesics alone need to take 40 percent more medication to get relief than those who take analgesics combined with caffeine.

Cluster Headache Treatment

As of 2011, there is no cure for a cluster headache but some medications can help reduce the severity of the pain and the frequency of the attacks. Because the severe pain occurs suddenly, medications taken orally fail to provide adequate relief. A common treatment for cluster headaches includes subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan, a medication that acts on serotonin--a neurotransmitter in the brain--to constrict blood vessels to relieve the pain. In addition, high-flow inhaled oxygen can also help relieve cluster headaches. Drinking a caffeinated beverage will not reduce the pain of your cluster headache.

Cluster Headaches and Caffeine