For those that have, how hard was it to give up coffee? It’s one thing that I’ve never been able to bring myself to do, but my migraines have been so bad lately that I feel I may have to try. Did you have to spend a couple days in bed? I’m imagining an intense withdrawal since us migraineurs seem to be more sensitive to everything.
I LOVE coffee, I used to be a starbucks addict. But I had to give it up completely. I even gave up deacaf coffee as it caused me a lot of problems too because it still has caffeine. I noticed that decaf gave me aweful headaches/dizziness.
— Begin quote from “ichbindarren”
I LOVE coffee, I used to be a starbucks addict. But I had to give it up completel. I even gave up deacaf coffee as it caused me a lot of problems too because it still has caffeine. I noticed that decaf gave me aweful headaches/dizziness.
— End quote
How was your withdrawal experience and did you go cold turkey?
I gave up coffee and all other forms of caffeine early/mid June of this year. It was difficult but after having a bad hit of migraines (pain wise) and wanting to see if I’d see more improvement of my dizziness I pushed myself through it. I did it cold turkey, it wasn’t easy but in the grand scheme of things it was worth it. I’m not sure if you are working with a doctor/neurologist/migraine specialist, but I have seen mine about a week and a half ago and discussed my results. He told me a little caffeine here and there (randomly) could help with migraines even if I felt off after having it. We discussed how much coffee I had been having and he did say it was too much, even though my interpretation of “one 16oz cup” a day hadn’t been in my mind. So since then I’ve had 2 smaller cups of decaf and a couple sips of regular. One time I did feel dizzy for a while after. I am still going to do my best to mainly avoid it because I like how I’ve been feeling overall. However, I like knowing that if I want to have a nice and tasty cup of coffee or glass of coke/iced tea etc. a little bit can help and won’t ‘kill’ me. I recommend maybe having that conversation with your doctor, it helped calm my nerves about it.
— Begin quote from “PiPi”
I gave up coffee and all other forms of caffeine early/mid June of this year. It was difficult but after having a bad hit of migraines (pain wise) and wanting to see if I’d see more improvement of my dizziness I pushed myself through it. I did it cold turkey, it wasn’t easy but in the grand scheme of things it was worth it. I’m not sure if you are working with a doctor/neurologist/migraine specialist, but I have seen mine about a week and a half ago and discussed my results. He told me a little caffeine here and there (randomly) could help with migraines even if I felt off after having it. We discussed how much coffee I had been having and he did say it was too much, even though my interpretation of “one 16oz cup” a day hadn’t been in my mind. So since then I’ve had 2 smaller cups of decaf and a couple sips of regular. One time I did feel dizzy for a while after. I am still going to do my best to mainly avoid it because I like how I’ve been feeling overall. However, I like knowing that if I want to have a nice and tasty cup of coffee or glass of coke/iced tea etc. a little bit can help and won’t ‘kill’ me. I recommend maybe having that conversation with your doctor, it helped calm my nerves about it.
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Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I’m not under a professional’s care right now, so I’m kind of winging it. I’ve cut down to one 8oz cup in the morning, and I’m planning on going completely off starting tomorrow. I’m not feeling much rebound headache-wise, but my energy levels have taken a noticeable hit - I’m pretty flat these days. How long did it take your natural energy levels to kick in? I feel it’ll be worth doing this if I can reduce my dizziness and hopefully have more even energy levels, but part of me is afraid that the caffeine was the only thing keeping me productive/mentally healthy, as we all know migraines are energy suckers.
— Begin quote from “DMC”
— Begin quote from “ichbindarren”
I LOVE coffee, I used to be a starbucks addict. But I had to give it up completel. I even gave up deacaf coffee as it caused me a lot of problems too because it still has caffeine. I noticed that decaf gave me aweful headaches/dizziness.
— End quote
How was your withdrawal experience and did you go cold turkey?
— End quote
I didnt notice any negative withdrawal side effects after quitting caffeine. Caffeine was such a bad thing for me that I think I only had positive results after quitting.
DMC - It took a while for me to get to a normal energy level, I would personally say about 2 weeks before I didn’t feel tired during the morning (it was gradual improvement). But again, I had a lot of coffee according to my doctor and I stopped it abruptly. I totally know what you mean about the concern of productivity/mental health, but I feel a lot of this is trail and error so worth the shot. I hope your first day has gone ok and that even though giving up coffee/caffeine isn’t a fun thing to do that it helps improve your situation! My first few days my migraines didn’t improve (I’m guessing withdrawal?), but I’m glad I pushed through.
— Begin quote from “PiPi”
DMC - It took a while for me to get to a normal energy level, I would personally say about 2 weeks before I didn’t feel tired during the morning (it was gradual improvement). But again, I had a lot of coffee according to my doctor and I stopped it abruptly. I totally know what you mean about the concern of productivity/mental health, but I feel a lot of this is trail and error so worth the shot. I hope your first day has gone ok and that even though giving up coffee/caffeine isn’t a fun thing to do that it helps improve your situation! My first few days my migraines didn’t improve (I’m guessing withdrawal?), but I’m glad I pushed through.
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Thanks PiPi, that helps a lot. I was a total zombie all day yesterday, but today has been slightly better (a little over 48 hours cold turkey). The headache’s still pretty bad, but that’s to be expected from what I understand!
I’d appreciate it if others weighed in on their experience. Given the site we’re on, I’m sure the vast majority have gone through this already.
I still have an expresso coffee in the morning, I may try to give it up. But i also like to use it to knock out the migraine.
Me too, Rebzi. I also have some decaf tea.
Angela
I had a much better day energy-wise yesterday, and that continued into today. Then I went to the gym, and without my usual fatigue-fighting friend I’ve hit a serious wall. Planning on giving it a week. Cold turkey is definitely hard.
Update: Today is day 7 of cold turkey, and I’m still struggling quite a bit with energy. It seems like if I do nothing for the day I can manage with just feeling tired, but any activity means I’m exhausted from mid-afternoon on. It seems like 3-9 days is the standard period for withdrawal symptoms, so I’m gonna hang on a couple more days before I decide whether or not to re-start the habit.
The headaches are definitely better, but at this point it’s not worth the trade-off in increased head fog and lethargy.
Hi DMC,
You say stopping the coffee has decreased headaches. Just curious if it has decreased dizziness too??
Thanks,
Angela
— Begin quote from “angeladc”
Hi DMC,
You say stopping the coffee has decreased headaches. Just curious if it has decreased dizziness too??
Thanks,
Angela
— End quote
It still may be too early to say, as it’s only been a week, but at this point I’d say so. I don’t know if that’s from decreased headaches or decreased anxiety that usually comes from reacting to the headaches. I will stress that I’d take back the dizziness at this point as a trade-off for the head fog and lethargy–I seriously feel like my IQ has dropped to Homer Simpson levels, and I have zero motivation. Hopefully that changes soon.
I fear I’d be the same without some caffeine. Actually, tried to give it up once and did feel that way. Please let us know how you make out, whether the dizziness/headaches decrease further in the time you plan to give the trial, and what you decide to do in the end.
Thanks,
Angela
Will do, Angela. I’ve done a lot of research, and everything I’ve read says 3-9 days. But us migraineurs are a different breed, so maybe I need to give it a few more days. If you do decide to go this route, I’d advise you to taper off. Cold turkey is rough.
I gave up coffee over a year ago now, before I knew I had migraine issues and I thought I had labs. Caffeine was/is a big trigger for me and I’d worked that out before even reading that it was bad for migraine. Had no problems going cold turkey, though did miss it for a month or two.
Now the only hot drink I have is de-caf tea. Interestingly I ran out of them at work today and had to resort to normal tea - big mistake - felt dreadful after my 2nd cup at the end of the day 
Day 8: Felt the fatigue lifting for the first time today, so I’m feeling encouraged. My head still feels awfully foggy, but that may be the last thing to go since I have no doubt this change has kicked my migraine mechanism into overdrive.
Day 14 update: I thought I was turning a corner energy-wise last week, but got a bad migraine Saturday that has yet to fully lift. My energy plummeted as a result. Pre giving up caffeine I was averaging a pretty bad migraine every two weeks, with a low to moderate one most other days. If my frequency of migraines doesn’t improve without caffeine, then I’m going to go back on it, because the head fog and lethargy is still a problem. I’m trying to ride this spell out and then see what happens. Hard to do because without the energy boost of caffeine, I’m finding it difficult to keep my mood in a good place. One benefit to the no-caffeine is that weather triggers don’t bother me as much.