Headaches have been the bane of my existence my entire life. I consider it to be a good spell when I'm turning to pain relievers less than once a week, and I had been having one of those good spells up until a couple of weeks ago when I started a new medication for my allergies and asthma-like symptoms: a medication which happens to have increased frequency of headaches as a side effect. It's supposed to be only a temporary side effect, but until it subsides I have a dilemma.
As I've gotten older, my options for pain relief have gotten smaller. When I was a teenager I took various forms of acetaminophen (Tylenol, Midol, etc.) but eventually it stopped working for me. I then tried ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) but found that it made me violently sick to my stomach. I finally discovered Excedrin (an aspirin/acetaminophen/caffeine combination), which worked wonderfully for me for many years, and actually still does. But when I made the decision to cut my caffeine consumption - I no longer drink any caffeinated beverages other than very rare occasions - my lowered tolerance resulted in some unpleasant effects from the caffeine in the Excedrin. I switched to straight aspirin, which seemed to work for a while, but soon I began having profuse nosebleeds due to the aspirin's blood-thinning properties. Reducing the aspirin dosage back to the amount found in the Excedrin put me back in the lack-of-effectiveness situation. My doctor had me try naproxen (Aleve), with the same "bloody" results.
So now I'm back to Excedrin, and the effects of the caffeine continue to get worse. It wasn't so bad when I wasn't taking it so often. A day of feeling jittery and lightheaded every couple of weeks was a fair trade for being mostly pain-free. But right now I'm taking it almost every day, and while some days the effects aren't as bad, some days, like today, are pure hell. People have laughed at me, saying how the "side effects" of caffeine are the whole point of taking it, how they wish they had my body so it would have this powerful an effect on them. But I'm not kidding when I say there is absolutely nothing pleasant about the way this stuff makes me feel. We're talking lightheadedness to the point of thinking you're going to lose consciousness any minute. Hands shaking so bad it's hard to write; knees shaking so bad it's hard to stand. Heart palpitations. And then there's the mental effects: inability to stop thinking, stop talking, or concentrate on any one thing. Violent temper and mood swings. Homicidal thoughts toward your boss' son... oh wait, I'd probably have those anyway.
So, I've been trying to find out whether there's something, some magical food perhaps, that reduces the effects of caffeine. Something that will just make the day a little bit more bearable. If I'm still a little bit fuzzy, that's okay. Just make it so I can hit the right button to answer the phone, and deliver messages to my co-workers' offices without my knees buckling. So far my searches haven't turned up anything helpful. I already know what my dad will suggest... sorry, Dad, no can do. Besides, I already found that suggestion through Google.
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