why does caffeine withdrawl cause a headache?

caffeine causes headaches because of the physical withdraw your body is going through. Caffeine is a stimulant and with that being said if you are a heavy taker of caffeine either thru coffee, tea or in my case soda (mountain dew) when you stop taking it you will go through physical withdraw. Headaches, shakes, not being able to rest but not feeling energy are all withdraw symptoms. If the headaches get to the point of being constant and reg. Medicine isn’t working go to the doctor they can give you a heavy dosage or a adrenaline shot to ease it till your body doesn’t crave the caffeine anymore

Jcknight is exactly right.

It’s important to remember that caffeine IS a drug. You can become addicted to it (subtly) and you will suffer withdrawal symptoms.

W. both tea and coffee, you can rachet down by mixing caffeinated tea or coffee w. some decaf. After several days, rebalance the proportion, and so forth. That way you are weaning yourself off gradually rather than going “cold turkey.”

Here’s a great explanation of how caffeine works: link

Basically caffeine withdrawals are caused by the brain physically changing in order to reduce the amount of adenosine receptors. These receptor sites are no longer necessary to deal with the artifical stimulation that caffeine provided. And when your brain is physically changing, it causes a severe headache.

Like gailcalled said above, drop the amount of caffeine gradually, and you should have less pain.

It doesn’t. I drink 2 cups a day and don’t when traveling in some countries where it doesn’t taste good. Greece for example. No headaches.