After a year of aura migraines 3+ times per week with lots of visuals but no headache afterwards just a tired sleepy feeling I thought I would track down the cause.

Having cut down or cut out certain food groups (I waved goodbye to both chocolate and cheese)I think that I have tracked the culprit down to my regular and much loved cups of tea. I gave up tea 4 weeks ago and no signs of a migraine yet. QED.

My only issue, other than admitting my body has a weakness and whether I should mention it to a professional, is what to replace my beloved cups of tea with. I have tried decaff coffee (too much of the real thing sends me a bit bandy) but am finding it a bit samey and leaves me quite thirsty.

Was wondering if you have any suggestions as a suitable alternative to a lovely cup of tea?

I like Gin.

Try green tea rather than black?

Rooibos tea (sp)? I think it is vile but lots of folk I know drink it!

Similar to me a while back, migraines and twitchiness from too much tea, simply swapped to decaf tea and fine again, although I did have a bit of a general lifestyle change with leaving old (stressful) job which probably helped too. I got recommended the green teas and that weird red bush South African stuff but thought it tasted horrible, people say you get used to it, I didn’t, decaf normal tea is fine.

Quiche?

Tea gives me migraines also, I used to drink probably 4/5 cups a day , seriously loved tea

I now can’t drink it?! Even if I try and have a cup, just think go on one cup, can’t stand the taste now

Strangely, I didn’t drink coffee before but now I am happy with coffee 🙂

As someone said, redbush is an alternative.

I’ve had to drop caffeine from my life, I have substituted coffee and tea with nettle tea and chamomile tea, then before bedtime a nice cup of snore and peace by clipper.

I had worse headaches for the first week as I craved caffeine but I’m now a way more chilled out person for the change.

My wife suffers from regular migraines and has found Rooibos to be a good alternative. If you’re very sensitive to caffeine then avoid green tea and de-caf tea as there is some caffeine in them. Also, grab a copy of Heal Your Headache by David Buchholz, it’s got a very comprehensive list of foods that have been identified as triggers by others.

I might try giving up tea as I’ve not found my migraine trigger yet.

I had the same thing with coffee, but I seem to be able to cope with two cups a day. Have you tried reducing the tea in-take instead of cutting it out altogether?

Decaf earl grey is alright…Red bush chai is nicer (think made by dragonfly and has spices in)

+1 on caffeine not working for me. I love really decent flat whites – but puts me on edge and I find much stronger urge to drink alcohol in eves, then poor sleep and need coffee in the morning…cycle accelerates away from me

I make exceptions for caffeine if I’m outside for a big day and it’s hosing down, or if I need to drive and I’m tired otherwise I avoid it altogether

Pukka night time if caffeine free would be nice for you as it literally sends me to sleep when I’m in the mood.

It has lavender and oatmeal = very tasty.

I’ve dabbled with caffeine free alternatives as caffeine tends to maake me agitated..

Redbush is grim with milk but is greatly improved by replacing cow juice with lemon juice

I just drink water through the day. Good old tapwater.

It takes a while for your body to get used to hydrating on water alone, and for it to be thirst-quenching, but once you get the hang it’s all good. I really enjoy it.

My aural migraines are infrequent, but sometimes come in clusters, and there’s nothing I change in diet or what I drink that would seem to be a trigger.
The only thing would seem to be if I get a bit stressed, but that can’t explain my waking in the morning with the familiar sparkly ‘C’ shape in my vision, before I’ve even got my eyes open.
I drink green tea at work, in an on the go flask, ordinary tea with milk, no sugar at home, very little coffee at all, little chocolate, so I’m at a loss, really.

I have migraines to and in an effort to stop coffee causing them I switched to mango and lychee green tea. One cup in the morning then water for the rest of the day.

My mate has this problem….he went for loads of tests and amongst other things ….he has to limit the amount of liquids he takes in food and drink to 1.8l a day??….how do you do that??

Thanks very much for the comments and suggestions so far.

Think that I will give the Rooibos a go and also give nettle tea a try too. Might have a look for the book mentioned too.

My aura migraines start with a splodge that I cannot see past without looking sideways then briefly I would see a geodesic spiral type shape often made up of purple and orange triangles – strong stuff this tea!!

I am not blaming caffeine yet but am increasingly thinking it might be a reaction to the tannins in the tea (please note that this diagnosis has been formed with significant help from Google and therefore may have no actual basis in fact!!)

Thanks to all.

RU

if you’re going to try teas that aren’t ‘tea’…

suggestion #1:

you really don’t need to use boiling water straight onto the leaves/bag, all that really achieves is a bitter taste.

pour the hot water into the mug, let it stand for a few seconds so the mug cools the water a bit, then add the tea.

(i add a dash of cold water before the leaves, to further cool the water)

suggestion #2: milk in any tea other than ‘tea’ is just weird.

+1 for roobois, been on it for a good 5 yrs now and normally prefer it to regular tea which I still have from time to time. I use (Koko) milk and sugar. You can get Earl Grey variations too.

Tetley do a nice Roibos, with a bit of vanilla.

coupled with barely drinking booze, the teenage would point and laugh at grown-up me not drinking proper tea. In other news, I don’t think I understand denim trousers anymore, but I’m clinging onto hoodies instead of cardigans

Other plant teas that I like: nettle&peppermint, Pukka 3 Tulsi & the Yogi tea one with ginger and hibiscus

Lemon and honey is nice IMO, or gin as previsoly mentioned.