Headache remedy on a fast day?

Question

Even with proper pre-fast hydration and caffeine reduction, I almost always get a headache starting around hour 20-22 of a fast and growing from there. Taking a nap is sometimes possible and sometimes helps a little, but not always. (And on Yom Kippur I sure don't want to risk oversleeping and missing part of neilah.)

Is there anything else I can do on the fast day when the headache starts to reduce its effects?

(Even if I had a heter to take medicine (which I don't), all painkillers that I'm aware of do bad things when taken on an empty stomach, and at that point in the day the stomach is quite empty.)

Answer 1

The Toronto Kollel has developed a sustained-timed release caffeine capsule which is taken before the ta'anis and begins to release 8 to 10 hours later.

It has been available for many years and literally has thousands of satisfied repeat customers for tisha b'av and yom kippur. They also have the same in ibuprofen, ASA and acetaminophen.

For a distributor in your area e.mail [email protected] or call 1 888 2kollel [2565535] - it is widely distributed in the USA.

The Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Shlomo Miller Shlit"a is a reknowned posek and he permits taking it on shabbos as in this year tisha b'av begins immediately after shabbos.

Answer 2

How are you preparing for the fast?

The 4 worst things to eat before a fast:

1. Cheese and dairy
2. Eggs
3. Meat
4. Potatoes and sugar

And I bet a lot of people eat those things. The problem with the first three is the high protein (and high salt in the case of cheese) require a LOT of water to digest, this makes you thirsty and dehydration causes headaches.

Potatoes and sugar digest extremely fast, which leave you hungry quickly. (To the body potatoes are basically indistinguishable from sugar despite being called vegetables.)

The best things to eat are:

1. Complex carbs
2. Fiber
3. A small amount of fat/oil

Beans/Lentils and other legumes and whole grain products are ideal. Bread is good too. I would add a small amount of fat (whatever you would normally use to cook with). (So a bean/barley/pea soup is perfect - but don't overdo the salt of course.) Salad is surprisingly good - lots of water and fiber (but don't overdo it, you need some calories too). Cooked vegetables should round out the meal.

Do not try to stuff yourself with calories - you need less than you think. What you need to worry about it water.

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Next is pre-fast preparation:

How much water do you normally drink during the day? On a fast day your body will expect that much. If you normally drink 8 cups a day you will be in trouble. You need to start reducing your water intake a week before the fast starts.

Basically you want your urine to always be yellow (light yellow is OK) before the fast. Then your body is accustomed to conserving water and will do well with the extra you give it before the fast.

But you can't just drink water - it'll come right out again. You need to mix it with food to slow down the absorption. Your blood is unable to hold much water, you must hold it in your stomach and intestines, and the only way to do it is to absorb it into food - that's why salad is good. So is soluble fiber.

It should go without saying that you should avoid all caffeine for a week before the fast.

For further reading see this study: http://www.ima.org.il/FilesUpload/IMAJ/0/60/30277.pdf (Which, reading between the lines, appears to have been done on frum people.)

Answer 3

CYLOR, but I have heard of people taking caffeine suppositories on Yom Kippur.

Answer 4

Rav Chizkiyahu Nevenzahl Shlit"a, current Chief Rabbi of the Old city permits swallowing pills without water on a fast day (including Tisha B'av and Yom Kippur) because swallowing is not considered derech achila - the normal way of eating, of which is prohibited on a fast day .

This is not to be relied upon for practical halacha

Answer 5

A couple of years ago I stumbled on an unorthodox approach to the caffeine problem. Now that I've been through several full-days fasts with it, I'm confident in reporting my results. Of course, I don't have broad data and thus can't account for any quirks of my own physiology, but here's what I know.

This article about how long caffeine stays in your system has this tidbit that caught my eye (emphasis mine):

The dosage of caffeine consumed can impact how long it stays in a person’s system. Someone who ingests low dose (especially relative to their body mass) should clear caffeine from their body quicker than someone who ingests a high dose. Though other factors play a prominent role in clearance, the body can only metabolize and excrete a set amount of caffeine at a time; if this threshold is exceeded – metabolism and clearance is compromised. [...]

A heavy caffeine consumer may ingest over 400 mg per day (equivalent to 4 cups of coffee). At this point, enzymes in the liver may be overtaxed and more caffeine (and its metabolites) may accumulate within the body. This accumulation may prevent efficient clearance and result in reabsorption, prolonging excretion times relative to dosage consumed.

Oh really? Maybe I'd been doing it wrong.

The answer for me turns out to be: don't ramp down the caffeine to zero in advance of the fast; boost it on the day leading into the fast. I've found that 4-5 cups of coffee or equivalent does the trick. (This is more than I usually drink, but not vastly more.) Because caffeine is a diuretic you have to be careful to accompany that with plenty of water or fruit juice to prevent dehydration. But since I started attacking the caffeine problem by increasing the pre-fast dose instead of withdrawing, I have not had a caffeine headache on a fast day.

You're probably wondering if I sleep that night. Yes. I always sleep a little fitfully on the night of Yom Kippur because of the themes of the day, but I still sleep. Because I'm a regular caffeine drinker I probably have somewhat of an immunity; I can drink a cup of coffee and then go to sleep normally. I wouldn't recommend this approach for a light caffeine user, but a light caffeine user also probably does not have the withdrawal-headache problem.