I have read that a lot of people got really bad headaches after starting their pre-op liquid diets. I am prone to migraines and this worries me. I don't have my surgery date yet because the surgeon is waiting for the authorization from the insurance. In the meantime, I have cut out all soda and caffeine to get prepared. My question is for those that have had the headaches, were they caused by cutting out the caffeine or something else?

Hi there! I also suffer from migraines and it is almost always an uphill battle once I let one break through. I am going to be sleeved in 3 days so I am 4 days into my pre-op diet. I cut caffeine a week before pre-op started. I had headaches, but not migraines (and I was a terrible cranky pants!). They were dull pains on both sides of my temples. My migraines are on the left side and almost always start at the base of my neck and behind my eye. I took Tylenol to keep the caffeine headaches from turning into migraines.

Now that I am in pre-op, I am finding that I am getting a lot closer to breakthrough migraines. I am a heavy-duty carb person, so I think my headaches are coming from the drop in carbs coupled with the lack of caffeine. So far, I have been able to handle the headaches with Tylenol versus the "hard stuff" (i.e. Relpax or Fiorocet or Hydrocodone). I have heard day 3 is the worst for carb people so I am hoping I get over this hump tonight.

I guess all that was said just to say...I haven't had a migraine but I think it is because I am staying on top of the initial headaches with Tylenol.

I was a black coffee and diet coke addict. The first day of pre-op diet I had an EXCRUCIATING headache. I could barely function. It lasted one more day and by day 3 or 4 was gone. I'm sure it was due to caffeine withdrawal. It is a good thing you are cutting back now.

I have had migraines in the past and have learned that I need to take headache medicine before it gets too bad. I drink coffee every morning and love my carbs so when I went on the two week pre-op diet and cut those things out, I suffered from headaches for 5 days. I was worried they'd turn into migraines but with tylenol about 3 times a day I was able to keep them from getting too bad. Day 6 I was feeling much better and haven't had a headache since (I'm on day 10 now).

I cut out the caffeine and carbs right away. The headaches were absolutely from that and I felt icky for a few days. It was short lived and by the time I was on my official pre op diet, it wasn't an issue at all. I craved salad and chewing, not carbs and caffeine.

I quit drinking caffeine about 12 years ago and had headaches for about 3 days. It is so worth it to get that out of your system.

Kelly