Re: General guidelines on foods?

[Guest guest]

Thanks Marjorie! I have to say, I wish this post was

one of the first things I read after being diagnosed

with cea. The food issue always confuses me.

This makes sense! Can we place it in the highlights

section of the website?

One question though - what about caffeine?

Michele

--- emarjency wrote:

> , here's a copy & paste on some dietary and

> non-dietary

> information I posted on June 11th to the group. I

> prefaced these

> comments with a disclaimer -- these are my ideas and

> opinions. Please

> read this in that spirit and NOT as medical advice

> or medical

> information. I added some new comments at the end,

> also completely my

> own opinion.

>

> " ...Regarding food triggers that cause flushing:

> first, everyone

> agrees that there are foods/drinks like alcohol and

> spicy foods that

> cause immediate flushing in many people, rosaceans

> and non-rosaceans.

> Statistically, they are likely culprits -- although

> it's important

> that not all rosaceans will flush to even these

> common triggers.

> Also, some may flush only with certain amounts or

> with combined

> triggers such as beer under a hot sun, red wine when

> under emotional

> stress, etc.

>

> Much less commonly, there are people on this list

> and elsewhere who

> attribute immediate flushing to foods that contain

> or release small

> peptides such as histamine; whether this is related

> to a deficiency

> in an enzyme as some hypothesize or some kind of

> vascular reaction, I

> don't know. The list of foods varies from Web site

> and references,

> and I don't know what to believe so I'm listing all

> I found (in no

> particular order): cheese, sour cream, spinach,

> eggplant, red wine,

> mackerel, anchovies, herring, sardines, yeast,

> sausage, sauerkraut,

> canned tuna, preserves, spinach, tomatoes,

> strawberry, chocolate,

> protease-containing fruits like bananas and papayas,

> alcohol, citrus

> fruits, avocado, raisins, and vinegar. Obviously

> most rosaceans don't

> flush to any of these.

>

> Third, a number of people on this list and in the

> lay press attribute

> rosacean triggers to to food allergies/intolerances.

> Unlike the

> above, food allergies/intolerances usually manifest

> as a skin

> inflammation (itchy, red, hives or small papules on

> the epidermis) or

> as angioedema (painless swelling of the dermis).

>

> (If a food allergy manifests by flushing, it should

> be accompanied by

> low blood pressure and with a major allergic

> reaction. (This is in

> distinction to the rosacea triggers and

> histamine-containing foods

> discussed above, where flushing may be accompanied

> with minor

> lightheadedness, but not the systemic systems that

> are part of an

> allergic reaction.))

>

> Intolerances also involve the immune system, but not

> the stereotypic

> pathways involved in an allergic reaction.

> Intolerances also tend to

> be delayed by hours or even days. Most commonly,

> food intolerances

> are accompanied by GI symptoms, but not uniformly

> so. They can just

> involve only skin inflammation, although the face is

> not the most

> common place they manifest.

>

> Statistically, the most common foods to induce food

> intolerances in

> the general public are wheat products, gluten

> products (Celiac

> disease is one form of gluten intolerance, and for a

> number of

> reasons it's tempting to see a relationship between

> rosacea and

> Celiac disease, but Celiac's dermatologic feature

> looks nothing like

> rosacea and is rarely just on the face), cow dairy

> products, and soy

> products. I've not found evidence that explains

> whether rosaceans are

> more suspectable to food intolerances, or more

> suspectible to

> manifest food intolerances as facial rashes.

>

> So here's how I would put it together, considering

> dietary and non-

> dietary triggers:

>

> With a flush alone, the most common triggers are

> environmental and

> individual (physical or emotional stress), but some

> foods like

> alcohol or spicy foods are also common culprits.

> Over the months, it

> should be clear whether any of these triggers affect

> a particular

> person, alone or in combination, and how much

> exposure can be

> tolerated, if any. If flushing presents at times

> when none of the

> most common triggers apply, it's reasonable to

> consider side effects

> of one's medications and hormonal states such as

> menopause, and then

> subtle environmental factors or histamine-associated

> foods.

>

> Identification is made easy because the trigger

> causes an immediate

> flush reaction; the flush will be while still in the

> pizzeria, not

> two hours later. Also, rest assured that if you

> aren't being rushed

> to the hospital then the flush isn't the result of

> any kind of

> allergy. (As explained above, a flush is a serious

> manifestation of

> an allergy usually accompanied by hypotension and

> other systemic

> symptoms.)

>

> In contrast to flushing, what triggers the

> irritative/inflammatory

> symptoms of rosacea can be much harder to identify,

> largely because

> the trigger can be hours if not days away. Far and

> away the most

> common triggers of irritative/inflammatory rosacean

> symptoms are from

> topicals -- something applied directly the skin.

> Topicals can cause

> an immediate sensitivity such as burning or itching

> and/or delayed

> symptoms, by hours or days (rarely, weeks). So the

> new soap today may

> result in a worsening of papules and redness (not

> flushing redness,

> but inflammatory redness) two days from now, after

> we've already

> tried the new moisturizer. Or the reaction may occur

> a week later,

> after the ingredients have built up in the skin or

> sensitization has

> occurred. The most classic type of reaction here is

> an irritative

> contact dermatitis, but consider other types of

> contact dermatitis as

> well, such as nickel from eyeglasses or new face or

> hand jewelry, or

> even nail polish.

>

> What challenges most rosaceans is differentiating

> between the normal

> exacerbation and remissions that characterize

> vascular and

> inflammatory rosacea, with more subtle triggers that

> could be from

> many sources, including histamine-related foods and

> food

> intolerances, respectively.

>

> I respect that many in this group give a higher

> priority to diet and

> rosacea. In my opinion, the kind of elimination and

> other restrictive

> diets aren't likely to impact the health of most

> rosaceans -- in

> contrast to things that are likely to benefit most

> everyone, like

> drinking 6-8 glasses of water/day, taking a good

> multivitamin with

> healthy doses of B vitamins, getting a good nite's

> sleep each night,

> and using the smallest amounts of basic cleansers

> and moisturizers

> without frequent changes that risk sensitizing

> sensitive skin

> further.

>

> After a month of just doing these basic things, with

> attention to

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thanks Marjorie! I have to say, I wish this post was

one of the first things I read after being diagnosed

with cea. The food issue always confuses me.

This makes sense! Can we place it in the highlights

section of the website?

One question though - what about caffeine?

Michele

--- emarjency wrote:

> , here's a copy & paste on some dietary and

> non-dietary

> information I posted on June 11th to the group. I

> prefaced these

> comments with a disclaimer -- these are my ideas and

> opinions. Please

> read this in that spirit and NOT as medical advice

> or medical

> information. I added some new comments at the end,

> also completely my

> own opinion.

>

> " ...Regarding food triggers that cause flushing:

> first, everyone

> agrees that there are foods/drinks like alcohol and

> spicy foods that

> cause immediate flushing in many people, rosaceans

> and non-rosaceans.

> Statistically, they are likely culprits -- although

> it's important

> that not all rosaceans will flush to even these

> common triggers.

> Also, some may flush only with certain amounts or

> with combined

> triggers such as beer under a hot sun, red wine when

> under emotional

> stress, etc.

>

> Much less commonly, there are people on this list

> and elsewhere who

> attribute immediate flushing to foods that contain

> or release small

> peptides such as histamine; whether this is related

> to a deficiency

> in an enzyme as some hypothesize or some kind of

> vascular reaction, I

> don't know. The list of foods varies from Web site

> and references,

> and I don't know what to believe so I'm listing all

> I found (in no

> particular order): cheese, sour cream, spinach,

> eggplant, red wine,

> mackerel, anchovies, herring, sardines, yeast,

> sausage, sauerkraut,

> canned tuna, preserves, spinach, tomatoes,

> strawberry, chocolate,

> protease-containing fruits like bananas and papayas,

> alcohol, citrus

> fruits, avocado, raisins, and vinegar. Obviously

> most rosaceans don't

> flush to any of these.

>

> Third, a number of people on this list and in the

> lay press attribute

> rosacean triggers to to food allergies/intolerances.

> Unlike the

> above, food allergies/intolerances usually manifest

> as a skin

> inflammation (itchy, red, hives or small papules on

> the epidermis) or

> as angioedema (painless swelling of the dermis).

>

> (If a food allergy manifests by flushing, it should

> be accompanied by

> low blood pressure and with a major allergic

> reaction. (This is in

> distinction to the rosacea triggers and

> histamine-containing foods

> discussed above, where flushing may be accompanied

> with minor

> lightheadedness, but not the systemic systems that

> are part of an

> allergic reaction.))

>

> Intolerances also involve the immune system, but not

> the stereotypic

> pathways involved in an allergic reaction.

> Intolerances also tend to

> be delayed by hours or even days. Most commonly,

> food intolerances

> are accompanied by GI symptoms, but not uniformly

> so. They can just

> involve only skin inflammation, although the face is

> not the most

> common place they manifest.

>

> Statistically, the most common foods to induce food

> intolerances in

> the general public are wheat products, gluten

> products (Celiac

> disease is one form of gluten intolerance, and for a

> number of

> reasons it's tempting to see a relationship between

> rosacea and

> Celiac disease, but Celiac's dermatologic feature

> looks nothing like

> rosacea and is rarely just on the face), cow dairy

> products, and soy

> products. I've not found evidence that explains

> whether rosaceans are

> more suspectable to food intolerances, or more

> suspectible to

> manifest food intolerances as facial rashes.

>

> So here's how I would put it together, considering

> dietary and non-

> dietary triggers:

>

> With a flush alone, the most common triggers are

> environmental and

> individual (physical or emotional stress), but some

> foods like

> alcohol or spicy foods are also common culprits.

> Over the months, it

> should be clear whether any of these triggers affect

> a particular

> person, alone or in combination, and how much

> exposure can be

> tolerated, if any. If flushing presents at times

> when none of the

> most common triggers apply, it's reasonable to

> consider side effects

> of one's medications and hormonal states such as

> menopause, and then

> subtle environmental factors or histamine-associated

> foods.

>

> Identification is made easy because the trigger

> causes an immediate

> flush reaction; the flush will be while still in the

> pizzeria, not

> two hours later. Also, rest assured that if you

> aren't being rushed

> to the hospital then the flush isn't the result of

> any kind of

> allergy. (As explained above, a flush is a serious

> manifestation of

> an allergy usually accompanied by hypotension and

> other systemic

> symptoms.)

>

> In contrast to flushing, what triggers the

> irritative/inflammatory

> symptoms of rosacea can be much harder to identify,

> largely because

> the trigger can be hours if not days away. Far and

> away the most

> common triggers of irritative/inflammatory rosacean

> symptoms are from

> topicals -- something applied directly the skin.

> Topicals can cause

> an immediate sensitivity such as burning or itching

> and/or delayed

> symptoms, by hours or days (rarely, weeks). So the

> new soap today may

> result in a worsening of papules and redness (not

> flushing redness,

> but inflammatory redness) two days from now, after

> we've already

> tried the new moisturizer. Or the reaction may occur

> a week later,

> after the ingredients have built up in the skin or

> sensitization has

> occurred. The most classic type of reaction here is

> an irritative

> contact dermatitis, but consider other types of

> contact dermatitis as

> well, such as nickel from eyeglasses or new face or

> hand jewelry, or

> even nail polish.

>

> What challenges most rosaceans is differentiating

> between the normal

> exacerbation and remissions that characterize

> vascular and

> inflammatory rosacea, with more subtle triggers that

> could be from

> many sources, including histamine-related foods and

> food

> intolerances, respectively.

>

> I respect that many in this group give a higher

> priority to diet and

> rosacea. In my opinion, the kind of elimination and

> other restrictive

> diets aren't likely to impact the health of most

> rosaceans -- in

> contrast to things that are likely to benefit most

> everyone, like

> drinking 6-8 glasses of water/day, taking a good

> multivitamin with

> healthy doses of B vitamins, getting a good nite's

> sleep each night,

> and using the smallest amounts of basic cleansers

> and moisturizers

> without frequent changes that risk sensitizing

> sensitive skin

> further.

>

> After a month of just doing these basic things, with

> attention to

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thanks Marjorie! I have to say, I wish this post was

one of the first things I read after being diagnosed

with cea. The food issue always confuses me.

This makes sense! Can we place it in the highlights

section of the website?

One question though - what about caffeine?

Michele

--- emarjency wrote:

> , here's a copy & paste on some dietary and

> non-dietary

> information I posted on June 11th to the group. I

> prefaced these

> comments with a disclaimer -- these are my ideas and

> opinions. Please

> read this in that spirit and NOT as medical advice

> or medical

> information. I added some new comments at the end,

> also completely my

> own opinion.

>

> " ...Regarding food triggers that cause flushing:

> first, everyone

> agrees that there are foods/drinks like alcohol and

> spicy foods that

> cause immediate flushing in many people, rosaceans

> and non-rosaceans.

> Statistically, they are likely culprits -- although

> it's important

> that not all rosaceans will flush to even these

> common triggers.

> Also, some may flush only with certain amounts or

> with combined

> triggers such as beer under a hot sun, red wine when

> under emotional

> stress, etc.

>

> Much less commonly, there are people on this list

> and elsewhere who

> attribute immediate flushing to foods that contain

> or release small

> peptides such as histamine; whether this is related

> to a deficiency

> in an enzyme as some hypothesize or some kind of

> vascular reaction, I

> don't know. The list of foods varies from Web site

> and references,

> and I don't know what to believe so I'm listing all

> I found (in no

> particular order): cheese, sour cream, spinach,

> eggplant, red wine,

> mackerel, anchovies, herring, sardines, yeast,

> sausage, sauerkraut,

> canned tuna, preserves, spinach, tomatoes,

> strawberry, chocolate,

> protease-containing fruits like bananas and papayas,

> alcohol, citrus

> fruits, avocado, raisins, and vinegar. Obviously

> most rosaceans don't

> flush to any of these.

>

> Third, a number of people on this list and in the

> lay press attribute

> rosacean triggers to to food allergies/intolerances.

> Unlike the

> above, food allergies/intolerances usually manifest

> as a skin

> inflammation (itchy, red, hives or small papules on

> the epidermis) or

> as angioedema (painless swelling of the dermis).

>

> (If a food allergy manifests by flushing, it should

> be accompanied by

> low blood pressure and with a major allergic

> reaction. (This is in

> distinction to the rosacea triggers and

> histamine-containing foods

> discussed above, where flushing may be accompanied

> with minor

> lightheadedness, but not the systemic systems that

> are part of an

> allergic reaction.))

>

> Intolerances also involve the immune system, but not

> the stereotypic

> pathways involved in an allergic reaction.

> Intolerances also tend to

> be delayed by hours or even days. Most commonly,

> food intolerances

> are accompanied by GI symptoms, but not uniformly

> so. They can just

> involve only skin inflammation, although the face is

> not the most

> common place they manifest.

>

> Statistically, the most common foods to induce food

> intolerances in

> the general public are wheat products, gluten

> products (Celiac

> disease is one form of gluten intolerance, and for a

> number of

> reasons it's tempting to see a relationship between

> rosacea and

> Celiac disease, but Celiac's dermatologic feature

> looks nothing like

> rosacea and is rarely just on the face), cow dairy

> products, and soy

> products. I've not found evidence that explains

> whether rosaceans are

> more suspectable to food intolerances, or more

> suspectible to

> manifest food intolerances as facial rashes.

>

> So here's how I would put it together, considering

> dietary and non-

> dietary triggers:

>

> With a flush alone, the most common triggers are

> environmental and

> individual (physical or emotional stress), but some

> foods like

> alcohol or spicy foods are also common culprits.

> Over the months, it

> should be clear whether any of these triggers affect

> a particular

> person, alone or in combination, and how much

> exposure can be

> tolerated, if any. If flushing presents at times

> when none of the

> most common triggers apply, it's reasonable to

> consider side effects

> of one's medications and hormonal states such as

> menopause, and then

> subtle environmental factors or histamine-associated

> foods.

>

> Identification is made easy because the trigger

> causes an immediate

> flush reaction; the flush will be while still in the

> pizzeria, not

> two hours later. Also, rest assured that if you

> aren't being rushed

> to the hospital then the flush isn't the result of

> any kind of

> allergy. (As explained above, a flush is a serious

> manifestation of

> an allergy usually accompanied by hypotension and

> other systemic

> symptoms.)

>

> In contrast to flushing, what triggers the

> irritative/inflammatory

> symptoms of rosacea can be much harder to identify,

> largely because

> the trigger can be hours if not days away. Far and

> away the most

> common triggers of irritative/inflammatory rosacean

> symptoms are from

> topicals -- something applied directly the skin.

> Topicals can cause

> an immediate sensitivity such as burning or itching

> and/or delayed

> symptoms, by hours or days (rarely, weeks). So the

> new soap today may

> result in a worsening of papules and redness (not

> flushing redness,

> but inflammatory redness) two days from now, after

> we've already

> tried the new moisturizer. Or the reaction may occur

> a week later,

> after the ingredients have built up in the skin or

> sensitization has

> occurred. The most classic type of reaction here is

> an irritative

> contact dermatitis, but consider other types of

> contact dermatitis as

> well, such as nickel from eyeglasses or new face or

> hand jewelry, or

> even nail polish.

>

> What challenges most rosaceans is differentiating

> between the normal

> exacerbation and remissions that characterize

> vascular and

> inflammatory rosacea, with more subtle triggers that

> could be from

> many sources, including histamine-related foods and

> food

> intolerances, respectively.

>

> I respect that many in this group give a higher

> priority to diet and

> rosacea. In my opinion, the kind of elimination and

> other restrictive

> diets aren't likely to impact the health of most

> rosaceans -- in

> contrast to things that are likely to benefit most

> everyone, like

> drinking 6-8 glasses of water/day, taking a good

> multivitamin with

> healthy doses of B vitamins, getting a good nite's

> sleep each night,

> and using the smallest amounts of basic cleansers

> and moisturizers

> without frequent changes that risk sensitizing

> sensitive skin

> further.

>

> After a month of just doing these basic things, with

> attention to

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thanks Marjorie! I have to say, I wish this post was

one of the first things I read after being diagnosed

with cea. The food issue always confuses me.

This makes sense! Can we place it in the highlights

section of the website?

One question though - what about caffeine?

Michele

--- emarjency wrote:

> , here's a copy & paste on some dietary and

> non-dietary

> information I posted on June 11th to the group. I

> prefaced these

> comments with a disclaimer -- these are my ideas and

> opinions. Please

> read this in that spirit and NOT as medical advice

> or medical

> information. I added some new comments at the end,

> also completely my

> own opinion.

>

> " ...Regarding food triggers that cause flushing:

> first, everyone

> agrees that there are foods/drinks like alcohol and

> spicy foods that

> cause immediate flushing in many people, rosaceans

> and non-rosaceans.

> Statistically, they are likely culprits -- although

> it's important

> that not all rosaceans will flush to even these

> common triggers.

> Also, some may flush only with certain amounts or

> with combined

> triggers such as beer under a hot sun, red wine when

> under emotional

> stress, etc.

>

> Much less commonly, there are people on this list

> and elsewhere who

> attribute immediate flushing to foods that contain

> or release small

> peptides such as histamine; whether this is related

> to a deficiency

> in an enzyme as some hypothesize or some kind of

> vascular reaction, I

> don't know. The list of foods varies from Web site

> and references,

> and I don't know what to believe so I'm listing all

> I found (in no

> particular order): cheese, sour cream, spinach,

> eggplant, red wine,

> mackerel, anchovies, herring, sardines, yeast,

> sausage, sauerkraut,

> canned tuna, preserves, spinach, tomatoes,

> strawberry, chocolate,

> protease-containing fruits like bananas and papayas,

> alcohol, citrus

> fruits, avocado, raisins, and vinegar. Obviously

> most rosaceans don't

> flush to any of these.

>

> Third, a number of people on this list and in the

> lay press attribute

> rosacean triggers to to food allergies/intolerances.

> Unlike the

> above, food allergies/intolerances usually manifest

> as a skin

> inflammation (itchy, red, hives or small papules on

> the epidermis) or

> as angioedema (painless swelling of the dermis).

>

> (If a food allergy manifests by flushing, it should

> be accompanied by

> low blood pressure and with a major allergic

> reaction. (This is in

> distinction to the rosacea triggers and

> histamine-containing foods

> discussed above, where flushing may be accompanied

> with minor

> lightheadedness, but not the systemic systems that

> are part of an

> allergic reaction.))

>

> Intolerances also involve the immune system, but not

> the stereotypic

> pathways involved in an allergic reaction.

> Intolerances also tend to

> be delayed by hours or even days. Most commonly,

> food intolerances

> are accompanied by GI symptoms, but not uniformly

> so. They can just

> involve only skin inflammation, although the face is

> not the most

> common place they manifest.

>

> Statistically, the most common foods to induce food

> intolerances in

> the general public are wheat products, gluten

> products (Celiac

> disease is one form of gluten intolerance, and for a

> number of

> reasons it's tempting to see a relationship between

> rosacea and

> Celiac disease, but Celiac's dermatologic feature

> looks nothing like

> rosacea and is rarely just on the face), cow dairy

> products, and soy

> products. I've not found evidence that explains

> whether rosaceans are

> more suspectable to food intolerances, or more

> suspectible to

> manifest food intolerances as facial rashes.

>

> So here's how I would put it together, considering

> dietary and non-

> dietary triggers:

>

> With a flush alone, the most common triggers are

> environmental and

> individual (physical or emotional stress), but some

> foods like

> alcohol or spicy foods are also common culprits.

> Over the months, it

> should be clear whether any of these triggers affect

> a particular

> person, alone or in combination, and how much

> exposure can be

> tolerated, if any. If flushing presents at times

> when none of the

> most common triggers apply, it's reasonable to

> consider side effects

> of one's medications and hormonal states such as

> menopause, and then

> subtle environmental factors or histamine-associated

> foods.

>

> Identification is made easy because the trigger

> causes an immediate

> flush reaction; the flush will be while still in the

> pizzeria, not

> two hours later. Also, rest assured that if you

> aren't being rushed

> to the hospital then the flush isn't the result of

> any kind of

> allergy. (As explained above, a flush is a serious

> manifestation of

> an allergy usually accompanied by hypotension and

> other systemic

> symptoms.)

>

> In contrast to flushing, what triggers the

> irritative/inflammatory

> symptoms of rosacea can be much harder to identify,

> largely because

> the trigger can be hours if not days away. Far and

> away the most

> common triggers of irritative/inflammatory rosacean

> symptoms are from

> topicals -- something applied directly the skin.

> Topicals can cause

> an immediate sensitivity such as burning or itching

> and/or delayed

> symptoms, by hours or days (rarely, weeks). So the

> new soap today may

> result in a worsening of papules and redness (not

> flushing redness,

> but inflammatory redness) two days from now, after

> we've already

> tried the new moisturizer. Or the reaction may occur

> a week later,

> after the ingredients have built up in the skin or

> sensitization has

> occurred. The most classic type of reaction here is

> an irritative

> contact dermatitis, but consider other types of

> contact dermatitis as

> well, such as nickel from eyeglasses or new face or

> hand jewelry, or

> even nail polish.

>

> What challenges most rosaceans is differentiating

> between the normal

> exacerbation and remissions that characterize

> vascular and

> inflammatory rosacea, with more subtle triggers that

> could be from

> many sources, including histamine-related foods and

> food

> intolerances, respectively.

>

> I respect that many in this group give a higher

> priority to diet and

> rosacea. In my opinion, the kind of elimination and

> other restrictive

> diets aren't likely to impact the health of most

> rosaceans -- in

> contrast to things that are likely to benefit most

> everyone, like

> drinking 6-8 glasses of water/day, taking a good

> multivitamin with

> healthy doses of B vitamins, getting a good nite's

> sleep each night,

> and using the smallest amounts of basic cleansers

> and moisturizers

> without frequent changes that risk sensitizing

> sensitive skin

> further.

>

> After a month of just doing these basic things, with

> attention to

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

> One question though - what about caffeine?

I don't know but others here might, Michele. Caffeine vasoconstricts

cranial vessels and so is commonly added to aspirin and other

medications for vascular headache relief, but it is also a central

nervous system stimulant and so may theoretically cause central face

vasodilation.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

[Guest guest]

> One question though - what about caffeine?

I don't know but others here might, Michele. Caffeine vasoconstricts

cranial vessels and so is commonly added to aspirin and other

medications for vascular headache relief, but it is also a central

nervous system stimulant and so may theoretically cause central face

vasodilation.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

[Guest guest]

> One question though - what about caffeine?

I don't know but others here might, Michele. Caffeine vasoconstricts

cranial vessels and so is commonly added to aspirin and other

medications for vascular headache relief, but it is also a central

nervous system stimulant and so may theoretically cause central face

vasodilation.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

[Guest guest]

> One question though - what about caffeine?

I don't know but others here might, Michele. Caffeine vasoconstricts

cranial vessels and so is commonly added to aspirin and other

medications for vascular headache relief, but it is also a central

nervous system stimulant and so may theoretically cause central face

vasodilation.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD