[YTNUKLR]

step 1, stay hydrated and rested and not too stressed. i am adding some houseplants to my office to make it a little more pleasing to be in, less "clinical"...

alcohol is a vaso-dilator (opens blood vessels) and probably makes headaches worse, not better

caffeine in a moderate dose (~1 cup of coffee; 60-80mg) is a vaso-constrictor (closes down the blood vessels) and is probably good for headaches...caffeine is in Excedrin, which is marketed as a headache-specific medication

Headaches are physically caused by too much blood in the cranium, which causes excess pressure on the tissues surrounding the brain (the "mater" layers). the goal of a headache medicine should be to reduce the amount of blood in the cranium by constricting the blood vessels, which is something that most stimulants (caffeine, cocaine, etc.) do

Plain aspirin (NOT tylenol-acetaminopen, motrin/advil-ibuprofen, or aleve-naproxen) is the safest medication you can take, however it still has some side-effects, like it can be rough on the stomach for some people

I would not recommend taking tylenol/motrin/advil/aleve regularly if you can possibly avoid it. liver enzymes is only a part of the picture re: liver damage. there may be tissue damage or deposits of 'plaques' additionally

If you want THE most readily absorbed and safe (in a "therapeutic dose") medication, that would be...heroin. However, there are some side effects...like you may want to be on it for the rest of your life...Heroin is the most easily absorbed molecule of any medicine known!

in short, after all the biochemistry classes that berkeley has to offer, my rec would be

~400mg aspirin and a shot of espresso or a few cups of black tea

hope she feels better