Pregnancy Headaches?? - Saint Peters,MO

Congrats on your pregnancy L.!
I had terrible headaches too. I'd just take Tylenol and drink a little bit of caffeine. I knew I couldn't have over 150 milligrams a day, so I'd just have one Coke or a cup of tea. It did help. Good luck!

Have your tried having some caffeine? I get caffeine-withdrawl headaches when I'm pregnant, so although I have to regulate my intake, I can't go off it completely.

Boy, your question sure was timely for me! I'm 11 weeks along with my third and have been suffering with some incredible headaches. The tylenol isn't cutting it for me either so i'll be interested in what responses you get!

I hope your headaches ease up soon! Good luck with everything!

L. - I am also pregnant with my 2nd kiddo, and had no headaches with the first. I have had horrible headahces with this pregnancy. I told my OB about it and told her Tylenol wasn't cutting it. She sent me for an MRI, low and behold - I have a sinus infection. I have no other symptoms and have never had one before. She put me on an antibiotic, and I'm hoping it solves my problems. Might be something you mention to your doc. Hope you feel better soon!!!

Do these headaches feel the same as the migraines you used to get?
When I was pregnant recently, I was getting really awful headaches, every day, which turned out to be sinus headaches - being pregnant can do weird things with your sinuses even if you don't "feel" congested.

If a super-hot steamy shower makes your headache immediately subside a bit, this may be what you have (and if so, Excedrin is not going to help). Try nasal rinses with a neti pot, keep your humidifier running, and stay hydrated and that should keep sinus headaches under control.

Most Excedrin already has caffeine in it so don't drink a cup or coffee or a coke with the Excedrin or you could get a caffeine headache too! Since you have been pregnant have you changed your caffeine intake? Try to be very consistant with it as well as what time you take it. That will help a little w/the caffeine influence of your headaches. Also, make sure you are drinking enough and eating small meals throughout the day. Aside from that, mention it to your OB including the intensity & frequency of them. There are medicatinos you can take while pregnant.

Hang in there. As a fellow migraine sufferer, I literaly 'feel your pain'.

J.

I had the pregnancy headaches-they are amazingly tough! Tell your ob and she will give you a prescription that is specifically for pregnancy headaches.

OH my gosh I am so sorry. I am 21 weeks and my headaches are finally becoming less frequent and less intense. I had them nearly daily starting around the 7th week till about 18 weeks. My doctor perscribed me Esgic (also known as fioricet) he says its safe durring pregnancy. I have no idea how i would have made it through those headaches without!!! An increase in migraines is extreamly commmon during pregnancy from around week 12 to week 20. This is my third pregnancy and I didn't have these headaches with the other two. I would have headaches lasting me 4 days straight and then just one day break and on to a new headache! Esgic helped me function, it didn't take away my headaches completely everytime but enough to where I could function as a human. Also my doctor said there is new research showing that ibuprofen is safe in the second trimester but MAX 2 pills (500 mg) every 6 hours. I didn't want rebound headaches from taking the Esgic too much so he suggested I take two ibuprofen and if no improvement in 30 minutes then take my Esgic. Also he suggested tylenol Sinus first sign of a headache and believe it or not that helped a number of times! Tylenol never worked for me so I was shocked. You may want to talk to your doctor about those options.
They will get better I promise! Hang in there! :)

I echo all the moms telling you to drink water. I kept getting headaches when pregnant with my second child and finally figured out that it only happened when I was forgetting to drink enough water. So every day, I filled up a jug with the amount of water you're supposed to drink for the day and put tick marks down the jug for each hour of the day. So the top tick mark started with "9" (for 9:00), next one down was "10", etc. I got in the habit of checking my jug at the top of every hour and if I hadn't drunk down to my tick mark for the hour, I chugged it to the mark. I found that if I didn't do the tick marks, I'd wind up at the end of the day with half a jug of water and there was no way to catch up. This works especially well if you work at a desk-- just fill it up at the start of your day and check your jug every hour! Good luck!

I got migraines with my second really badly too. I never had drunk any type of caffeinated drinks so getting a taking a full Excedrin was too crazy on my body. So, I would take two Tylenol with a Dr. Pepper - I would almost never need to drink the whole can in one day (again, though my body was not use to caffeine at all). But, I also had this great OB/GYN who had at first gone to school for Chiropractic and he adjusted my hips one time and I didn't have a migraine for nearly two months! It was so great! Since your body and especially you hips, is adjusting for this baby, the hips may be a little out of wack. If you feel comfortable with it, perhaps you could check that out.

call your doc and tell them you need meds for migrains i had the same thing and it was horrible

I had headaches all the time with my 3 pregnancies & I did contact my OB via phone & @ appt. they told me my blood pressure is fine & to take 2 Tylenol generic is fine with 1 can of Coke together & it does work.Drink water all day long you & baby need it you'll have an increase in bathroom breaks but better than suffering from hadaches.Also the headaches are caused by HORMONES mine where worse with my girl's.

Whenever I have a headache problem the doctor asks if I'm drinking enough water. You might think about this, they say that caffeine drinks hinder hydration, so make sure it's water that you are counting as your drink.

I would also consider chiropractic care with a chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy. You can find one on either of these websites:
http://www.icpa4kids.org/locator/index.php
http://www.pregnancychiropractic.com/find_doctor.php

Good luck!

Dr. Alyssa

HI L.
I had the opposite problem--during pregnany Ididn't get migraines. What helped me get rid of them were Shaklee supplements. I used Energyzing Soy protein, Omegaguard, B complex, Osteomatrix and Vital Mag. I wish I had know about these before my pregancies.
You can check Shaklee out at http://www.shaklee.net/healthforlife
Shaklee is the number one seller of a natural supplements. The products are always safe and always work.
Hope you are feeling better soon so you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!
V.

One of the things that you do want to get checked is your blood pressure. Headaches are a very common symptom of high blood pressure - it does not have to be related, but it can.

Congrats and good luck!

I had horrible headaches when I was pregnant with my second. My doctor told me to drink one or two cups of coffee per day and to increase my water intake. Man, I was running to the bathroom all the time, but it was worth it to not have to take any pills. (I have an insane gag reflex.) So that might help. I hope it does!

I had the exact same problem with my second child. I had a headache every day! My blood pressure was great, though, so that wasn't the problem. It wasn't sinuses either. I just had headaches.

Talk to your doctor again, that's all I can really suggest. There are only a few things that are completely safe to take when your pregnant.

Call your OB. I talked with mine when I found out I was pregnant. I was taking daily Rx meds for my migrains. I finally had them under control. I was extatic that tylonol worked! (never did before!) I did have them more frequently in the first couple of months, but now (at week 35) I have them few and far between. But my OB did informed me to let them know if they get bad because they can prescribe something. I was blessed I didn't need it. Good luck to you~ I feel your pain!

I had a period of time when I would wake up with headaches every day. My dr. said it was allergies and told me to take Claritin. It worked. I don't normally have allergies and as the pregnancy progressed and we moved into mid-late summers, I eventually was able to stop taking it. Worth asking about.