Question for Women Who Experienced Frequent Headaches During Pregnancy

In my experience the solution was to drink more water. Also I experienced a sensitivity to MSG while pregnant. Unfortunately its in most prepared foods-sometimes its referred to as artificial flavor in the ingredients.

Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!

Water, Water, Water, Water. I was hospitalized many times with all three of my pregnancies, due to sever dehydration from the "morning" sickness. A headache is the first symptom of dehydration. Even if you haven't been throwing up alot, your body is using most of your water intake to maintain the baby, so your body will show signs of dehydration that much faster even if you're only a little bit short of the normal. If you're not throwing up, it's a simple fix to just drink more water. If you have been throwing up alot, make sure your doctor knows that. It may take some IV fluids to catch you up. Ironically, dehydration also causes nausea, so once you hit that point, it almost becomes impossible to drink enough water, AND keep it down.

I went to the chiropractor throughout my pregnancies b/c of allergies and headaches and didnt need to take any other meds, the adjustments were good enough. The adjustments also helped with normal pregnancy probs(siatic nerve-spelling?, back pain etc..)were almost nonexistent(this includes my pregnancy w/twins). It also helped with the recovery(afterbirth) process. If you are leary google chiropractic care and read what people have to say. Good luck and feel free to email me with questions.

I had the same problem and a Chiropractor changed it all - I didn't believe in this but my nuerologist suggested it and it worked amazingly well. Had to go 2-3/week for a month but it changed my life.
Dr Ann Gordon downtown was amazing - let me know if you want her info.

I am 23 weeks pregnant and suffer from migraines all the time-it hasn't been that bad lately. Of course there's Tylenol, then my doc`tor says I can take Tylenol #3(with codiene) or Excedrin ONCE AND A WHILE. Ask your doctor.

Good luck to you, and congratulations!

I also had headaches throughout both my pregnancies. My Dr. allowed me to take Tylenol, Tylenol Sinus, and Tylenol PM. This helped, the Tylenol PM helped a lot at the end of my pregnancy when it gets tought to get a good night sleep. Some people get nervouse about taking medication during pregnancy, I was also on medication to stop my excessive vomiting the last 8 months of both my pregnancies and my children are both healthy. Good luck!!!

Sounds to me like allergies (waking up with headache). Ask dr. about taking over the counter remedies or what he thinks.

Excedrin is a no no b/c of the aspirin. I had migraines before my pregnancies and made due with a cup of caffeinated coffee and 1-2 reg strength Tylenol. If you were a big caffeine user prior to prego, you may need to keep with a little bit. Otherwise, for drug free, you can try ice packs to your forehead and back of your neck/base of skull. This works well for tension type headaches. If it is more sinus like, heat (microwave hot packs are nice and will be good for various aches and pains during and post prego.)to your head and neck or vaporizers to humidify air may help.

I feel for you, I also had terrible headaches durning my pregnancy. Tylenol did nothing for me, so my doctor said it was o.k. to take 2 Advils with a cup of coffee if it got really bad. I had them at least once a week and took Advil, and really helped me and my baby came out perfect. I also had terrible sinus so I would use the Sinu Cleanse Neti Pot and it would bring me relief right away.
Good luck with your pregnancy, it's an exciting time!!!

I am experiencing the same thing and never had headaches before. I am in my 12th week and they are so annoying, it just makes you want to lay down and close your eyes all day. I take regular strength Tylenol and it helps to take the edge off. I have a friend that is having the same issue and her doctor told her to take the Tylenol right when you feel them coming on and not to wait. That way they are cut off at the pass and she said it has seemed to work. Good luck, I pray this second trimester is better.

I didn't experience what you did, but I did see a homeopathic Dr. (www.dupagehomeopathic.com or find one near you at http://nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/resources/practiti...) while I was pg w/ #2. It helped me w/ pain in my vericose veins and kept them from getting too bad, amongst other issues. helps w/ nausea and all that you're experiencing, too. safe to take while pg, no side effects. it's natural and holistic and takes into acct your emotional feelings as well. it's so wonderful. she's treated a lot of pg wmn recently!
dr. polich is giving a free talk about homeopathy on 3/15 from 10-12 in Naperville. the info is on her homepage if you can come. plus, she cares for both my baby, and my son (3yo) who has eczema and it has helped him so much.
best wishes.... jen s. (naperville)

Normal normal normal.....I got all of the above as well as quite a few migraines. Unfortunately the only thing to take is Tylenol. Make sure you are eating something at least every two hours, and are eating enough protein. This helped me with my headaches. With the Stuffieness, it should go away at around 20 weeks, and show back up at 30weeks. LOL! It's swollen glands that get overactive and is totally normal. I have yet to meet a pregnant woman who hasn't experienced this problem.
Great preggo read...Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthey. Hilarious, accurate, and deals with all pregnancy maladies which are otherwise undiscussed. It's the gruesome side which we all say when pregnant, "I wish someone told me about this"
Everything you are saying is totally normal and you have nothing to worry about. Congratulations!

Hi E.,

Congratulations on your little one. I also encountered headaches during pregnancy and my Doc was very strict about not taking meds -- but you should def ask your Doc. I also tend to have allergies and could not take my allergy meds during pregnancy and this made things more difficult in the way of sinus headaches. One thing that did help me was running a good air filter in my bedroom at night - it seems to me that my Doc did allow me to take something, but I just don't recall now, sorry. (my youngest is 4 1/2, so been a little while).
Take care of yourself I hope you are getting lots of rest - and be sure to call your OB/Gyn and ask - they get all kinds of questions like that.

Look on the bright side (at 15 wks you could be feeling much worse)!

hugs,

W.

Congrats on your pregnancy forst of all. I had a horrible stuffy nose with my first pregnancy as well as headaches. THink the two were intertwined. Anyhow, when my headaches got really bad my Doctoe said it was okay to take one regular strenght tylenol with a can of regular coke or pepesi, I gues the caffine helps get rid of the headache too. As for stuffy nose, saline nose spray, humidifiera, and cold compress across my cheeks were a life saver. Good luck..

Try taking prenatal yoga class. It will bring you into contact with other pregnant moms and give you new coping and relaxation skills. The breathing exercises will be helpful to you. Having sinus issues is not unusual but should also be discussed with your health care provider.
Prenatal yoga is a class available through your local park district, yoga studio and/or fitness center. Classes are typically offered daytimes, evenings, and/or weekends once a week.
C. L

I started suffering from headaches around the same time as you. I had to take Tylenol until I was 4 months pregnant. Then my Dr prescribed me tylenol 3, which shocked me, but I was assured it would not hurt the baby. She is now turning 2 and is very healthy! The headaches I think have something to do with the first trimester or so, because after about 18 weeks, they went away. Ask your Dr, and hopefully they will fade soon!

Tylenol and massage worked for me.

I am right there with you! I am also 15 weeks and get headaches all the time although I am prone to them. I have noticed though, these don't fix as easily. I do take Tylenol, but I feel it just takes the edge off enough for me to get sleepy. Sometimes a nap helps. Othertimes (maybe once a week), I am kind of bad and will grab a small coke from somewhere. That seems to give me more relief than Tylenol...Good Luck!!

Making sure I am taking in lots of water and food seems to help most of my headaches. I am 19 weeks pregnant with my second now and my doc said take Tylenol sinus or severe congestion. It has to do with extra bloodflow causing the veins to expand, making you feel congested and giving you sinus headaches. I also take 1/2 a Unisom each night before bed to help with my ongoing "morning" sickness and it also seems to help avoid headaches. I do usually also drink a can of soda (usually Barqs root beer since it has the least caffeine) a day. I had the same trouble with my first one two years ago. I tried headache patches to try to avoid medications, but found Tylenol and Unisom to be my best friends! Benadryl made me way too sleepy, but you can try that as well!

I have had headaches during all four or my pregnancies. I took Tylenol when they got bad, and it does help. My 3 kids are fine - Tylenol is safe during pregnancy. Now arAlso, I ALWAYS have a stuffy nose when I am pregnant. Both symptoms are from the hormomes. Good luck!

I had dull headaches throughout most of my pregnancy but they were worse during the first trimester. My doctor told me to take Excedrin but when I looked at the ingredients most had asprin and all had caffine. I did find one type that still had the caffine but not the asprin. It worked well but I still wasn't sure about taking it....I just don't like taking anything while I'm pregnant. What I started doing was having a cup of coffee in the morning. This seemed to keep the headaches away all day. I know pegnant women aren't supposed to have caffine either, but this was the only caffine I'd have all day. My son was born a healthy 10 pounds and is now a beautiful, healthy two month old! Hope this helps!

E.,
I had the same problem with both of my pregnancies. My sinus were always giving me a problem. I took Tylenol, which never really help. During my second pregnancy, I was told about the neti pot, this was great. It cleared what was ever blocking my sinus passages, which then cleared up my ears that were clogged up from my sinuses. Good Luck!

You're describing both of my pregnancies perfectly. I did take Tylenol, but what I found most helpful was extra water and extra exercise. Just taking in more oxygen and and water seemed to help my headaches more than Tylenol. I drank all the time and took about four 15 minute walks a day. The stuffy nose is pregnancy rhinitis. Totally normal, and exercise helped with that, too. Mine was maybe a bit worse, having allergies already. I used the Johnson's baby vapor bath occasionally as my shower gel and that helped clear me up a lot. At night, I drank herbal tea to help. Usually peppermint.