postpartum headache from hell

[Jadefeather7]

Wondering if anyone here has suffered with a severe post partum headache (the type that makes you think you are about to die).

I had one during my c section. My blood pressure was so erratic (it was low throughout the pregnancy) that the anaesthetist told my husband that he was convinced his machine must be broken (I’m now doubtful about that). Two days later I had one again. All I remember is screaming at my husband to make sure he looked after my baby because this was it. I ended up in A&E and the doctors were baffled. I had MRIs after and everything was fine.

I’m pregnant again and I’m still traumatised by this experience. I’m reading stuff online about RCVS (I’m guessing that’s what I had) and potential risks of stroke and haemorrhage. I’m not really sure what to do as the doctors/consultants I’ve seen have all seemed pretty clueless about it. I can’t even find accounts online of people who have experienced it to see if it recurred for them. What would you do?

Hi I'm 8 weeks postpartum and still have a headache. Have had them constantly since the birth. Was forced to have a spinal as the placenta was manually removed. It had to be ripped away after dd was born with just gas and air as it was completely stuck.

The headache is always along the front pf my forehead. I was on amitriptyline but got taken off it yesterday due severe dizziness and it not helping. Nobody will help now, all I've been told is it's one of those things after birth and to wait til it passes despite it having been 8weeks already. It isn't blood pressure or anything like that. I breastfeed and drink plenty.

If anyone has any suggestions please send them my way!

a friend had this after an epidural. it started with a monumental headache. it was actually a infection that travelled up to her brain causing water to accumulate in the brain. She has seizures too. What she had was probably quite rare. She was in a coma for a week but luckily made a full recovery.

It apparently was all caused by the epidural.

@wateroffaduckscrack I continued to have headaches for a few weeks after as well (no where near as bad as the ones I’m talking about on this thread) but they were pretty constant. I had acupuncture and after two they sessions they stopped. I know some people are skeptical about acupuncture but it seemed to work for me.

@losingthepl0t Gosh that sounds really terrible! Glad she was ok in the end.

it was terrifying. We didn't know if she would make it. I subsequently put no spinal/epidural into my birth plan. Totally terrified of it.

But I guess she was a very rare and extreme case.

@Jadefeather7 that’s good that you’re feeling more informed after reading more into things and looking at research. However from what you’ve described you’re recollection of events is very sketchy, so a debrief will help you understand what happened during and after your cesarean, what pain relief medication you were given and if you were given any medication to help increase your blood pressure.

You’ve also talked about not knowing if your blood pressure was high or low. High blood pressure would indicate pre eclampsia or HELLP syndrome which can occur both antenatally and postnatally.