What is the strongest painkiller you can take for migraine in pregnancy?

[MammyToMany]

Just that really.

Am 14 weeks and every day I suffer with migraine, they make me dizzy and nauseous.

I have 3 children to look after and honestly feel like I am reaching the limits of what I can cope with. Am a single parent and have no one to ask for help so I can lie down etc

I've been taking paracetamol and sophadol,
And am trying to cook dinner but have had to move a chair next to the cooker as standing makes me feel wobberly. I've been going to bed at 8pm when the dc go up, drinking loads and doing the minimum I can but I need the headaches to stop.

Got the doctors on the 9th and midwife on the 15th, couldn't get an appoinment any sooner and booked this one 3 weeks ago!

Thats awful! I had to take some Co Dydramol yesterday for the same thing.

I hope you feel better soon. X

Dur, but ring the Midwives at the hospital first cos of how far gone you are.

Could u ring and ask antenatal or early pregnancy unit at you hospital? Or NHS direct or maybe your Drs and ask for a telephone appointment ?

I'm not sure my doctors do telephone appointments (they are a nightmare, you can never get through by phone, never get an appointment, always running way behind and no where to change to as they have combined all the local doctors into this huge inefficient one) I hadn't thought of phoning the epu though so may give them a ring in the morning.

I asked at my scan appointment last week but was just fobbed off and told to visit the gp, although to be fair they have gotten worse this week.

I was told by my neurologist that triptans could be taken in pregnancy as there is no proof they might harm the baby. Obviously noone can give a 100% guarantee but sometimes you just dont have a choice..

Really feel for you, I suffered with them in my first pregnancy and it was awful. I was prescribed co-codamol and it worked a treat - took two as it came on and it reduced the symptoms to a minor headache.

Zombie.....

Codine, you can get solphadine over the counter it's great

You can take paracetamol, codeine and triptans. You can also take anti sickness tablets to help the absorption of the painkillers and to control the nausea. You need to see your GP to get prescribed codeine and triptans. I'm a long term migraine sufferer and ths is my third pregnancy but my migraines don't change much during pregnancy - do you usually get them? You sound as though you are suffering with a lot of dizziness so IMO it would worth getting checked over generally too in case there's a contributing factor. Defo go and talk to your GP. Hope you feel better soon.xx

I thought codeine was not advised during pregnancy.

I have been suffering really badly with migraines too. I had one so bad last week that I was vomiting for 2 days. I spoke to the midwives and they said they couldn't really do much. I called the GP who was really good and said paracetamol wouldn't touch migraine. She prescribed me co-codamol, she said you can take it in pregnancy but only if a doctor prescribes it. Has worked well for me.

Dont take the triptans. It's not worth it. I rang the manufacturer who told me they were safe and took one after a 3 day migraine at 14 weeks. My baby was born brain damaged.
I will never know if there was a connection but I blame myself everyday and wonder if it was that Maxalt tablet.

I had daily migraines for around 8 to 10 weeks for each of my two pregnancies, from about the 10 week mark. As I have always suffered with migraines I knew what worked for me which was as soon as I noticed the headache (it generally started about 5am) to take paracetamol + caffeine tablets, or normal paracetamol plus a very strong cup of filter coffee with sugar. There is a bit of research to support that caffeine is very effective at helping migraines. If I had just taken paracetamol, not much would have happened and I would have ended up with a terrible migraine, being sick all day and completely flat out. Taking the paracetamol plus caffeine meant that within 30-60 minutes the migraine was passing or gone. I talked to a pharmacist about this (I was worried about taking paracetamol and caffeine every day) but they advised it was better not to be putting my body under the stress of suffering the migraine and also the amount of caffeine in two of those tablets was under the daily recommended limit for pregnancy. It really worked for me - but the caffeine was key.

Hope you sort it out - migraines are awful and I can't imagine how terrible it must be having to look after three children as well.

I took sumatriptan after reading a LOT of research and discussing with my gp.

diamond - so sorry for your situation but honestly it is very unlikely to have been caused by your decision, all the research that has been done indicates no ill effects, although it cannot be definitively 'poved' safe to take them.

Sorry - just seen it's an old thread.

should add that I was already using sumatriptan and my migrains render me totally blind and unable to speak so quite dangerous - this affected my weighing of risks vs benefits.