Fifth day of migraine - losing it....

[Slavetominidictator]

What can I do? Can't take anything as am three months pregnant. Obv can have paracetomol but it won't make any difference. I'm going to ring GP tomorrow for advice. Am so desperate now.... Have a two year old as well, which is making it even trickier. Any ideas?

How far along are you? I took codeine while pregnant for migraines and back pain. Worked reasonably well. The other things that helped were sipping lots of water and putting something cold on my head. I had some sticky strips (can't remember their name) that were very soothing when stuck to my forehead.

I think it might be worth calling your midwife actually, sooner rather than later. Tonight really. If you can't get through try 111 or maternity triage at your hospital. Severe headaches are a symptom of pre eclampsia. Obviously migraine is not just a head ache, but you ought to get it checked. They might want you to go in to check your BP and urine and monitor the baby.

I had bad headaches during the first trimester too - the only thing I found helped was drinking lots of water (like aiming for 3 litres a day). I noticed that days when I 'slipped' and drunk a normal amount, the headaches would get worse. Hope this helps you too, I know how bad it is

What helped me when I was pregnant was taking paracetamol with a can of coke as the caffeine helps your body absorb the paracetamol. (There has been research done to prove this us effective). Even now post-pregnancy I try a coke and a paracetamol first when I get a migraine. How pregnant are you? I found the first trimester I had a fair few but hardly any at all in the last 6 months.

Sorry just seen you're 3 months. Fingers crossed they calm down soon then. Also wanted to add that I found Vicks vapour rub on my forehead helped a bit too.

Hi,
I too am a migrane sufferer and have seen an increase in them over the last 6 months. I am not pregnant but didnt want to see this thread and just run! When I spoke to my doctor recently regarding what I could take the options were very limited due to me TTC, however she did say that over the counter asprin was ok but that might not be the case when you are pregnant so I would check that out. I would also take the other readers advice and speak to your midwife as bad headaches in pregnancy are a concern.
I would stress though that caffeine can make migranes worse, migranes are not normal headaches and current medical thinking is that they are caused by blood vessels in the brain and eyes constricting causing the acute pain and visual side effects of lights,white noise etc - hence why in normal non pregnant women's cases high levels of asprin are prescribed (because they think the blood) or in more sever cases epilepsy medicine. Caffeine can increase your blood pressure which could make your symptoms worse.

Have you tried keeping a migrane diary? Writing everyting down that you eat and drink and also any unusual things - even down to the weather! This can often show you have a trigger for example chocolate or bananas - two very common migrane triggers - which you could then avoid, but they can also be caused by headaches so if you are getting a headache and can nip that in the bud that would almost definitely help.

Hope this helps.

www.migrainetrust.org/

found this website really helpful for doing the diary and general information.

Lots of sympathy from me - also have a toddler and suffer from migraines outside pregnancy. Now 38 weeks and they have been much better third trimester, but had a few awful ones first and second trimesters. I'd say definitely see your GP asap. I know I reduced and then stopped my daily preventative medication, and my normal first line of defence as recommended by neurologist (huge dose of soluble aspirin) is an absolute no-no in pregnancy, as are triptans. I give paracetamol and coke a shot at the first sign of a problem, but it really won't touch a proper migraine. I have taken co-codamol in desperate times, though later in pregnancy, so it's def worth talking to your doctor. It is just awful though especially if you have to function to look after a toddler.

Oh, and those forehead cool strips in the blue box do make me feel very slightly better - they obviously won't cure it, but frankly I'll do anything that gives the tiniest bit of relief.

I got them horribly in the first 4 months, and not had them since. You can take 4head which can offer some relief but the thing that worked for me was the non medicinal cool head strips as per PP, I can't remember what they are called. Like Roll says, they don't cure it, but do take the edge off. Keeping fluid levels up too.
I think it is a mix of the hormones and the weather that triggered mine, but hopefully yours will settle soon too. I know how horrible it feels and I didn't have a toddler to run round after.

I have awful migraines. One thing that helps when I take meds (breast feeding right now) is a hot bath while I brush my teeth forever. I ended up in a&e with a migraine a few years ago and since the have tried to pick up every little tiny tiny detail that helps (trying to say brushing my teeth doesn't clear a migraine but does provide a tiny bit of relief)

also massaging my face - rubbing my neck and shoulders would hurt far too much yet massaging my cheeks and temples and eyes helps.

Face cloth soaked in cold water and wrung out, on the forehead and/or back of neck really helps
Sunglasses as I'm light sensitive
Sleep when you can
Eat every 4 hours - don't let your blood sugar get low

Thank you so much for all your replies. Haven't even been able to type/read screen and kept waking in the night to vomit. Just spoke to gp who says I have to go in to be seen.

Had an injection of stemetil to try to halt vomitting. Got a lot of pressure from GP to take it but really couldn't work out how safe it is... Alternative was hospital for a drip so agreed to it. It's allowed me to keep water down so that has helped but the pain is still pretty severe.
Am certain these migraines are hormone triggered. They are just so hard to recover from as, as pp suggest, keeping hydrated and blood sugar levels steady would really help. But when you vomit up everything then you just can't do that.
Also, brushing teeth makes me vomit when I'm pregnant, am afraid. But will remember that tip for after the baby is born.
So depressing and not out of the woods yet....

Hi ive been having migraines in this pregnancy . To start off with i had them for 5 days but have thsnkfully subsided . Ive been to see my gp and he has given me co-codamol which do take the edge off . Good news I am 21wks and they are a lot less frequent so there is hope . My gp says they are caused by hormones . Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

I suffered migraines out of nowhere before I was pregnant, as well as regular ones in the middle of each month that I noticed when I was on a pill that didn't always stop me ovulating and when I started trying to conceive. They were a great indicator that I was ovulating but a three day migraine doesn't exactly put one in a sex-crazed mood! So the doctors linked the migraines to Oestrogen

My migraines stopped for the first couple of months of pregnancy and then started again, increasing to the point when I was getting three a week and they'd last at least a day. One doctor told me paracetamol, another (I was in the second trimester by this point) told me I could take co-codemol (only risk is the baby becoming addicted too if you take frequent doses), Ibruprofen up to the third trimester and Sumatriptan (Imigran) as this has not been linked to any birth defects once into the second trimester. This, along with acupuncture, helped but I was still getting two a week sometimes and so had to return to the doctors when I was about 22 weeks and reluctantly had to ask for something to help. I now am taking Amitriptyline which is an old style anti-depressant I take everyday. Side effects for me are slight headaches, I wake up some days feeling like I'm hungover and I'm sweating more, as well as just unstoppable crying for the first couple of days but it's more than seven days between migraines now. I have to stop taking them when I enter the third trimester.

Sorry, went on a bit there! Just so frustrated with months of migraines. Even though I've been assured that the medication will not cause any harm to the baby, I still think about it a bit. But I was having so many days off work, because I couldn't do anything but lie in bed. It didn't help that my mum said that if the baby was born with something wrong with it it would be my fault. It's amazing how many people tell you how wrong it is to take any kind of medication when pregnant, but sometimes it is justified and doctors are so careful with what they prescribe.

But OP, you're not alone! And in most pregnancies migraines to stop into the second trimester. Do contact your midwife or GP though as five day migraines sound unusual, even if its just for some reassurance.