Migraines - help!!! :(

[faelavie]

I've suffered from headaches and migraines since childhood. For the last 3 years I have been on regular preventative medication, amitriptyline, 20mg taken at night. This medication has seriously changed my life.

I'm currently 5 weeks pregnant and have just had a telephone appointment from my GP to tell me that I must stop taking the amitriptyline immediately. I'm not even allowed to slowly taper off it, she said I just have to stop taking it or there could be risks to the baby. All I'm allowed to take is paracetamol, which does absolutely nothing for my migraines. She said I can use co-codamol up to 30 weeks, but because this often makes me drowsy I cannot take it when I'm at work or if I'm driving.

As soon as I hung up the phone I burst into tears. The thought of not having this medication for the next 8 months just fills me with dread. I can't see how being in regular pain does the baby any good either!

The GP's advice also seems to contradict a bunch of information online, but I am scared, I don't want to do anything to harm my baby but at the same time I don't think I can deal with daily migraines again!

Are there any migraine sufferers here with any advice for me? I'd really appreciate it as I just don't know what to do.

Hi OP not got much advice but didn't want to read and run. I suffer migraines but luckily not as often as you seem to. Once one hits though it wipes me out, I have hemi plegic migraines so ended up hospitalised a couple of times.

I never took the amytryptyline as for me, it wasn't worth the risking the side effects as I didn't get them as often as some.

I do suffer with migraines a lot more during pregnancy though, and like you, I've been told paracetamol is the only thing I can take. Which isn't helpful when they're that violent I can't keep down a mouthful of water nevermind a tablet.

They DO ease up for me once the first trimester had passed though and I know everyone's different but hopefully that might be the case for you. The GP wouldn't be advising you not to take it for the fun of it he clearly has concerns but if you're still in touch with a neurologist they might be able to advise a bit better for you.

Good luck, don't be afraid. It WILL all be worth it.
Bloody migraines those who have never suffered one truly don't know how lucky they are, and I'll swear by that.

@BeeYouTiful Thanks so much for replying. I've calmed down a bit now. I was a wreck earlier on when I got off the phone with the GP.
Unfortunately I'm not currently under the care of a neurologist. I've decided to wait it out and see how I get on. I'll speak to my employer and ask for their understanding.... Not looking forward to it but not much more I can do.

You're so right about people not knowing how bad migraines are until they've suffered them. Fed up of people just assuming they're just bad headaches! Mine leave me out of action for days. I'm praying that pregnancy will lessen them!

I think that if you don’t find that the migraines do a magical disappearing act (fingers crossed they do - pregnancy is a weird time) you need to be referred to some sort of consultant. I don’t know if a pregnancy-type, or a neurology-type consultant would be better - you might need the expertise of both in consultation with each other. But you can’t just suffer with this in silence without trying to fix it.

So if it doesn’t go away, maybe do some research and ask for a referral from your GP. Or ask for a referral anyway - it will probably take a while to come though.

Congratulations OP, I am only a couple of weeks ahead of you. I also get regular migraines and it is a bugger whilst you're pregnant / breastfeeding as there's not a lot you can do.

My advice is to ask your gp refer you to a headache clinic, you will need to go with a migraine diary that shows the frequency and severity of your migraines to show how badly it's affecting your life. Print one out online.

Your options are either a GON block (injections in the back of your head) or there are various neuromodulation devices that work for some people (eg gamicore). I'm sure you'll be able to get some relief and some advice about sleep, hydration etc.

I find pregnancy helps my migraines (as I'm not having periods and mine are hormonally triggered). But everyone is different. Good luck

This may be of interest re breastfeeding. They have a fact sheet for drugs for migraines which I found helpful.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-factsheets/

During pregnancy I tried a variety of ice packs, hot showers, cold showers, massage, caffeine, etc sometimes helped, sometimes not. Hope you find something that eases the pain.