Migraines and conflicting 111 advice

[MinesALatte]

This might be long post with a bit of moaning in it 😬

I’ve suffered from migraines since the age of about 8 and am currently 8 weeks pregnant.

In February I saw my doctor at 4 weeks pregnant and she took me off my usual migraine tablets (Naratriptan 2.5mg). Sadly I miscarried a week later but have never taken the migraine tablets since.

Anyway, last night I was suffering from a horrendous migraine (after four days of constant headache) so I called 111 at 10pm. Had my assessment and was told a doctor would call me back and at 22:45 a nurse called me, she did the same assessment and then said a doctor would call me (?!). I missed that call from the doctor at 23:15 by seconds and called them back which goes to voicemail saying phone 111. So I did and logged that I still wanted that phone call.

After chasing this call three times I finally got a call from a doctor at 2am and he said the only thing he can give me at the minute is codeine. He told me someone will call me ‘straight back’ to book in collecting my prescription but told me where to go to get it. After 20 mins I still hadn’t had that call so called 111 and they said it didn’t need booking in so just go and get the prescription. I drove 20 mins to the hospital to find where they told me to go closed, this is now 3am. Phoned 111 and they chased for me and told me the doctor wants to see me so I should go home!? I went home and got a call at 3:30 telling me the doctor was back at the hospital ready to see me. By now I’m an angry upset mess (although had been all night)

I said there’s no way I’m going back to the hospital as I could just wait until the pharmacy opens in the morning and get some codeine myself but I need to know how much I can take. This guy tells me he’s not a doctor so will get someone to phone me!

Half an hour later my phone rings with a new doctor. She tells me she would never prescribe codeine in pregnancy and I should take... ibuprofen?! Firstly, I’m asthmatic and have been told my whole life not to take ibuprofen but now I’m being told to give it a go... and I thought ibuprofen was bad in pregnancy too!!?

Sorry for the really long moaning post, last night was really stressful when I was feeling so ill and I’m so confused because nhs website says I can’t take either codeine or ibuprofen!!

What a nightmare. I can understand your confusion.

I'm not a medical professional but have had to see different doctors several times during pregnancy for various issues and have always been told yes to paracetamol but definitely no to ibuprofen!

I fell and injured my coccyx in early pregnancy the day before getting on a plane and was prescribed codeine for that. I then spent 3 days on the antenatal ward with appendicitis around 29 weeks and was given paracetamol and codeine in hospital. Short term use is fine apparently, it's only when you start taking it regularly that it might start causing problems.

I'm 34 weeks now and all is as it should be.

Sorry you’ve had such a crap night, can you at least get some rest today? I suffer with migraines and found that using a cooling eye mask I got from amazon really helps . It was only something like £8 I got it for hayfever and puffy eyes but it’s helped headaches . Don’t take ibuprofen asthmatics shouldn’t take it regardless of being pregnant and to be honest I try to stay away from pills while I’m pregnant.

@sel2223 crikey you’ve been through the mill during your pregnancy! I am dumbfounded by the conflicting information just two hours apart. I have seen a few mentions of codeine on here but definitely no mention of ibuprofen! To be honest I’m too nervous to try either now and fearful I’ll just have to suffer through future migraines.

@Ricekrispiecake Yes I’ve been lucky enough to take today off sick and got a nice amount of sleep I do have cold packs which I use regularly when I get headaches and migraines but I’ll look into the eye pack too, thank you!
Yep, I can’t believe I was told to take ibuprofen after telling her I was asthmatic.

Absolutely bonkers conflicting information and feel like I’m in a worse position than before I phoned 111!

Hi OP. So definitely do not take Ibuprofen, it’s advised to use with caution in asthma as it can trigger an asthmatic attack especially with uncontrolled asthma, but it should be avoided in pregnancy; Codeine is safer to take during the second and third trimester but in the first trimester codeine should really be avoided! There are a lot of alternatives to the triptans for migraines, I would get an appointment booked with your GP to discuss this as the only thing that would be safe for you to take without prescription is paracetamol, and as a first hand sufferer of migraines I know they won’t touch it!

Thank you @Alychloe

So annoyed with the advice from last night. I’m quite pleased the codeine wasn’t available for me as I’d have taken it no question.

I took Solpadeine Plus a few times in pregnancy for migraines, once in first trimester and twice in second (baby was perfectly fine). I did debate about it but felt the mental distress of not being able to end a non-stop migraine was not worth the tiny potential risk of harming the baby. I did draw the line at taking triptans throughout the entire pregnancy since that directly affects blood flow in small blood vessels and I was too worried about the effect in the placenta.

There was a poster on MN who was taking 4-6 tablets of Solpadeine per day(!) in her entire first trimester and looking for help to cut down. She managed to do it and later updated saying her baby was born healthy!

I’m now having a big panic as all of my symptoms have disappeared today. I’ve been suffering from headaches, nausea and horrendously sore, big boobs and everything has gone today. Boobs have shrunk, no nausea at all, even headache is the best it’s been in a week. Worried the blood pressure from my migraine has done damage. I also took one paracetamol with caffeine in it last night and have just read this so panicking even more

@MinesALatte don’t worry about the caffeine in the paracetamol! they only contain small amounts, mostly 65mg, you are allowed 200mg daily in pregnancy. Try not to panic as it’s very unlikely that baby would be harmed from just one day of high blood pressure, but why don’t you give your midwife a call just for some reassurance :)

@Alychloe that’s what I thought and I only had one! Plus I think it really helped fix my head yesterday. But you know when you just worry? Uggghhh
Thank you for the words of reassurance, I don’t have a midwife yet, think I’ll be given that info after I have my bloods taken which is next Friday... and definitely won’t be phoning 111 for reassurance!

Hi - fellow migraine sufferer here and in my second pregnancy

I get the ‘aura’ visual disturbance warning which gives me a few minutes grace before the pain starts. I’ve learned if I take paracetamol as quickly as possible that can make a huge difference- waiting for the pain to get worse is a bad idea

I did a lot or reading last time and experimented with taking a tiny amount of aspirin - just 1 or 2 X 75mg tablets, which is less than half of the usual dose for pain relief. Interestingly I found that sometimes it really really worked.

(I haven’t discussed this with a doctor, but I know that many women take tiny amounts of aspirin in pregnancy for reasons related to miscarriage prevention, so I figured it was ok to try it)

I don’t know if aspirin would effect your asthma though?

Other things that help me

• a good strong coffee
• a hot shower
• avoid lying down : I know this sounds crazy when your head is banging, but after years I have found that a gentle walk or light housework is actually more helpful. Lying down just seems to help it bed-in for longer! Once the pain has started to ease a little, I do then let myself sleep

I’m so interested to hear about anyone else’s experiences or advice

Good luck x

@MinesALatte I do know the worrying feeling! I’m 25 weeks FTM and haven’t stopped worrying! Especially during the first trimester! How are you feeling now? You should have an appointment soon with midwife, usually around 9 weeks!

Op, what a stressful faff for you.

Also not a dr, but longtime migraine sufferer which got worse during both pregnancies. After my 12 week scan I was told it would be fine to take ibuprofen and a couple of triptans in a week if I needed to. When I said to my gp that I had taken triptans very early on, they told me that there was no known risk but its not to take anymore until the 2nd trimester but absolutely no ibruprofen as it is linked to miscarriage in the 1st trimester. They did prescrine me codeine but it has no effect on my migraines. It is a risk, according to drs and midwife, late on in pregnancy where frequent doses can stay in the babys system after birth making them sleepy.

Eventually in both pregnancies I had to take amitriptyline as a preventative. It did help but the side effects for me were not nice - but better than migraines.

To manage them in pregnancy I found sugar and caffeine (which has a similar effect to triptans) when felt one coming on, plenty of liquids to keep hydrated, especially with the morning sickness, and sleep. Once I had a migraine, movement made me dizzy and sick and the only way I could shorten their duration was to sleep. I saw a specialist in my second pregnancy who told me that as prescribed the first time, amitriptyline is the safest drug for migraines while pregnant.

Apparently its about 2% who get them into the second trimester so its likely, OP, that you will get some relief soon.