Can a headache be a sign of impending miscarriage??

[clhiu]

Hi there,
I’m currently in my 3rd pregnancy over a 5 months period. The first one ended up in miscarriage at the end of week 6, the second one also ended in early miscarriage in the 4th week, which started one day after a positive pregnancy test.
In both cases, the day the bleeding started I experienced an intense headache on one side of my head, no disturbed vision, flashing or dizziness, just really uncomfortable pain one one side for most of the day. The first time the headache started after I noticed the spotting, the second time the headache lasted all day without any other signs and spotting started at night.
It might just have been a coincidence and I cannot find anything online suggesting headaches alone can be a sign of miscarriage, but I’m at the end of my 5th week this time and a similar headache to the previous two times started a few hours ago and I’m now freaking out even if I haven’t observed bleeding.
Anybody out there had experiences of this and noticed a correlation? I hear headaches are pretty common in pregnancy so hoping it’s all it is, but I am getting really freaked out, fearing the worst and can’t imagine this kind of stress to be good to the unborn baby.
I’d love to hear from some other people.
Thank you so much.

Headaches are normal but given what you've been through I can see why you're worried. I would call a doctor or the EPU.

It can be a sign of lowering progesterone and certain thyroid conditions - it was for me. But then for my successful pregnancy I started getting tension headaches due to the stress of it all so it might be that too. Suggest you take some paracetamol - if it gets better it’s prob ok and if not then go to your GP.

It can be a sign of a few things or nothing. Talk to your HCP.

I had horrendous headaches and then miscarriage but I also had horrendous headaches and had DS. So many reasons.

I've had 2 successful pregnancies and 1 miscarriage.
The miscarriage was the only pregnancy where I suffered with a crazily intense headaches from 4 weeks. It was horrendous. I miscarried around 8 weeks.
I did not get headaches in my other two pregnancies.

Thank you for all your responses and really sorry to hear about your miscarriage experiences.

Waiting for a call back from my local EPU, impossible to get through to them so hopefully they’ll be able to help when I finally do.

Thank you so much again x

Bit depressing reading this OP. I had a random headache come on over the weekend- it was excruciating and went down the back of my neck too. Coincided with feeling a loss of symptoms and at the moment I'm waiting for a follow up scan to confirm whether I have miscarried- initial scan yesterday showed empty sacs. Could just be an absolute coincidence and I didn't connect it to potential miscarriage at all, so am surprised and a bit dismayed to read your thread.

Hope you have a better outcome ❤.

I am really really sorry you are going through this @GirlMama21 and I am sorry if you found this post triggering ❤️

I had a terrible night sleep developing some mild cramping and pretty much convinced myself I’m going to MMC. Woke up fully expecting to see some spotting, but none so far, headache is gone and I also got a very positive pregnancy test, but The cramping is telling me a different story 😢

I find it incredibly frustrating that even after 2 MMC there is no one I can reach out to except for the EPU, who’s lines were constantly engaged and aren’t calling me back. I will keep trying them today.

Anyway, it sounds like at least you were able to get support quicker, I wish you for this negative experience to be just a one off ❤️

I’ve had bad headaches a few weeks in in every pregnancy, two MCs and 2 successful. I think sometimes if you’re prone to get them, you will whatever the outcome.

Sorry you are experiencing this OP. I did experience a very intense headache with mc but only afterwards as the hormones dropped suddenly. So by itself I wouldn’t be concerned and if you are in early pregnancy sadly I doubt there is anything they could do if it was a sign of an impending problem.

I also had terrible cramping in my 3 successful pregnancies and especially the first time was convinced that was that. For me it was all connected to my digestion. But honestly they were such sharp stabbing cramps.

So I wouldn’t assume anything with the cramping either.

Would you consider a private reassurance scan at 8 weeks or so?

@clhiu

I am really really sorry you are going through this *@GirlMama21* and I am sorry if you found this post triggering ❤️

I had a terrible night sleep developing some mild cramping and pretty much convinced myself I’m going to MMC. Woke up fully expecting to see some spotting, but none so far, headache is gone and I also got a very positive pregnancy test, but The cramping is telling me a different story 😢

I find it incredibly frustrating that even after 2 MMC there is no one I can reach out to except for the EPU, who’s lines were constantly engaged and aren’t calling me back. I will keep trying them today.

Anyway, it sounds like at least you were able to get support quicker, I wish you for this negative experience to be just a one off ❤️

It's ok @clhiu I didn't find it triggering, just added to my list of possible signs of impending miscarriage.

I know how awful it is trying to get support from EPAU which is why I decided to just pay for a private scan this time when concerned. With our local EPAU you cannot self refer, they only see you if referred by a GP or A&E. With my mmc in May last year I wasn't taken seriously for over 2 weeks because I wasn't bleeding. I finally got a scan nearly 3 weeks after raising concerns only because I'd started spotting by then and it was to be told baby died at the time I'd started saying something was wrong, but was ignored. I feel like it's maybe a bit of a postcode lottery as I've read so many women on here getting early scans on nhs, being seen by EPAU and getting bloods to check HCG, but this isn't something I've had access to. Even now the GP was only willing to refer me to EPAU because I'd paid for a private scan showing empty sacs i.e. indicating miscarriage. If I'd raised concerns about lack of symptoms without the private scan findings, I would've been dismissed just like last time because I'm not bleeding. Awful wait of a week to have a scan to confirm the worst news.

I really hope you have a safe pregnancy with a happy outcome xx

Sorry didn't mean lack of symptoms above, meant sudden loss of existing symptoms.

Hi there, I just came across your post and was wondering what happened to your pregnancy in the end? I've also had a miscarriage last year and I'm now pregnant again.
I'm also currently experiencing a very bad headache and it's very similar to the kind of headaches I often get before my period starts (which I assume is because of the shift in hormone levels).
If I end up having another miscarriage (hopefully not!), I would really like to find out if it could be due to problems with my hormone levels, and I'm curious if you got to the bottom of it or what the outcome was?

Hi @AfterBathingAtBaxters, congratulation on your new pregnancy! I know how stressful it can be after miscarriage so I hope you are hanging in there. Finding information on these chats can really help at time.

OI hope the headache has gone since posting.

I'm sorry to say that the pregnancy in question also sadly ended in miscarriage, however I shall say this time the relation between the loss and headache was completely different. I had migraine type headache the week I posted, but then went away not to return again within that pregnancy. At 7.3 weeks I had a scan and saw a heartbeat, then unfortunately found out I had a MMC at the 12 weeks scan, baby probably stopped growing at 8, but I wasn't getting any headaches at all at that point so I'm not sure the correlation is really there.

To add to that for piece of mind, I also had a 4th pregnancy and loss and that time I had no headaches at all so shows the first two was probably just a coincidence really.

As headaches can sometimes signal a drop in hormones, with progesterone being especially important in the early weeks, I would try reaching out to your midwife/EPU or GP and insist on progesterone supplements, that may help sustain the pregnancy in case the headaches are related to a drop and won't do any harm.

Happy to answer any other questions, take care xx

Hi - may I ask if you were fine? I'm in the exactly same boat and I have almost accepted this may be a miscarriage so I'm wondering if anyone have had a migraine like this and it was ok?

Hi everyone,

The first time I had a misscarriage I had severe migraine. Right now Im experiencing a missed abortion and 2 weeks ago I had the same migraine, 100% sure I was gonna start bleeding but didnt. Scan shows me the fetus died 1 day after my migraine attack.

What is going on?

So sad! Been trying for years and still no baby.

I’m sorry for all of your losses. I’ve had 2 early miscarriages and did t have headaches with either but I had a couple of headaches early on with this pregnancy (13+6 now). I think it’s hormonal so can be a sign of miscarriage but can also just be a symptom of pregnancy

*didn’t have headaches

Happy to hear about your pregnancy 🥰

Thank you for telling me about your situation. Its just a weird coincidence for me, and I try so much to understand what is going on.

My hospital will now do a evaluation and take more blood work, I hope they find something that can help me forward.

@Avatarlady I am so sorry to hrar about your losses and what you are going through. It is all so cruel all I can say.

It really is hard to tell with headaches, I cannot find anything online really suggesting a link with miscarriage, only that headaches are actually fairly common in pregnancy and when I asked the midwife she said exactly the same thing.

One thing I know for definite is that the can be a sign of a drop on hormones and if your progesterone drops, that’s usually a red flag. I had no headaches in my 4th pregnancy, which also ended in loss - unlike with all previous 3 - but the difference this time is I was on progesterone supplements, that might have prevented the drop in hormones, hence the headache, but the miscarriage still happened.

I hope you have better luck with your forward journey ❤️

Hi. I think I'm experiencing my 2nd chemical pregnancy. I feel a migrane coming on just like my first so I expect to start bleeding . Can any one tell me if they have had multiple chemical pregnancies and been treated on the NHS with hormone treatment to reduce the risk of it happening again ?

@VN1983 I had 2 chemicals / early miscarriages (at 5-6 weeks) in a row and they said they wouldn’t do anything until after 3 miscarriages on nhs. Although t can go privately. I’m now 18 weeks pregnant and all going well so don’t give up hope.

@VN1983 headaches are also a normal pregnancy symptom so don’t lose hope yet. Fingers crossed for you 💕

Thank you . How does it work did they give you progesterone early pregnancy?