Extreme headaches at 8 weeks pregnant

[xxoakley]

The past week I've had the WORST headaches from the moment I've woken up, until I go to bed. Even a sleep during the day doesn't ease them. It's mainly pressure on my temples and behind my eyes but my goodness I'm struggling. I never suffered with headaches with my first born, nothing I try is helping and the GP was useless and told me to take paracetamol which doesn't even touch it

I’d contact again and ask what you can take that’s stronger than paracetamol. Can you get your blood pressure taken at a pharmacy to check all is ok there? It’s obviously way too early to worry about pre eclampsia but id still want blood pressure checking just to be safe.

She did say I had low blood pressure but nothing she could do. I've got my first midwife appointment on the 10th where they'll do bloods! X

Is it because you’re avoiding caffeine due to the pregnancy? Caffeine withdrawal headaches are brutal.

I did think this as I used to have a redbull every day but I've been fine up until now & quit them when I found out at 3 weeks x

Check out what the current advice is on caffeine. I think I had a coffee a day when pregnant.

I had acupuncture for this out of desperation. It was surprisingly effective.

If it is the caffeine I used to have one coffee a day and then decaf tea or coffee after that, if I felt like it. See if that helps.

Keep hydrated as well. My midwife told me to up my water intake to 3 litres when pregnant, difficult at first but it really did help with headaches. I would also count squash, safe herbal teas etc. into that intake amount.

Keep rested and hopefully it'll pass ❤️

I’ve had this with my second pregnancy too whereas I was fine with my first. It started around the same time as you too. I’m told it’s a hormone headache and there unfortunately isn’t much anyone can do. Paracetomol didn’t help me either but I still took it just in case. Try taking them with food. Get as much fresh air and sleep as you can and put a wet flannel on your forehead when you get a spare few minutes. Mine disappeared by around 20 weeks.

I had the worst headache at about 7 weeks, lasted for 3 days and whilst I was flying from Australia to the UK. Same as you, paracetamol didn’t help at all. The best thing was a ice cap (bought from Amazon) that you put in the freezer for a couple of hours and then put on like an eye mask.

Also getting my partner to do a gentle forehead/eyebrow massage.

I don’t think mine were caffeine withdrawals but the hormone fluctuations can be harsh in the first trimester.

@LittleRobins Were they constant? I can't seem to catch a break even for a day or two! I've just ordered some liquid iron incase that's the reason xx

Was your first born a boy? I had horrendous headaches early on with all my girls and hardly any with my boy.

@TheSnowyOwl yes he was a boy! I also thought that maybe this was a girl due to headache and the amount of spots on my face! Xx

Interesting, my headaches are with a girl too and had none with my boy. Mine weren’t constant but near enough. The worst one lasted just over a week with no break. The others lasted about 3 or 4 days with a few days break inbetween. I found it impossible to sleep as the pain was so bad which didn’t help.

I had this with DS2 and my OBGyN told me to drink a Coke or coffee.

It happens as your body is producing far more blood/fluids and it puts pressure on the capillaries/veins in your head. Caffeine helps to dilate them which eases the headache.

It worked for me and a number of others I spoke to, so worth a try? As long as you're not mainlining caffeine all day, a bit may help with the pressure.