Headaches =(

[first1]

Has anyone else experienced bad headaches during 2nd tri? I'm 15+1 and for the past week or so been having horrendous headaches, usually in the morning and often over my forehead and can last for hours. I'm doing my best to get by with 1 paracetamol but sometimes its tough! Had SF jab last night so thats no doubt triggered this morning's episode. It's not fun.

Hi,

yes... I'm 25 weeks and I've been having headaches since the beginning. I totally understand how hard it is to avoid more than one paracetamol. Sometimes I put some ice cubs on my forehead, or even slices of potatoes (I know it sounds really silly, but potatoes are very fresh). Maybe you can ask your GP if you can take something else. Also try to relax...

Hope you'll get better soon
x

Thanks, I'll try anything! =) Seeing MW next week so will ask for any other magic remedies x

I had hideous headaches through my first and quite a bit of my second trimesters. I was told about a couple of tricks which upon reflection are just common sense really....still they helped minimise the pain...

Ensure that you are sufficiently hydrated (still water made me want to throw up, fizzy really helped). Make sure that you aren't in a stuffy environment- a bit of fresh air can help- even sleeping with the window although perhaps a bit bracing at the mo. Avoid rich/ salty foods- I found melon very refreshing and I think that the sugar helped as well.

Naturally plenty of sleep and avoiding stress are good tips too. we wish! Hope this helps x x

I had headaches at the beginning of my 2nd trimester; tried drinking more water, and took paracetamol on one occasion, but didn't help. Mine stopped after a couple of weeks though; hopefully yours won't last either.

I am averaging a headache every other day (at least!) and am 18 weeks. As they verge on being migraines I take 2 paracetamol WITH CAFFEINE. So, either 2 normal paracetamol tablets with a cup of coffee or 2 of those paracetamol plus tablets(which contain caffeine)with a glass of water and it seems to do the trick. There's something about the combination of paracetamol & caffeine that seems to up their effectiveness.

Angelica

I've been getting headaches since about 10 weeks. I'm now about 21 weeks. I just can't work out what the trigger is. I'm trying to eat little and often and keep hydrated. I take 2 paracetamol and also find covering my face with a hot wet flannel helps a bit. And a little day time nap doesn't do any harm

I suffered during both pregnancies with headaches. With the first, I had migraines that lasted from week 11 to week 18; with the second I had serious headaches for a similar length of time.

The GP was astounded that I wasn't taking anything for them, and made it very clear that paracetamol would be safe. (Disclaimer - I was last pregnant in 1995 so things may have changed since then!).

The trick is to take enough (i.e. one will not do the job) and to take them as soon as you realise a headache is coming on. With a migraine your system shuts down so you won't digest anything, therefore the drugs will not have a chance to work.

Hi first1 I had terrible headaches in 2nd trimester. My tips are cold flannel over face,(make sure it's really cold) especially nose and forehead area. Lots and lots of water/fluids as dehydration is big problem. If you can try and sleep and they might ease up a bit.
I did read somewhere that hormones are the cause (as with every niggle during pregnancy) and blood vessels etc are inflamed, and paracetomol won't reduce swelling, but may help with pain??!! As someone has already posted fresh air, which there is plenty of at this time of year can help, but don't go out when it's freezing cold as that can aggrivate any swelling (in my opinion anyway). Good luck, they do usually ease after a while.

Does anyone know if you can use 'forehead' during pregnancy? I am just over 12 weeks and suffering headaches. I will obviously check with pharmacist before buying but was hoping someone will know.

I looked into Forehead, but was told it wasn't good to use when pregnant because it hadn't been tested worldwide. If you are suffering really bad I would speak to GP too. But these headaches do usually pass. good luck Hope you feel better soon

I had this in both pregnancies for several weeks, it seems to be a hormonal thing. It is OK to take 2 paracetamols if you need to (so long as you stick to the max dose), but tbh I found they didn't help me much.

However I DID use 4Head, as I was told this was fine to use, and to my surprise this DID help me up to a point, even when paracetamol didn't.

Other things that may help are drinking plenty, and trying to be very strict about getting enough rest and sleep. I did seem to get headaches more often the day after overdoing it; so if you can avoid tiring yourself out one day, you may be less likely to suffer the next day.

Saw GP today because I've had enough! Lord knows how some of you girls have put up with headaches like this for weeks! If this is an indicator of my pain threshold, I really don't stand in good stead for labour do I?! Anyway, had a good MOT: blood pressure (perfect she said!), pressures in my eyes checked, posture and my neck. The latter the doc said could be the cause of my problem. There's a lot of stiffness and tension in my neck. So been referred to a physio specialising in pregnancy to hopefully relieve the tightness. So will grab an appointment asap and will report back. Until then, hello paracetamol!

Sending lots of sympathy as I went through the same thing in 1st and 2nd trimester, headache would often last for about 2 days and sometimes pain was so bad I felt like I could barely see. I took paracetemol but don't think they really made any difference. I also used 4head as I thought it was fine to and it was helpful except when the pain was really intense. My triggers seemed to be long periods of concentrating, most usually if I did a long drive somewhere, which would probably be similar to you with regard to tension in neck. Maybe regular massages would help (certainly won't hurt ).

Thankfully mine seemed to stop at around 28 weeks, so hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel for you.

I got a lot of headaches during my first and begining of second trimester. After some self-diagnosis, I narrowed down the cause to this: disrupted sleep patterns.
I used to have to get up almost every night to go to the loo, and was then unable to go back to sleep. I would spend hours in front of the telly until the morning. I noticed this was usually when I would get the headaches (and they did last for the whole day...)
After my "diagnosis", I decided I would have to make myself go back to sleep. It would usually take me an hour to fall asleep again, but it worked! The headeaches have now completely stopped.

I had my physio appt this morning. Just had a good massage of my neck and have been given some exercises to ease the tension. Haven't taken any paracetamol today but touch wood. I don't know about anyone else but I find first thing in the morning when I get up it's really bad, almost like sudden surge of blood??

My headaches came on around 12 weeks and finished around 17 weeks.

I found the only thing that helped was drinking loads of fluids. It was like a constant dull headache that would intensify for parts of the day then ease off again.

If I did not drink around 2 pints of water/squash in the 90 mins beofre I went to bed I would wake up feeling hung over.

Just thought I'd report that I had a physio appointment on Friday where he eased out the tension in my neck, and ever since I've had very minimal headaches. £38 well spent! =)

Oh thank you, I will remember to look into that if I ever get the aches again! (Am past that stage now for this pregnancy - now just got the crippling sciatica instead...).