Migraine Headaches

[rileynmia]

I have been getting migraine headaches since I was 5 yrs old (am now 31) my neurologist after trying several other options over several years put me on Topamax tablets which were working well I went from getting about 12-15 migraines a year to 1-2 and the severity was about one third of before taking Topamax i.e. they went from lasting up to 72 hours with vomiting the whole time to lasting 8-12 hours with no vomiting.

I stopping taking Topamax mid Dec as hubby and I decided to TTC I found about 2 weeks ago I am pregnant (now 6 weeks) and I have had 2 migraines in the last 6 weeks I have been vomiting non stop with the migraines and they last about 24 hours.

My neurologist said it was unlikely I would get migraines if I ever got pregnant and my mother suffers from them as well and she didn't get them with any of her 3 pregnancies.

Has anyone else suffered with migraines during pregnancy ? If so, was there anything you could do safely to ease or stop the pain (panadol etc do nothing for me).

[Arimeh]

I've got a couple of migraines already through this pregnancy, but didn't at all with my first pregnancy. I think it just depends on how your body is handling the pregnancy. When I went to my doc, he said that I can have certain drugs, at certain times during the pregnancy, but basically I can have panadeine forte at some period, and then mersyndol at others (mersyndol is great cos its a muscle relaxant too) and then only panadol at others. I would suggest that you have a stash of all different drugs, and if you feel one coming on, ring up a pharmacy and check which one falls into the category of drugs you can have at that time.
HTH!!!

[rileynmia]

I've got a couple of migraines already through this pregnancy, but didn't at all with my first pregnancy. I think it just depends on how your body is handling the pregnancy. When I went to my doc, he said that I can have certain drugs, at certain times during the pregnancy, but basically I can have panadeine forte at some period, and then mersyndol at others (mersyndol is great cos its a muscle relaxant too) and then only panadol at others. I would suggest that you have a stash of all different drugs, and if you feel one coming on, ring up a pharmacy and check which one falls into the category of drugs you can have at that time.
HTH!!!

Thanks for taking time to reply to my post Aricyn's Mum !

I should have mentioned that I have previously taken panadeine forte, mersyndol, inderal and something else that's name escapes me and none of these did anything to help (also taken Stemzine to try and stop the vomiting it rarely does). Perhaps these treatments would be more effective now I am pregnant ?

I am also worried about the effects of taking preventative medication or pain relief on my unborn child but am also worried if I don't take anything the way I feel and the amount of vomiting might also have a negative impact on my baby ? It's all so confusing.

[duckworld]

Hi,

I'm at just at the beginning of the process of coming off Topamax for complex migraines and I'm very sorry to hear your suffering so much as I've had the kind of relief you described.

Can I ask, have to had any guidance as to whether your pregnancy is classed as being in a higher risk category because of the migrate history? Or is a take it as it comes approach? I am just weighing up whether I really should get an OBs due to my medical problems or just see how things progress (the stats my neuro has given is 1/3 of migraine suffers will improve during pregnancy, 1/3 will remain the same and 1/3 will worsen).

b

[Clare Gordon]

There is no rhyme or reason as to who gets migraines during pregnancy and who wont. It all depends on the person and how their body reacts to the changes that pregnancy brings about.

I can understand about not wanting to be taking too many drugs during pregnancy but there are alternatives when it comes to finding a solution. Often having a treatment that reduces tension in the body can be of great benefit. Re-aligning the body so that there arent any restrictions on specific areas of the spine and body can help with normalising the nervous system (important for everything!) and fluid pooling (increase in fluid pressure in the head, in particular in the arteries, is the most common cause of migraines). And as every women who has been pregnant can tell you, there is definitely an increase in fluid retention! Just ask those swollen ankles!

[~shazz~]

oh i feel for you i have suffered from migraines all my life but i was lucky my first 2 pg's i didn't have any at all but when i was pg with ryan i had probably four major ones i went straight to hostpital and was placed on a drip cause i would be prefectly fine and within 10 minutes convulsing on the floor vomiting i couldn't bring myself to take any drugs at all but in hind sight i wished i had of and saved myself a lot of agony i hope you find some thing that helps soon

[Alison ginger]

I got really bad migraine headaches for about 5 weeks from about 14 weeks onwards. I had never had anything like it before and it was really horrible - I couldn't work when they came on and just had to go to bed. I ended up in hospital a couple of times because the pain was so bad and I was a bit worried about it. They did all the tests and just put it down to the hormonal changes associated with pregnancy. A combination of mersyndol and occasionally just panadol was ok as they eased off, and osteo treatment helped as well. They disappeared at about 23 weeks completely. Not much fun but shows how much the hormones can influence your body.

[Mumma2three]

Sorry to hear of your migraines. I had my first ever migraine during my first pregnancy, I did not know what was happening. I was in bed for 48 hours and only recovered by vomiting. Unfortunately that's all that helped. I certainly hope they ease up for you. Maybe there would be something homeopathic to help? xo

[Sugar83]

I had bacterial meningitis in february this year and 2 months later found out i was expecting bub no 2. I had never suffered from migraines before but have had 2 really bad ones since falling pregnant. I'm hoping that it is just the hormones causing it and not an after effect of the meningitis as they are so severe i can't get out of bed for days. I've only been taking panandol as i didnt think there were any other pain medications that are safe to use during pregnancy. I found sitting in a dark room with a cold compress on my forehead and back of my neck helps to ease the pain a bit. Hope things improve for u