Headaches

I went through the same thing. After my horrible sickness went away I had headaches, I read that it was normal. I was a member of one the those pregnancy sites and they said thats actually a symptom at that stage of pregnancy. When it got really bad tylenol always helped me or a nap and plenty of water. It lasted a couple weeks and went away. Congratulations on baby and hang in there!

how about thinking in another direction? Do you have any stuffy-head feelings in the morning when you wake up?

Do you run a humidifier to combat the dry heat generated by your heating system?

What happens when you put a little Vicks under your nose? Does it give you temporary relief?

Is sooo, then maybe your house is just too dry for the winter....& this does cause headaches.

Worth a shot!

A.-

I would encourage you to consider prenatal chiropractic care. I have had many patients who experience headaches in pregnancy, and often a combination of increased water intake, changing the time when you take your prenatals, and GENTLE adjustments can help. Pregnancy headaches are common, but not something to take lightly.

There are only a handful of DCs in the KC area who specialize in pregnancy care, and you can find us on this website: www.icpa4kids.org.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa
www.dralyssaonline.com

Hi A.,
I am 17 weeks along and I am experiencing the same thing as you are. It is annoying. I have tried the tylenol but it is not working. I know it is not sinus related because I do not have a cold or a runny nose. I have been having these headaches for the past few weeks now. I have learned how to work through them but I wish that I didn't have to. Headaches are common in pregnancy. I did not have them with my last one so in that respect I am lucky. I guess this is my payback! Just know that you are not alone. Hope yours feel better soon!

Make sure your doctor takes your blood pressure, make sure it isn't high. I had a nagging headache that wouldn't go away, it wound up being my warning sign of high blood pressure. I am not saying that is what it is but best to check.

Hi A.,
The suggestions you have gotten are really great. I had really bad headaches also, and was a pre baby coffee drinker. When the morning sickness kicked in I couldn't drink much of anything but water and juice. My Dr. had me take Excedrin Tension. It does not contain aspirin. It has acetaminophen (tylenol) and caffeine. He said 2 of those was like taking Tylenol and Pepsi, but less abrasive then stronger medicine and healthier then lots of caffeine. It worked out great for me. You could ask your Dr. Hope this helps you some.

Just keep popping the Tylenol! I had the same thing....sometimes so bad I would consider them migranes. My doctor said its completely normal in the 4th month because there is a hormone surge. I just took the Tylenol every 4-6 hours (whatever it said on the bottle) and keeping it my system seemed to help. My headaches eased off about after a month. Good Luck!!!

I am 14 weeks pregnant and have the same problem - I was told to try caffiene {small amount} and that has helped me I was taking tylenol before and that wasn't doing anything for me. Good luck and hope you find something that works for you!

I talked to my doctor about it because I had the same problem. I was a pre-baby coffee drinker, too. He said to have one cup of coffee a day, and that did it for me!

Hi A., congratulations on your pregnancy! I am going to third the suggestion for chiropractic care. I did not have headaches during my pregnancy, but I have seen a chiropractor on and off for about 10 years due to a neck injury that causes headaches. However, I did have a pulled muscle in my back due to my pregnancy that my chiropractor greatly helped me with (gentle adjustments plus stretching exercises). I've had no problems since I delivered my boys. Best of luck to you!

The Tylenol 3 won't hurt the baby BUT it may if the little guy an immunity to Tylenol for awhile (which will mean you will have to use Motrin on him instead). I say him, b/c I only had the severe headaches when I was pregnant with my son because of the hormone levels. Another accelerant for helping with the headaches/migraines is caffeine...yep, drink a Coke or Pepsi or have a cup of coffee...you'll be fine. I don't drink coffee so soda was my lifesaver, neither one of them hurt my kids when I was pregnant. Take it easy...lay down in a dark room and use a cool compress over your eyes...it does help. Good luck to you and Congratulations!

Oh, the headaches...it is one of those things that you "forget" about until you are pregnant again. Second trimester headaches are fairly common. I had them with all three of my children. I took tylenol when they got really bad but I really didn't want to take a whole lot of meds so that was about it. For me, they lasted about 4 - 6 weeks and it seemed like when I got used to having them all of the time, they were gone. Good luck! Get lots of rest. That seemed to help.

Headaches are a bother I have had them and they aren't your typical headache they are more bothersome when pregnant due to hormones.Your right the dr doesn't seem to concerned unless there are other symptoms like seeing spots and swelling all of a sudden.They will slightly become less frequent and often as you enter the end of 2nd trimester and 3rd.It is good to keep yourself hydrated and if your like me I have to have caffeine daily I crave it most of all not to much though but here is what you can do if they become so bad that rest isn't helping take 1-2 Tylenol not the RX one and drink 1 can of Coke with it and your headache will be completely gone in less than 30 min.

Hey A.! YEP, I had those horrible headaches too right about that same time while I was pregnant...it happened with both of my pregnancies. I beleive it is just the change and fluctation in hormones and will pass eventually. Mine were so bad though that they gave me Vicodin. And yes, you can take Vicoden during pregnancy - I couldn't beleive it either! But, needed something way stronger than Tylenol. If Tylenol doesn't help you, ask your doctor for something stronger that will get you thru these headaches. Hopefully they will be short lived and you'll quit having them in a few weeks. GOOD LUCK!!!

You are able to take Sudafed when you are pregnant. Ask your doctor first, of course. However, these headaches could be sinus? related, maybe sudafed would help???? It is worth a try. Also, keep track of your blood pressure. Text book "perfect" is 120/80. Everyone varies from this. If the top number is close to or over 200, or the bottom number is close to or over 100, call your doctor immediately.

Hope this helps :)

This may sound odd, but what kind of prenatal vitamins do you take? I had a constant, horrible headache when I took over the counter prenatals but once I got started on a prescription I had no problems. Then I ran out of samples so I took the OTC's again and the headaches came back. I might be the only one that happened to, but it might be worth a try.

Congratulations A.!
I had a headache with my pregnancies also. I finally figured out by the third one that it was because my hips and ligaments around there were moving in preparation for childbirth. I just "lived" with the migraines it caused with my first one, took tylenol and drank Dr. Pepper (so I could control the amount of caffeine my body was getting) with my second and finally figured that chiropractic help would help to fix the problem with the third. It was sooo much nicer once I figured it out with the third and I hardly had any headaches at all.
Good Luck!

I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. I too live with a daily headache and discovered that I had a Niacin (vit B3) deficiency. I started taking a Flush-Free 500mg capsule of Niacin and it worked wonders. I hope you start feeling better. I would also second the suggestion of seeing a prenatal chiropractor.

~A.~ SAHM of 7

A. thats the only problem I pretty much had during my pregnancy. My dr even put me on loratab but I ususally just tried to take tylonal first b/c I was worried about taking anything too strong and hurting my baby. But I took extra streight and it seemed to help and try to lay down with a cool rag on the head and neck. Rest as much as u can and drink plenty of water. Good luck and hopfully the headachs will end soon its all worth it!!!!