Migraines during Pregnancy

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Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Post-pregnancy vision/possible migraine problems?

Aug 2008

It's a stretch, almost, to say that I am ''post-pregnancy'' as my child is now 8 months, but I am saying it partly because my cycle has still not returned (I weaned at 5 months).

But here's the thing - I find that I am having trouble seeing clearly, with glasses more than contacts, and I think that twice in the last month or so I have had SLIGHT migraines (is that even possible? I was mostly sensitive to light and felt ''out of sorts'').

I went to my eye doctor and she said my prescription is fine (she wouldn't even look at the glasses though, which irritated me) and said my eye health is fine. She said I should go to my primary care physician because the brain processes images. I said, ''Do I have a tumor?'' And she said, ''probably not.'' Then she added that dry eyes can affect you this way. I said ''well, my eyes HAVE been really dry and drops do clear it up sometimes.'' She said, ''well you didn't come here complaining about dry eyes, so I doubt it's that.'' But I didn't really KNOW I had dry eyes until I put 2 and 2 together and figured out that when I wake up in the morning and can't keep my eyes open because they hurt, it's because they're dry.

Anyway, so I did some research on dry eyes and migraines and it seems both can be caused by hormonal imbalances and I'd say that I must be unbalanced because my period is not yet back.

So I guess I'm just wondering - has this happened to anyone else after pregnancy? Did your vision even in glasses (usually I see GREAT in glasses and the prescrip is new and correct) get a bit wonky? I have never had migraines before either - and now I think I have had two. Help? --Just want everything back to normal.

After the birth of my first, I started getting really bad headaches and while still in the hospital with my second I had an aura (which maybe what you were describing). And it's only gotten worse since then.

What my doc said is that while migraines can be hormonally related, migraines also tend to start in women around 30-35 yrs which coincides with childbearing so we often attribute it to childbearing when it really can just be that you're at the age that they come on (for whatever non-pregnancy related reason).

Sounds to me like you're starting to get migraines and if you are not breastfeeding there's no reason for you not to get a prescription to help deal with it.

And lighten up on your eye doctor. R

I had vision problems at 8 months, too. I also went to my eye doctor first (nothing there), and ended up with an MRI, looking for a brain tumor. Long story short, I have hypothyroidism. Ask for a test now--symptoms got much worse for me as time went on, my condition worsened, and doctors still hadn't figured out to test me for it yet. You might look around online for lists of symptoms--it was only after I got my diagnosis and starting reading that I realized how many of the symptoms I had been having and didn't think to put them all together. Good Luck

Only twice in my life before pregnancy I have had migraines, complete with visual auras (wonkiness!) before the big headache with light/noise sensitivity. Well, I am 30 weeks pregnant with my second child. Twice this pregnancy I had the visual auras that precede a migraine, but I did not get the actual migraine (headache with light/noise sensitivity). I'm not sure if this is hormones, or that once I got the visual auras, I immediately started trying to relax, doing deep breathing, neck muscle massage and stretches, reviewing all the stressors in my life and how I can deal with them, etc. Anyway, this is different from your situation (I'm not post-pregnancy!), but it's weird to twice have had the visual auras without the migraine. Ah hormones...

I don't mean to alarm you, but my sister had very similar symptoms (blurred vision and headaches) when her daughter was a few months old, and in my sister's case, sadly, it WAS a brain tumor that was causing the symptoms. I'm sure there's lots of other things that can cause the same symptoms, but please don't assume, because you gave birth 8 months ago, that the symptoms must somehow be associated with this fact. I think you should insist on a referral to a neurologist, and continue to pursue this until you either have a diagnosis, or the symptoms go away. Please don't allow your doctors to be dismissive about it -- my sister wasted months going from eye doctor to eye doctor before one of them FINALLY referred her to a neurologist. Meanwhile, precious time was lost when she could have been undergoing treatment. Best of luck to you, and I hope you find out that your symptoms are due to something far less serious! Diane

Without examining you myself, I'd say that you make a good case for dry eyes--especially the part about noticing more problems in the AM. If you also notice that artificial tears help things-- then there are some things that are worth a try:

1) Use a very goopy artificial tear at bedtime--using an ointment would be even better. Some ''goopy'' tears are: Genteal Gel, Celluvisc, Refresh Liquigel. If this makes you feel more comfy in the AM, then continue to use.

2) During the day, use artificial tears at regular intervals regardless of whether you feel you need them or not. Some good ones to try are: Systane, Theratears, or Blink. I'd say use every couple of hours to start.

Very dry eyes can cause light sensitivity, and tear chemistry definitely related to hormonal changes. I'm sorry your eye doctor did not work with you well to determine your problem. However, one reason they probably didn't pursue your problem at the end of the exam is that you can't test for tear film once the drops used to dilate your eyes has already happened. That's probably why you were blown off a bit once you realized dryness might be your problem.

Will this improve? Well, maybe yes and maybe no. Everyone's eyes get drier as function of age, so we all have that to look forward to. And, pregnancy can cause temporary or more permanent changes. Plus, if you have a little one, you are probably getting less sleep--and that doesn't help dry eyes. Plus, your level of hydration, the weather, pollution--there are many things that affect dry eyes.

I suggest you do both suggestions at top religiously for 2 weeks, then reassess. If it hasn't helped--you should get another opinion from another doc. If it has--then keep going! Start to reduce the number of drops to see how few you can do without being symptomatic! Optometrist

Well, I've never had the dry-eyes thing, but I have been a migraine sufferer for many years. My migraines are affected by hormones, and yes, your hormones are whacky after pregnancy and childbirth and nursing. For me, migraines intensified during early pregnancy, then cleared up for the later pregnancy. Post-partum was up and down with them. It took about a year for things to settle into a pattern.

I agree-you should see your primary care doctor. He or she might send you to a headache specialist or neurologist. Probably, things will settle down within the next year. But check it out anyway. Headaches are no fun

If you're in your late 30s or older, there's a possibility that the pregnancy has fast-tracked you into needing bifocals. And I'd get a new eye dr if she didn't even look at your darned glasses. (There are many many lazy optometrists out there; I've been to a few of them.) Could also be hormones too-especially the migraines. If these are your first migraines you may want to go to your primary anyway to get a baseline neurological exam. It took me several years, but I realized reluctantly that my eyes are in fact getting older, and that the reason I can't see my daughter up close is that my eyes don't focus well up close (and my eyeglasses were weak enough to cover up the fact, but my contacts were not). Check out the bifocal displays at the drugstores and see if it makes things easier. Oh, and the bad news, is that even if your vision returns, there's no such thing as ''back to normal'' once the babies come along.

Hi - I had post-pregnancy migranes beginning around the time my daughter began to self-wean (around 10 months, through the time she was fully (but newly) weaned, around 13 months. My period resumed just before this time, around 9 months post-partum. I think this was due to normal changes in hormones, many migranes are homrmone related and hormone-related migraine runs in my family (Grandmother, father, both sisters, and myself, all with varying degrees of frequency, duratoion, and severity. Knowing my family history I was neither surprised nor concerned about the migranes, and in fact was anticipating them. Interestingly I did not have any early pregnancy migranes, as I would have expected. My younger sister's very regular and severe migranes went away during her first pregnancy, but not with her second. What kind of family neurological history do you have? As for vision, my vision changed, for the worse, following pregnancy, but that may also be due to simple aging... I was 40 when my daughter was born. Sara

Pounding headaches during pregnancy

Nov 2007

Hi all: I'm 15 weeks pregnant with my 2nd and having the worst ''spot'' headaches... hoping someone out there might be able to help! I had these with my first baby, but only at the very end of my pregnancy (the last 6 or so weeks). They went away after my daughter was born.

The headache is a dull, painful throbbing directly behind/below my right ear. No where else. I've tried to look for triggers but can't seem to find any consistent pattern - they don't seem to be stress induced, I'm getting enough sleep, drinking lots of water, etc. I've also tried Tylenol in desperation but it does nothing...

Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, is there anything that helps? I can get them to go away if I lie down and sleep for a while, but with a 2 year old and a full time job, that is not exactly a reality for me! Some massaging of the spot helps, but not enough to make them go away. They last for a day or so.

Thanks for any advice!! Mama with a pounding head

I struggled w/migraines that were out of control once I got pregnant w/my first. Acupuncture saved me! I saw Dennis von Elgg in Berkeley. Also, make sure you're not dehydrated. Good luck! So Been There!

I can completely relate! I'm in the middle of pregnancy with #2 also. I had some headaches in the second trimester with my first but they were reasonably mild and Tylenol worked. This time around they have been excruciating and debilitating!

My suggestion: Talk to your OB about it! I will tell you what mine did, but you should talk to your own doc about it and s/he will likely follow a similar course. First of all, I was maxing out on over-the-counter Tylenol and that's not healthy. So she put me on Vicadin instead. It worked a bit better but importantly isn't bad on the liver or whatever. Second, she told me to take caffeine when it was bothering me! Of course that's what we're all told not to take so I'd been off caffeine since my first pregnancy. But it really has helped SO much. If I get a headache, I get a cup of regular coffee in me and it makes a world of difference. The reason is this: the headaches are caused by your increased blood flow from the pregnancy. The blood is trying to flow through the same size vessels. Caffeine dilates the vessels giving that blood more room to move. Note that this also should primarily be early in your second trimester when the blood flow is increasing rapidly. So the end is likely in sight.

Anyways, I assume it's the same cause for you and these solutions will work for you, too. But it really is something to run by your doc first. S/he might have other suggestions as well.

Good luck - literally, I feel your pain but it gets better but it's worth taking something to get through it. Head Ache Mom

this is probably very specific to me, but i also had terrible headaches. i figured out that they tended to happen after eating about half the time. upon weeks of observation and deduction, i figured out that it was mostly potatoes that gave me these headaches! raw tomatoes also gave me a milder headache, but potatoes were the worst. turns out that the nightshade family of plants has inflammatory effects on some people, thus leaving some with headaches. see if cutting out potatoes will solve the problem - it's hard to avoid it though... good luck! kim

You might want to ask your doctor if these are migraines. The fact that they are on one side and get better when you lie down is consistent with migraines. I've suffered them for a long time and they got worse with my pregnancy. The drugs you can take for headache during pregnancy are limited (I was offered Tylenol, codeine or fioricet, which is butalbital, tylenol and caffeine combined). Some worked some of the time but I hated the idea of drugs so I turned to accupuncture which really helped. If you go this route, it is important to see someone who really knows what they are doing and has experience with pregnant women. A simpler solution might be an ice pack, sometimes that works for me. Also some doctors say it 's ok to take ibuprofen before the 3rd trimester, and that works a lot better for me than Tylenol. Best of luck to you, Fellow headache sufferer

I had some headaches during pregnancy (as well as backaches, heartburn etc.) and what helped was seeing my chiropractors - they do a gentle form of chiropractic called Network Spinal Analysis and actually specialize in pregnancy & pediatric health. I highly recommend them - Dr. Aaron Rosselle & Dr. Eileen Karpfinger at Upaya Center for Wellbeing. (510) 444- 8729 www.upayacenter.org anon

Post-partum migraines

March 2007

Does anyone know of a place/person that does biofeedback? I developed migraines after my son was born 2 years ago. Since I'd like to try for another child later in the year and my medication options will be limited, I'm looking into alternative therapies. I live in Alameda but any location in the Bay Area is fine. Anonymous

You might look into buying the StressEraser. It's an at-home biofeedback device. It's not cheap (approximately $299), but then, neither is biofeedback. What I liked about the StressEraser is that you can use it several times a day, every day. I personally found that going to a biofeedback practitioner once a week (at more than $100 a visit), really wasn't useful. We bought a StressEraser by mail. You can contact the company online at www.StressEraser.com, or google it to see if you can find some lower prices. The device does have a month's period to try it out after you've bought it; if it's not working for you, you can send it back. I have thin, cold fingers, and the device didn't work well for me because it couldn't ''read'' my finger. Others in my family loved it, and found it deeply relaxing. anon

This isn't really responsive to your request for someone who does bio-feedback, and I don't know how serious your migraines are, but I do know that I have had migraines since college (but only one every month or two) and had none at all during my pregnancy. I think that this decrease during pregnancy is fairly common; although it's probably not something to count on, it might be worth asking your M.D. about if you haven't already. Best of luck with your migraines and future pregnancy.

I have recently been going to see Dr, Goldstein at the Headache Clinic in SF for Migraines and I saw that there is someone in the clinic who does Biofeedback www.sfcrc.com They certainly know their stuff there. anon

Sometimes diet plays a role with migraines, and also fumes from different sources and mold. It might help to check these out to see if you can reduce migraines by reducing exposure to these things. Best of luck! anon

Struggling with migraines during pregnancy

Nov 2004

Can anybody recommend a good accupuncturist in either San Francisco or the East Bay? I'm 7 weeks pregnant and am struggling with a migraine that won't go away. Migraines aren't unusual for me as I've had them all my life. What is unusual is that I can't rely upon my regular medications due to pregnancy. As a result, I'm looking for an accupuncturist with experience in pregnancy, chronic pain, or ideally, both. Any help would be appreciated. On a related note - does anybody have a recommendation for an Ob- Gyn who specializes in pregnancy and chronic pain? Ideally, this person would be affiliated with California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco? Thanks. lj

I had the same problem pretty much throughout my whole pregnancy and started seeing Dennis Von Elgg (offices in Berkeley and Orinda) around my 3rd month. He literally saved my life! He is wonderful to work w/ and very interested and caring. My OB prescribed Vicodin since it's ''considered'' safe during pregnancy, but it just made my morning sickness even more violent and my head hurt even more. He was also able to help me w/my heartburn so I wasn't constantly popping Tums for the last 2 months. His phone numbers are 510/883-1340 and 925/253-0685. I'm not sure I would consider trying to have another baby w/out his support. I cannot recommend him highly enough. Feel free to email me if I can answer any questions or help. C. V.

I'm so sorry to hear you're suffering from migraines during your pregnancy. I don't have a recommendation for an acupuncturist, but I do have a recommendation for a book that has helped me tremendously. It's titled, ''Heal Your Headaches - The 1, 2, 3 Program,'' by David Buchholz. It's in paperback at Barnes and Noble. Good luck! anon

Acupuncture can be used during pregnancy for migraines, ''morning sickness,'' tendency to miscarry, etc. The acupuncturist should have experience with pregnancy as some points are forbidden with pregnancy. Dr. Jay Sordean has worked with many pregnant women to help with these conditions. His number is 510-849-1176 and you can call for an initial phone consultation. Nancy

i highly recommend Jenny Crissman--offices in E Bay AND SF....phone is 510-938 -2600...Jenny is excellent and has much experience with women's issues and with chronic pain..plus she's a fabulous human being AND incredible herbalist and nutritionist. o

Migraines and Pregnancy

Feb 2003

Does anyone have any suggestions for relieving migraines during pregnancy? Thanks Rochelle

Migraines can be very different for different for different people, so I would talk to a neurologist for the latest information on migraine treatments. Many people find that drinking a cup of feverfew tea once a day is helpful in reducing the frequency of migraines. It doesn't really treat an actual migraine attack, so having a discussion with the doctor really might help in that situation so you know what is safe during pregnancy. Feverfew is sold a dried herb (like mint or oregano) that you can find at health food stores and places like Food Mill in Oakland. Barbara

Ugh. I know how awful an untreated migraine can be. And how hard that is while you're pregnant. Try this: Wrap your head in ice. Use large, soft ice packs and wrap them around like a hatband, with ice covering especially the base of your neck, your temples, and your forehead. You can use a really huge ace bandage (a knee-sized one, for example) to secure the ice packs around your head. Then wrap your whole body in a large blanket that you've warmed in a dryer (beach towels in the microwave can also work). With your head iced and your body warm, wait at least 30-45 minutes. (Sounds like a recipe, doesn't it?) This works becasue during a migraine, the blood isn't flowing properly in your head -- I can never remember whether that's because the blood vessels are constricted or engorged -- and the cold head/warm body trick changes that. Usually, if I use this trick early enough in the headache and follow up with a one-hour nap, I can avoid the worst symptoms and lose less than two hours of my day instead of the whole day. Also, I took feverfew throughout my pregnancy (it helps to prevent migraines in some people). My OB wasn't thrilled about this, but she also said she didn't want me dealing with severe migraine headaches. Good luck to you. -- Headache-free (at last!)

Since you're pregnant, it would be best to check with your doctor as to safe ways to treat the pain. Prevention is important, although that can be hard with all the hormones flooding your body. I had some success with acupuncture. I also found that my migraines lasted only for a month during my pregnancy, and that they were gone for a full year and a half after my son was born. I hope you will have positive changes, too. Carolyn

I also suffer from migraines, and could not take my prescription meds during pregnancy. I found that a large cup of coffee and two tylenols, taken early on, did the trick. As long as that is the only caffeine you drink, it won't hurt the baby. Catherine

I went to acupuncturist Daniel Donner (on Piedmont Ave. near Babyworld) for my pregnancy migraines. He has a really odd bedside manner, but what he did worked. It was a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and homeopathy. Ilana

Try acetimenophen (tylenol). rest. water. good food (no chocolate, red wine, cheese). But check with your doctor, as headaches during pregnancy could be other things. It could also be a blood-clotting thing, which may be cleared up with baby aspirin, but it could be more serious. Try not to worry-My headaches were not serious, just inconvenient and annoying. jan

I got migraines during both pregnancies, and here are the things that helped most. Acupunture was extremely effective during my first pregnancy. I had one treatment and didn't get a migraine for more than 2 years. During my second pregnancy, multiple treatments didn't help. It turned out the culprit was chocolate, even though I had never had any food intolerances before. Before I figured out the food triggers, my midwife also suggested acupressure -- feeling around on my head for sore spots (they feel almost like a bruise) and pressing and releasing them several times. I didn't expect this to help much, but it was surprisingly effective. Good luck, and you have my sympathy. Jennifer

I had a few migraines during my 5th and 6th month of pregnancy. My OB referred me to a neurologist (Dr. Cromeyer at Richmond Kaiser) who gave me a prescription for tylenol with codiene. It was very effective and mild enough to take during pregnancy. He told me that it was common to get migraines during that time of pregnancy even though I had never suffered from them before. Sure enough, they went away by about the middle of my 6th month. I had them again with my second preganancy at the same time, and other than lying down in my dark bedroom and closing my eyes until they went away (not something I could do as often with a toddler around), I took the tylenol with codiene and had no side effects but a restful sleep! Let your OB know that you are having them and maybe she/he can help. Kerri

I had my first migraine about a year before I became pregnant with my second child, and then only a few times after that. What worked for me when I felt one coming on was Excedrin, and a nap. While pregnant Excedrin is not allowed though, because of the asprin. So what I did was concoct the closest thing I could, the few times I had migraines during the pregnancy, I took two Tylenol, two Advil, and swallowed it all down with a can of Coke... then took my nap. (I know it sounds horrible when we are all supposed to remain drug, caffine, alcohol, preservative, sugar, and dye free during pregnancy... but all of those things are on the OK list I got from the dr's office.) It worked for me. However, I am not a doctor or a pharmacist, so I can't tell you if it was good, bad, right, wrong, etc. You should probably ask a professional who you trust. Been there...

I just suffered thru my migraines until about 19 weeks. I know, it was terrible. Then, after 19 weeks they vanished! It was wonderful- I didn't have a migraine until a few weeks after my baby was born. Sorry I don't have better news, Tina