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Pregnancy and Headaches: When Should I Worry?

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing to be celebrated, but few people fill you in on the not-so-great symptoms that may occur during the journey. Namely, heartburn, gas, constipation and, for some pregnant mamas, headaches.

While headaches can be just another normal symptom of pregnancy, should they ever be a cause for concern?

“Headaches are common in women both in and outside of pregnancy,” said Kelley Saunders, MD, an OBGYN with Banner – University Medicine Women’s Institute. “But whether they are normal or not should always be discussed with your doctor."

Here is some insight into what causes headaches during pregnancy, some remedies to treat them and why your doctor should be kept in the loop.

Is it a headache or something else?

It isn’t always easy to tell what kind of headache you’re having, but the most common types of headaches during pregnancy are tension-type headaches, migraines and cluster headaches.

Tension headaches are the most common kind of headache in pregnant women. It can feel like someone is trying to squish your head like a watermelon. If you carry your stress in your shoulders and neck, you may be more susceptible to this kind of headache.

Migraines are a particular type of headache that occur on one side of the head. For some women, migraines can get worse the first few months and then improve in later stages of pregnancy. For others, they may experience no change, decrease or difference in their migraines.

Cluster headaches are less common but can occur during pregnancy. You’ll suddenly have severe pain around your eyes or temples usually about the same time every day.

The good news is that there are plenty of pregnancy-safe things you can do to prevent and relieve the most common pregnancy headaches.

Tips for relieving mild headaches

• Get plenty of rest. Sleep is especially hard later in your pregnancy but is so important to physical and mental health. Find yourself a comfy prenatal pillow and snuggle away.
• Drink plenty of water. Pregnant moms require more water than the average person. While you may want to avoid extra trips to the bathroom, adequate fluid intake is important for you and baby.
• Eat regular, well-balanced meals. To prevent low blood sugar, eat small meals throughout the day. Avoid sugar, like soda and candy.
• Get a prenatal massage. A full-body massage can release tension in the muscles of your neck, shoulders and back.
• Use warm compresses on head, neck and shoulders.
• Avoid triggers. Keep a journal to help identify specific triggers so you can learn what to avoid. Some common headache triggers include strong odors and nitrites or nitrates.
• Try exercise and relaxation techniques. There’s evidence that regular exercise can reduce stress and boost overall mood. Check with your doctor first before starting any new fitness routines.
• Take acetaminophen to relieve symptoms (as approved by doctor).
• Take caffeine in doses less than 200mg in a day (as approved by doctor).

If you have a history of migraines, however, your doctor may treat them differently during pregnancy. Discuss with your doctor what medications are safe to take during pregnancy.

Is my headache a cause for concern?

Sometimes. Headaches tend to be more common in the first and third trimesters, but they can occur in the second trimester as well. While there are common causes for headaches during pregnancy, it’s important to note that headaches during the second and third trimester can also be due to high blood pressure, called preeclampsia.

“Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-related condition that requires prompt evaluation and management with an obstetrician or maternal fetal medicine specialist,” Dr. Saunders said. “Elevated blood pressure prior to pregnancy puts a woman at increased risk for preeclampsia.”

When should I call my doctor?

Whether you experience headaches or not, it’s always important to discuss your pre-pregnancy history, obstetrical history and concerns with your doctor for an individualized assessment and management plan. However, if none of the above treatments resolve your mild headache or your headaches become more frequent and severe, talk to your doctor to determine the cause.

“This includes new headaches that present after 20 weeks, a sudden onset of severe headaches, headaches associated with a fever, mental health changes, elevated blood pressure and vision changes,” Dr. Saunders said. “It’s important to keep an open line of communication with your physician and let them know about any changes in your health so they can rule out anything serious."

Got questions? We can help!

If a headache is keeping you up at night and your doctor isn’t available, call the Banner Nurse Now line, a free health care service that offers advice 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Call 844-259-9494.

Check out other pregnancy articles on our Banner Health blog

Pregnancy is an exciting, but also a bit scary time (especially if this is your first baby). Here are some other reads to help guide you through the trimesters and welcoming baby:

• 5 Tips for Having a Happy, Healthy Pregnancy
• Expect the Unexpected: How Your Body Changes During Pregnancy
• What To Expect In The Second Trimester
• Understanding Pulmonary Embolism Risk During Pregnancy

Women's Health Pregnancy

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Headache during pregnancy: where does it come from and how to get rid of it

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When to call an ambulance

Urgently dial 103 or 112 if you have ^{Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tension headache the following symptoms:}

• sudden and severe headache;
• consciousness ^{Preeclampsia becomes confused or lost altogether;}
• pain worsens over 5 minutes;
• flies, spots flash in the eyes;
• throbbing and noisy in the ears;
• speech has become slurred, words are drawn out;
• arms and legs weaken, convulsions set in;
• severe neck stiffness ^{Meningitis, chin cannot reach chest;}
• fever ^{ALGORITHMS for providing emergency medical care outside a medical organization 39°C and above;}
• increased heart rate at rest;
• severe shortness of breath;
• the child pushes without stopping or suddenly stops;
• leaking ^{High blood pressure and pregnancy: Know the facts of water or blood;}
• lower abdomen hurts, as if contractions had begun.

Why pregnant women can get headaches

Pregnancy headaches are not always life threatening. But the doctor needs to be told about it in any case. If the symptom appeared for the first time and does not hurt much, postpone the conversation until a scheduled visit. If your headache is recurring or gets worse, it's best to make an appointment as soon as possible. The gynecologist will decide what needs to be done or refer you to another doctor.

There are many causes of headaches. Scientists have found ^{Characteristics and diagnoses of acute headache in pregnant women — a retrospective cross‑sectional study that in pregnant women in 57% of cases it is primary, that is, not associated with other diseases. The most common are migraines and tension headaches.}

Everything else is a secondary headache caused by various pathologies. Usually it is high blood pressure and infections. But there are also more dangerous reasons.

1. Stress and fatigue

A pregnant woman's body experiences increased stress, because it has to work for two. If at the same time the expectant mother is exposed to stress, strong feelings or sleeps little, she gets ^{Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tension headache tension headache.}

Discomfort lasts from 30 minutes to several days. The head hurts in the forehead, occiput, both temples. But there is no feeling that they put on a tight hoop or helmet. The pain does not get worse when bending over, walking, or climbing stairs, bright lights, or sounds.

What to do

Tension headache can go away on its own: enough ^{Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tension headache get some fresh air or sleep. Sometimes pleasant emotions help, which distract from experiences.}

If the pain persists for 2-3 consecutive days, see a doctor. He will select painkillers that are safe for the child.

2. Taking Medications

Any medicine that enters the stomach or bloodstream can cause headaches even if the dosage is correct. In pregnant women, this often occurs due to drugs for high blood pressure, heart disease, antibiotics, anticonvulsants.

Long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for headaches may cause ^{Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tension-type headache the opposite effect: the pills do not remove, but provoke symptoms.}

What to do

If your head hurts a few hours after taking the medicine, you need to see a doctor to change the medicine. Do not drink non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for more than 3-5 days. If they do not help, you need to tell the doctor about it.

3. Love or avoidance of coffee

Headache during pregnancy can be caused by coffee ^{Drug-induced headache: a management strategy. Unpleasant symptoms occur if you drink more than 3-4 cups a day.}

Abrupt refusal of coffee is also harmful. It is worth finding out about pregnancy and stop brewing a fragrant drink, and after 1-2 days ^{Caffeine‑withdrawal headache will appear in the temples and the back of the head. The Vågå study of headache epidemiology aching pain.}

What to do

Coffee is better ^{Caffeine and adaptive changes in the circulatory system during pregnancy refuse during pregnancy. If a headache occurs a day after this, you can drink a small cup of the drink and wait a day again. Gradually, the dependence on coffee will pass.}

Coffee drinkers can ^{Caffeine reduce their drink intake to 1-2 cups per day.}

4. Infection with fever

Acute viral (usually ARVI) or bacterial (eg, streptococcal tonsillitis) infections cause fever and headache. This is a normal reaction to foreign microorganisms.

But any infection is dangerous for pregnant women ^{The role of infection in miscarriage. It can cause fetal defects, growth retardation and even miscarriage. And with meningitis, especially listeriosis, there is a threat to the life of the mother.}

What to do

If you have a headache with fever, call your doctor. He will prescribe safe medications or give you a referral to the hospital if a serious infection is suspected. In this case, ^{Meningitis needs strong antibiotics, drips to maintain the body and sometimes hormones.}

5. Preeclampsia and preeclampsia

After 20 weeks, preeclampsia may develop in pregnant women. This disease is ^{GESTOSIS: THEORY AND PRACTICE, in which one of three symptoms or a combination of them may appear: high blood pressure, edema and protein in the urine.}

Without proper treatment, preeclampsia progresses to preeclampsia ^{Preeclampsia. The pressure rises sharply, the head and lower abdomen hurt unbearably, the baby pushes unusually hard or, on the contrary, suddenly subsides Placental abruption. Preeclampsia can lead to placental abruption, damage to the liver and other organs, bleeding, and even seizures. Without urgent medical care, the fetus and mother die.}

What to do

When the first signs of preeclampsia appear, the pregnant woman is hospitalized to find treatment. After that, she is discharged home under the supervision of her gynecologist.

But if her health worsens, the doctor again sends the woman to the ^{Preeclampsia hospital, where she is prescribed drugs to reduce pressure, special drips to keep her body functioning. If improvement does not occur within a day, a caesarean section is performed.}

6. Migraine

One of the causes of migraine ^{Migraine is a change in estrogen levels. But the disease very rarely appears due to pregnancy. On the contrary, in 70% of women the symptoms subside dramatically Migraine and pregnancy: a particular example of the course of the disease after conception. And yet migraine torments Migraine many.}

It may begin with an aura: flashes of light, spots before the eyes, tingling in the hands or numbness of half of the face, sometimes tinnitus. Each symptom can last from 20 minutes to an hour.

A migraine attack develops after the aura. In this case, one side of the head hurts and throbs, nausea or vomiting appears. A woman is irritated by bright lights, loud noises, smells. They make the pain worse.

Seizures last from a few hours to a week or more. After a migraine, there is a feeling of severe fatigue, exhaustion, and an awkward turn of the head can return the pain.

What to do

Any medication for migraine during pregnancy must be prescribed by a doctor. In some cases drugs are used ^{Headache in Pregnancy and the Puerperium from the group of beta-blockers.}

Studies have shown ^{Migraine and pregnancy: a particular example of the course of the disease, that often migraine in pregnant women is associated with a lack of magnesium. The doctor will help you choose the appropriate type of vitamin and mineral complex and its dosage.}

7. Cerebrovascular disease

Hormone problems in some pregnant women increase blood clotting, which increases the risk of ^{Headache and pregnancy: a systematic review of thrombosis, stroke, or meningeal hemorrhage. These conditions are very dangerous: a woman can die within a few minutes or remain disabled.}

Vascular involvement is always accompanied by several symptoms:

• severe headache on one side;
• nausea and vomiting;
• blurred vision;
• loss of consciousness;
• convulsions.

What to do

Urgently call an ambulance. The pregnant woman must be laid or seated so that she does not hit when she falls. You can't give medicine! You can only open the window so that there is more air in the room.

What treatment will prescribe ^{Headache and pregnancy: a systematic review by a physician, depends on the specific disease. These can be drugs that reduce blood clotting and dissolve blood clots. In some cases, urgent surgery is needed.}

8. Brain Tumors

Studies show that progesterone and estrogen during pregnancy may cause or accelerate the growth of neoplasms in the brain. Symptoms of the disease appear slowly, over several months, and depend on the size and location of the tumor.

Headache may gradually increase ^{Brain tumor, then vision, speech, hearing deteriorate, limbs go numb and convulsions appear. Sometimes it is difficult for a woman to keep her balance.}

What to do

If a pregnant woman often has a headache or she forgets what she wanted to buy in the store and how to cook her favorite borscht, confuses her way home, you need to go to a neurologist. First, he will prescribe standard treatment, simple and safe medicines, rest, good sleep.

If this does not help, the symptoms do not disappear or worsen, a deep examination is needed ^{Brain tumor. The pregnant woman will be sent for an MRI of the brain. This procedure is safe for the fetus. If the diagnosis is confirmed, surgery may be required.}

What to do if the doctor cannot find the cause of the pain

If you have been examined and the doctor cannot tell you why your head hurts and diagnoses you with vascular dystonia, this is a reason to be wary. There is no such disease.

Seek another doctor. Perhaps he uses new diagnostic methods that will help to deal with the problem and choose a treatment.

How to avoid headaches during pregnancy

Specialists recommend ^{What can I do about headaches during pregnancy? I'd rather not take medication. next:}

• Avoid triggers. For example, if you notice that certain foods, smells, or situations cause headaches, try not to encounter them.
• Protect yourself from stress, do not worry about trifles.
• Move more. During pregnancy, walk every day in the fresh air and do special exercises for expectant mothers.
• Correct ^{Pregnancy nutrition: Healthy‑eating basics to eat. Try to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, dairy products, drink at least 2.4 liters of liquid. Every day, the menu should include fish, poultry or lean meat. And it is better not to buy sweet, fast food and other junk food.}
• Observe ^{Working during pregnancy: Do’s and don’ts daily routine. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day and go to bed no later than 22-23 hours in order for melatonin to be produced normally.}
• Learn to relax. Learn simple meditation techniques or breathing exercises.

Read also 🧐

• How pregnancy develops by week
• How to calculate the gestational age
• What rights does a pregnant woman have at work
• 7 best sex positions for pregnant women
• How to recognize a missed pregnancy and what to do next

Migraine during pregnancy - Juno

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Migraine during pregnancy

How to recognize an attack and deal with it properly - read on. We will tell you how dangerous migraines are and how to get rid of them safely during pregnancy.

Content of Article

Features and manifestations of migraine during pregnancy

If a woman was worried about migraines before pregnancy, then during the bearing of a child, the attacks are more likely to stop, or become milder and rarer. Improvements come from the 2nd trimester and are due to the fact that fluctuations in estrogen levels stop. In the early stages, the likelihood of migraine is higher. In the 1st trimester, ailments often occur, including headaches. But it's not always a migraine.

Migraine symptoms in pregnant women are similar to those that occur in other people. Approximately the picture looks like this:

1. Harbingers. They are not characteristic for everyone and may be absent. They occur 1-3 days before an attack, manifest as irritability, depression, or, conversely, a surge of activity.
2. Headache. Very intense, more often covers the temporal or frontal region, has a pulsating, arching character. It can be localized in one half of the head, but sometimes it spreads to the entire head. The pain lasts from 2-3 hours to several days, it is difficult to remove.
3. Aura. It also doesn't happen to everyone. The phenomenon accompanies headache and lasts 10-40 minutes. Patients note flashes of light, spots, flies before the eyes, sometimes numbness of the extremities worries. With an aura, it is almost impossible to do something around the house or work.

Even after the pain passes, the expectant mother experiences depression, fatigue, irritability. Unpleasant sensations continue for about a day.

Why do pregnant women get migraines

The exact cause of the disease has not been established. However, experts single out hormonal changes in the body and an increased load on the body during pregnancy among the provoking factors.

General risk factors:

• sudden change of weather - especially for weather-sensitive women;
• stress and depression have a bad effect on blood vessels and the nervous system;
• violation of the diet - long intervals between meals, overeating, abuse of citrus fruits, smoked products and chocolate;
• overwork - physical fatigue at home and at work, sleep disturbances;
• irritants - unpleasant odors, stuffiness, excessive light or noise;
• fluid deficiency - dehydration due to insufficient water intake;
• concomitant pathologies, for example, hypertension.

The condition of pregnant women is adversely affected by weight gain, hypothermia and overheating. This can also provoke migraine attacks, especially if they have happened before.

Are seizures dangerous for the fetus

By itself, migraine during pregnancy is not critical. If the seizures are not caused by more serious problems - hypertension, eclampsia, then a woman is highly likely to give birth to a healthy child at term. Migraine does not increase the risk of preterm birth or developmental anomalies in the fetus.

But despite the safety for the baby, migraines are debilitating for a pregnant woman. This affects general well-being - worsens sleep, nutrition, causes stress, decreased activity. Therefore, too frequent seizures can result in problems with the nervous system, fetal hypoxia. It is important to help yourself in time.

Treatment of migraine during pregnancy

Tablets should be taken only as a last resort. In the early stages, strong drugs are prohibited. First, try to cope with non-drug methods:

• Drink sweet tea or cola. Caffeine in small doses is harmless and can help relieve headaches.
• Take a walk in the fresh air, do simple exercises. This contributes to the outflow of blood from the vessels of the brain and the elimination of pain.
• Apply a warm or cool compress to the head. It can be a towel moistened with water or a heating pad.
• Take a cool shower (but not too cold). The procedure is useful as a prevention of varicose veins and migraines.
• Relax and sleep in a quiet, dark room.
• Do not hold back the urge to vomit - it can relieve an attack of pain.
• Rub essential oils of lemon, orange, lemon balm into whiskey - a little is enough. Too much oil can make headaches worse. If you have previously noticed such a reaction of your body to odors, you should not apply this method now.
• Drink freshly squeezed juice or clean water. Replenishing fluids often helps get rid of a migraine.

If the above measures do not help, and the seizures are disturbing enough, you need to consult a doctor. The specialist will prescribe treatment, for example, prescribe pills that will help to cope with pain. The safest drug is paracetamol. It can be taken on its own. The doctor may prescribe magnesium for treatment - it has a beneficial effect on blood vessels.

In some cases, ibuprofen and aspirin are acceptable (only in the 2nd trimester). Opioid analgesics and triptans are strictly prohibited. If a migraine is growing or has appeared for the first time, an aura has joined, pressure rises, you should definitely consult a doctor in the near future.

Prophylaxis

Dealing with migraines during pregnancy is not always easy. It is better to follow some rules that will help reduce the risk of seizures:

• Stick to a sleep and rest routine.
• Control sweets and fatty foods.
• Try to walk every day, do light exercises.
• Massage or self-massage the head and collar area. Movements should be light: it is better if the specialist shows what they should be.

Even if an attack has already happened, try not to abruptly get involved in worries and affairs after it. Remember that you are responsible not only for yourself, but also for the child. Do not be shy to turn to your loved ones for help and do not be heroic. Be healthy!

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