Migraines During Pregnancy
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Defined Tag: Migraine Headache.

Migraine attacks are triggered by several factors one of which is a change in the level of hormones. This observation is most pronounced in pregnant women since hormone levels greatly change during pregnancy.  Pregnant woman may experience either an improvement with their migraines or their headaches may become worse.

Hormone Levels of Pregnant Women

Many hormone levels are affected in the body during pregnancy. Estrogen can increase up to 100 times the normal level while progesterone drops at the beginning of the pregnancy but shoots up towards the end.

The hormone levels of expectant women fluctuate more significantly than those who are not pregnant.  These abrupt changes could probably account for the seeming improvement of one’s migraines during pregnancy.

Also, the female body is noted to release a relatively higher level of endorphins during pregnancy.  Since endorphins are the body’s natural pain-killing hormones, the pregnant woman is likely to be more tolerant to the headache and not notice it at all.  Hence, the report of improved migraine.

Pregnancy: Not a Guarantee to Improve Migraine

Pregnancy, however, is not a guarantee that your migraine will improve, especially during the first trimester.  During this time, the pregnant woman may eat and drink less, and as a consequence have bouts with morning sickness, have low levels of blood sugar and suffer dehydration. Any one of these conditions are bound to trigger a migraine attack.

The following are general observations on migraines during pregnancy:

*  If the migraine before pregnancy is directly linked to the menstrual period, and if it is the type that has no aura, women are likely to experience less migraines during pregnancy. Approximately 60% to 70% of pregnant women report improvements with their migraines.

*  If the usual migraine has aura (early symptom, usually visual disturbance), the migraines may tend to continue during the pregnancy.

* In some rare cases, migraines were reported to get worse.

*  There are some women who encounter their first migraine with aura during pregnancy.  However, if the headache appears to worsen, it is advisable to consult with a doctor because the headache could be symptomatic of pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy-induced hypertension that requires immediate medical attention.

Safe Drugs During Pregnancy

If you're planning to become pregnant, talk to your doctor and review your current medications.  Consider that you may have to take these medications during your pregnancy and after your baby is born while you're breast-feeding. Ideally, migraine medications should not be taken at all since the drugs can be easily passed on from the mother’s system to the fetus or through the mother’s milk.

However, if you need to take a painkiller, it is safe to take paracetamol during pregnancy and while breast-feeding. However, avoid taking paracetamol on an empty stomach. Eat something first to avoid irritating your stomach lining. Go for the soluble paracetamol when you feel that a migraine is coming. Do not take aspirin for your migraine during the last term of your pregnancy because aspirin thins the blood and prevents clotting. Do limit your daily intake of ibuprofen to 600 mg. Triptans are not to be taken at all while you are pregnant.

Most drugs meant to fight nausea and motion-sickness are safe to take during pregnancy.  These include buclizine, chlorpromazine, domperidone, metaclopramide and prochlorperazine. However, pregnant women are cautioned not to take domperidone and metaclopramide during the first trimester.

Medication While Breastfeeding

Breast-feeding women who must take aspirin or metaclopramide must not try to breast-feed the baby for at least 24 hours after medicating. This is to ensure that the drug is totally out of the system and won’t be passed on to the child. On the other hand, a low dosage of propranolol is safe to take during pregnancy and while breastfeeding and so are amitryptiline and pizotifen.

Another safe drug to use during breastfeeding is triptan. However, do not feed your baby immediately after taking the medication; let 24 hours pass before breastfeeding again. The other tryptamine drugs that can be taken are almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, rizatriptan and sumatriptan.

Alternative and Complementary Medicine

A number of women today are seeking alternative treatments during their pregnancy. Some alternative medicine can be a safe recourse, but there are those that can be detrimental to your pregnancy similar to conventional drugs. To illustrate, you have to be careful with the oils you use in aromatherapy. There are oils like rosemary, which should not be used by pregnant women. Rosemary is known to have high stimulating action and can induce menstrual flow. Also, stay away from feverfew because of its antiplatelet action. Reflexology is also not advisable for pregnant women. Whichever treatment you favor, do inform your therapist about your pregnancy. He or she should know if there are any contraindications.

Returning Migraines

Giving birth causes the estrogen levels to drop suddenly which can then trigger a migraine attack with some women. Other factors associated with childbirth that can bring on migraine are tiredness, dehydration and low blood sugar count.

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