Headaches, HELP!

Question

I am 16 weeks pregnant and for the past 4 weeks I have been having what I thought were tension headaches which I know are common in pregnancy.  However, they have gotten really bad here in the past week.  Last week I woke up with a headache on wednesday and it didn't go away until Saturday evening.  Saturday morning when I woke up, my headache was so bad that I was in tears!  When I get my headaches, the muscles in my neck and shoulders tighten and hurt and the pain goes all the way up over the top of my head and into my sinuses.  The sides of my head even hurt!  I had relief on Sunday with just some faint aches in my neck and shoulders but that was it.  Then yesterday, I was alright in the morning when I woke up but slowly throughout the day my shoulders and neck started to ache and then my headache came on in the evening.  I can take Tylenol every 4 hours and it does absolutely nothing!  Then last night I ended up sitting in the floor of my shower for 45 min in tears bc the pain was so bad.  Can anyone tell me if this is normal or if it sounds like something could be wrong.  I put an ice pack on my neck and sometimes that is the only way I can even go to sleep.  Then I will either put a warm rag on my forehead for my sinuses or just take a steamy shower but those things only work for the moment!  What can I do?  I see my doctor tomorrow so hopefully they can help but in the mean time any input would be great!

Ashelen · Accepted Answer

Hey I'm so very sorry that you're getting such bad headaches, especially while pregnant! I have always had migraines, but when I was pregnant with my daughter they seemed to get progressively better and kinda fade for a few months after her delivery...then they started coming back. By the time i was pregnant with my son, they were frequent and crippling. They eased up a bit in the first trimester, then started getting more and more frequent and worse as I got closer to the end...by the time they induced me 3/4 days before my due date, the headaches were blinding me for hours every day (literally blinding..I would lose vision), and knocking me flat...I was passing out, getting horribly dizzy, the pain was awful.

They did a very good job of managing my pain during pregnancy, and I had a very bright, open OB who worked with me every step of the way. I hope your headaches don't get as bad as mine did, but I want to know I can relate - caring for my daughter (who was 21 months when my son was born) with the headaches was SO very hard....but I managed to plug through it with the help of my OB. So I would call your OB and just be frank with them..say this is AWFUL..I can't do this with tylenol. what are your suggestions? there are several safe ways to manage headaches in pregnancy, and your OB will be familiar with them. If he/she is not, ask for a referral to a neurologist who is familiar with treating pregnant women.

best of luck, I hope you feel better!

laci25 · Answer

Thanks! My dr gave me a prescription this morning. It is a mixture of Tylenol, Caffeine, and a little bit of a narcotic! I am currently waiting for the prescription to be filled. I am hoping that it works! I have tried drinking a coke sometimes when I have a headache but it has only eased it slightly. I'm sure there are a number of causes for the amount of pain that I have in my headache! I have tried drinking a lot of water, drinking a coke, and even eating something to see if maybe that might be why I have a headache. However, those things only slightly ease the pain. The headache never fully goes away! I have had this current headache since Monday afternoon and it has not gone away yet! It has gotten worse and better, but never gone away! I am hoping these meds will do the trick! My dr did tell me that I could have these headaches throughout the next month or so! I hope that is not the case though!

kld44 · Answer

I also had them very badly from 14 to about 20 weeks. I think some of mine were from lack of caffiene. But my doctor said that it was okay to have a little coffee or a coke. When I did that, they seemed to dissapate :o) Good luck dear! :o)

laci25 · Answer

Thank you very much!  I have a dr appt in the morning so I will hopefully get some relief after tomorrow!  I'm sorry your headaches got as bad as they did and I do hope mine don't get that bad!  Thank you again for your input and to be honest, it is nice to know that I'm not the only one who has gone through this!  I will definitely keep you posted on how my appointment goes and thanks again!

laci25 · Answer

I have definitely had my fair share of sinus headaches and sinus infections!  However, I have never had the aches in my neck and shoulders and the back of my head with them.  I know it's not a sinus infection bc the pain will go away for a day or so and with a sinus infection it doesn't go away until I get an antibiotic.  I'm just so exhausted with my headaches bc I have 3 kids that I have to take care of and sometimes I feel like I can't do that bc my head has put me on the couch or in the bed.

Clysta · Answer

I had headaches similar to that, but not to that extent. Try taking regular Sudafed, NOT the PE brand. It sounds (to me) like it might be sinus headaches.