If you have a history of headaches you can find that they become less frequent or even stop during pregnancy.

Equally, you may never have had a migraine before and you suddenly start getting them when you become pregnant.

Studies have shown that they generally occur within the first trimester and then either disappear or reduce in the second and third trimesters.

This improvement is believed to be due to circulating estrogen and progesterone levels.

However, the headache attacks usually return after the pregnancy and while women are having their menstruation period again.

Migraines are different from the more common tension and stress headaches and can last anywhere from two to forty-eight hours, and occasionally even longer.

They are a type of vascular headache, believed to result from an abnormality in the functioning of the brain’s blood vessels. Any headache can be painful but migraine headaches are often disabling.

Symptoms of a migraine may include: -

• Throbbing or pounding pain in the temples or front/base of head
• Nausea and vomiting
• Tunnel vision or blind spots
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue

Although migraines are commonly triggered by stress, chocolate, cheese, drinking red wine, hormones, and too little or too much sleep, the cause of a migraine in pregnancy is different for each individual.

A good way to find the trigger for your pregnancy migraine is to keep a migraine diary.  This enables you to keep track and identify the cause of an attack and will therefore help towards their prevention.

Your headaches during pregnancy are a doubly frustrating ailment to experience at a time when all medications are strongly advised against, including the common headache remedies aspirin and ibuprofen.

While it is important to inform your pregnancy healthcare provider of any headaches/migraines it is likely that natural remedies will be recommended.

The challenge in treatment is to maximize migraine relief while minimizing the potential for foetal harm.

Your Headaches During Pregnancy Explained is from pregnancymigraine.com

The increase in frequency of headaches while pregnant is considered to be due to additional blood flow and changes to your hormones. Other factors, such increased stress levels and excess caffeine, also contribute.

1 in 5 women will have headaches during pregnancy with the majority experiencing a reduction in headaches in the last few months. Often they return after the baby has arrived.

Cold packs, soothing, sleep and darkened rooms are all methods of treatment for headaches, without taking drugs.

Tension can cause headaches.  If this is the case you can apply cold compresses to the back of your neck. Ensuring you have a healthy diet, possibly across a lot of smaller meals during the day can also help.

If you have a sinus headache, apply warm compresses to your head in such places as the front of your face on either side of the nose, in the middle of the forehead, and on the temples. These areas are occupied by the sinuses.

You can do exercises to help you reduce stress, like imagining you are in a tranquil place. You can experiment with different methods to try to reduce your stress levels but if these do not work you can get in touch with your doctor or a therapist as it can be helpful to have someone to talk to.

Contact your doctor prior to consuming any medication, even over the counter ones like ibuprofen and aspirin.  Acetaminophen can be safe to take while pregnant, although it is still better to consult your doctor first.

Headaches and Pregnancy is from pregnancymigraine.com

Experiencing migraines while pregnant has been linked to an increase in the chance of having a stroke, according to a study in the United States. It found that you were fifteen times more likely to have a stroke compared to woman who were not pregnant.

More than thirty three thousand women, who were pregnant and suffering from migraines, were used to provide the information.

Other factors involved were age. Women over forty were found to be more at risk, being 2.5 times more likely to experience a migraine while pregnant than those that were less than 20. It was also discovered that white women experienced more migraines whilst pregnant than other races or ethnicities.

It is beleived that the cardiovascular system is not operating correctly and that the migraine is simply a sympton of this.  There are links with migraines and increased risks of high cholesterol, blood clots, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

The conductors of the study found the most likely reason for the results was the connection between physical changes in the body, such as an increase in the amount of blood and faster heart rate, which puts an added strain on the vascular system.

Past research has indicated that the cells that form the inner wall of blood vessels (endothelial cells), may not operate as well in people who suffer from migraines during pregnancy.

The study further links migraines with an increase in the risk of stroke and heart disease, particularly when accompanied with a visual distortion or an aura.

The Health Risks of Having Migraines While You Are Pregnant is from pregnancymigraine.com

Keeping a migraine diary will help you identify your triggers and avoid them. Let’s look at how.

Try these easy steps to help relieve or stop your pregnancy migraine.

1. Migraine Triggers

Sometimes it seems that migraines happen for no apparent reason. However, something tends to trigger migraines even though it doesn’t seem like it at the time. Triggers can be different things fo different people.

Cheese, chocolate and foods with additives(e.g. tyramine) along with drinks like coffee, tea and red wine. Being tired, too much or too little sleep, bright or flashing lights and even strong smells.

Not having meals at regular times, stress or the time following a stressful situation, excessive noise and weather conditions.

2. Keep A Migraine Diary

To try and understand what triggers your migraine you can use a migraine diary to log when they occur.

You can write down the dates and times of your migraine, keep track of any medication you have taken as well as what you have had to drink and eat, make a note of your sleeping patterns, if you have been tired and activities you have been doing. It is also good to give the severity of each migraine a score out of ten to help understand if they are better or worse at different times.

Be aware that it can be a combination of things that trigger a migraine.

3. Avoid the Triggers

A pattern should emerge that will indicate the cause or causes of the migraines. You can then remove these factors from your life. You should continue to complete your diary, recording the improvements and celebrating your success.

Manage Your Pregnancy Migraine In 3 Easy Steps is from pregnancymigraine.com