Headache in first trimester: cause for concern?

[Anonymous]

I am generally headache prone. But at almost 10 weeks pregnant, I seem to be getting more headaches. Last night was a bad one. I’ll call my doctor on Monday but was wondering if I had a cause for concern. I don’t think preeclampsia hits this early but...

[Anonymous]

I’m not a doctor obviously but two things I’ve noticed so far in my pregnancy re:headaches are A) I notice them a lot more because I can’t take Advil, which normally is really effective for me B) it’s insanely easy for me to get dehydrated. I read that we have more blood or something but I have to be really diligent about drinking water all the time because being dehydrated always makes headaches worse.

[Anonymous]

Also, did you cut caffeine? For me it was easier to go cold turkey (just 2-3 days of headache and despair) than to try to stay at 200mg. If you’ve cut back but not quit, maybe that could be contributing?

[Anonymous]

Preeclampsia doesn’t hit that early. I’m migraine prone and also had pre-e in a prior pregnancy. This pregnancy was particularly bad for headaches and Tylenol unfortunately doesn’t touch them. Hormonal changes can bring on more frequent headaches (in addition to cutting caffeine as mentioned above). The headaches leveled off for me around 20 ish weeks, the first trimester was rough with frequent and long headaches. My MFM said occasional use of Immitrex was fine but I only ended up using it once or twice when symptoms were particularly bad. The MFM also recommended a 400 mg / day magnesium supplement and that did seem to help reduce headache frequency. If you are cutting caffeine, I was advised 1-2 cups of coffee or 200-300mg caffeine a day is typically fine and the caffeine can help with headache.

[Anonymous]

I only get migraines when I am pregnant and always in the first trimester. I just need to drink way more water and sometimes Gatorade than I normally do. It’s totally normal.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, everyone. This headache did go away this morning but I will absolutely take the advice given on how to prevent the next one.

[Anonymous]

I don’t usually get headaches but got them in the 1st trimester of two of my pregnancies. I just muddled through them and they stopped by 13 weeks or so.

[Anonymous]

100% my pregnancy headaches were dehydration based. Up your water intake more than you ever thought possible. I noticed them particularly in the first tri and the again in the third.

[Anonymous]

Hydration (esp if you throw up) and eating even if you are nauseous.