Migraines are common. Pregnancy is common as well. Having pregnancy affect your migraines or migraines affect you pregnancy is fairly common as well. In fact millions of pregnant women need to cope with migraines along with all the other changes to their overall health that pregnancy entails.
Causes
Doctors and scientists are pretty sure about the causes of pregnancy but the exact cause of migraines has eluded them thus far. We do know that migraines bring changes to the nervous system, brain chemistry and blood flow in the brain and else where in the body. Just what is a cause and what is an effect remains to be sorted out.
For some reason brain cells become agitated, which release substances called neuropeptides in the brain, these substances tend to irritate blood vessels found on the surface of the brain. The irritated blood vessels swell up and triggers pain and other symptoms that are characteristic of migraines.
So what does pregnancy have to do with this scenario? The short answer is estrogen. Estrogen levels change during pregnancy (as well as menopause and menstruation) and estrogen has some kind of effect on migraine headaches. Another brain chemical called serotonin also seems to play an important part in migraine episodes.
A Migraine Diary
Even if you aren’t pregnant a healthcare professional may advise you to keep a diary of migraine related incidents in an attempt to uncover what triggers migraines in you. Because hormone levels are profoundly altered by pregnancy tracking what is going on with the health of your body in general is a good idea and may help you cope with or prevent a migraine or two.
Pregnancy may remind you that you are what you eat and may even make you wonder what you are when you crave certain foods that you have never craved before. It shouldn’t be completely surprising that certain foods can have a profound affect on migraines as well. It may seem that pregnancy has turned your entire endocrine and hormonal systems topsy turvy. It’s advisable to try to sort out this new and temporary reality by tracking how you feel and what you eat more carefully.
So that even though you crave chocolate or caffeinated beverages you may have to avoid them. You may also be trying to keep your weight down by using artificial sweeteners. Unfortunately many of those substances are suspected of triggering migraines too.
A diary may also convince you that stress, skipping meals and lack of sleep need to be avoided more than ever before if you want to keep the migraines at bay.
Another Thing to or Two to Keep in Mind
A pregnancy complication called preeclampsia may also cause headaches. You shouldn’t assume that your intense headache is a migraine headache without discussing your condition with a doctor first. This discussion should include information about your diet, over-the-counter medications you take and family history as well. Don’t assume that testing for migraines will involve CT scan or radiological test because these can harm the fetus.