Posted 7/16/2006 2:04 PM (GMT 0)
Ok...here we go, I really hope I can help! I have 4 sons, all high risk pregnancies, each one far sicker than the one previous to it. It just amazes me the extent we will go to to procreate! I began having migraines at 10...not often, about once a year, but brutal, I usually had to be hospitalized. I haven't had one now since my last pregnancy, 5 years ago. This may sound too overly simple to work, but give it a chance. My neurologist told me to always make sure to carry coca cola and baby asparin with me at all times. The caffeine dialates the blood vessels and the sugar gets the blood moving. The baby asparin is a blood thinner that helps to keep the blood from clotting...unless you are known as a 'bleeder', there shouldn't be any reason for you not to just be able to take a baby asparin a day until the last month or so. about Tylenol. Why can't you take it? Tylenol was the one otc pain reliever I was always told was safe to take while pregnant and breastfeeding. Which leads me to Vicodin. I had melenoma during my first pregnancy. I was absolutely told that Vicodin was safe to take for pain. I suffered Migraines during my last pregnancy. I remember pulling over to the side of the road, pulling a mini can of coke out of a hiding place in the car, taking a baby asparin, then a vicodin and waiting. The pain was unbearable. I phoned my ob. I remember him advising me to take a second vicodin, wait in the car until I thought I could drive safely home, and to phone him once I got there. When I did, my head felt dull, light, stuffed with cotton balls...but pain free. He told me to lay down and to be off my feet the rest of the day. Make sure to keep my blood sugar up and to not dehydrate, and to not worry about the effect on the baby because it was far more important that my baby not be exposed to the chemical toxicity of the effects of my body going through the stress of extreme pain.
I am not a doctor. But I have been pregnant for almost 4 years an breastfed for over 6. I have made the mistake of allowing myself to be intimidated by doctors. I hope you will be able to learn from my mistake and in retrospect enjoy this pregnancy. (more than I enjoyed my second-with a nasty doctor) When we are pregnant we feel so vulnarable. Unsure. You hired the neurologist. You are his boss. You can fire him and replace him with someone else. Someone that treats a pregnant woman with respect. You are already making a sacrefice that his small brain is unable to comprehend. How dare he imply that it is acceptable for you to bear an anurism-like sensation for the next 6 months? Yes, it sucks to have to look for someone new. And insurance is a b***ch. But while you're at it, you should look for a Perinatologist to consult with as well. A Perinatologist is an ob with additional training. Try to see if there is a woman in your area. You may want to consider going around the 4th month. Who knows? Like my doctor, she may think your current doctors are completely wrong and that it is far healthier for your babies to make sure that you stay 100% pain free! Basically she is going to examine not only the health and position of the babies, but the health and position of the placenta and uterus and cord and can even help determine if your migraine condition may make it to difficult for you to push effectively.
Best of luck to you! Let me know if you have additional questions.
d.