Pregnant woman wakes up with headache

During pregnancy, a woman's body will easily undergo some changes due to the growth of the fetus. It is not a very common symptom for pregnant women to have a headache after waking up. This may be caused by the pregnant woman's nervousness, or the pregnant woman did not get enough rest, suffers from rhinitis, or has symptoms caused by insomnia. Pregnant women cannot take medication during pregnancy, so they need to relax their body and mind and have a good rest to relieve the symptoms.

Are headaches common during pregnancy?

It's not uncommon to experience tension headaches during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. Tension headaches are the most common type of headache during pregnancy and usually feel like a compressive or constant dull pain on the sides of the head or in the back of the neck. If you've always been prone to tension headaches, they may be more severe during pregnancy.

Experts are not sure why pregnancy makes headaches more frequent, but one hypothesis is that it may be due to changes in hormone levels in pregnant women. Quitting caffeine all of a sudden after pregnancy may also trigger headaches.

Other factors that may cause headaches include: lack of sleep, general fatigue, sinus congestion, allergies, eyestrain, stress, depression, hunger, and dehydration.

For most pregnant women, headache symptoms often gradually decrease or even disappear during the second trimester, because by this time, hormone levels tend to stabilize and the body gradually adapts to the changes brought about by pregnancy.

What causes migraines during pregnancy?

Migraine is also a common headache. About one in five women will experience migraines at some time in their lives, and about 15% of women with migraines experience their first attack during pregnancy (most often in the first trimester).

Migraines cause moderate to severe throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head. If this pregnancy headache is not treated, it can last from 4 to 72 hours and will be aggravated by physical activity. Migraines may also be accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light and noise.

Some people have migraine with aura, which means that other symptoms appear before the headache, including visual changes (such as flashes of light or blackouts), numbness or tingling, weakness, and confusion. These symptoms may begin an hour before the onset of a headache and may last up to an hour.

Fortunately, about two-thirds of women who are prone to migraines find that their symptoms improve during pregnancy. If your migraines are usually worse around your period, or if you started having migraines when you had your first period, you may find that your migraines get better after becoming pregnant. For another third of women, migraine symptoms remained the same during pregnancy, or became more frequent and severe.