preeclampsia

14 March 2022

Migraine and Complications in Pregnancy

A recent press release from the American Academy of Neurology reports on a study of women with migraine, and what kinds of complications they may expect during pregnancy. Should potential mothers be concerned? And what can they do to prepare in advance?

This study took a look at about 30,000 pregnancies in about 19,000 women. Over 2000 of those women had been diagnosed with migraine. So how did their pregnancies differ from the rest?

Researchers did indeed conclude that women with migraine were more likely to have certain complications:

Preterm Delivery – that is, delivery before 37 weeks.
Gestational High Blood Pressure – hypertension during pregnancy
Preeclampsia – another high blood pressure condition, often including signs of damage to the kidneys or liver.

The highest risk came with preeclampsia, a 40% higher risk, according to the study. This risk has been talked about for a long time – see Preeclampsia and Migraines.

It is, however, important to keep these numbers in perspective. Just how high is the risk?

From this study alone, this is what the risk of preeclampsia looks like:

Preeclampsia Risk with and without migraine

So note this. This “healthy” group includes people with migraine and without. So yes, far more people with migraine had preeclampsia than people without migraine who had preeclampsia. But your risk is still relatively low. And it’s a much better picture when it comes to hypertension and preterm delivery.

So what can you do? Actually, there are a number of things you can do to lower your risk even further, and keep your baby and yourself safe. For example:

Lower your risk for high blood pressure in other ways. Talk to your doctor about the medications you’re taking. Aim for a healthy lifestyle overall, which will include exercise, plenty of water, a healthy diet, and avoiding alcohol, smoking, and certain drugs.
Consider magnesium, which is a treatment for both migraine and preeclampsia. Read more at Preeclampsia, Migraine, and Magnesium
Other supplements and medications may help, such as calcium and vitamin D. Talk to your doctor about these. (Note that for migraine you won’t want to take calcium at the same time of day as magnesium.)
Talk to your doctor about your medical history.
Talk to your doctor about any changed in headache or related symptoms. This is very important.
Take a look at the Migraine During and After Pregnancy chart to know what you might expect during various stages.
Don’t ignore migraine symptoms overall – talk to a specialist about the many, many treatments that are available.
Check out The Myth-Busting Guide to Migraines and Pregnancy

Remember, although there seems to be some connection between migraine and some pregnancy risks, this study does not come anywhere close to telling us what the connection is. Yes, the researchers did adjust for some common risk factors to try to weed out weak connections. But we don’t know if there is some other common root cause, or if migraine symptoms may increase risk, or even if there is an unknown lifestyle connection.

The bottom line – it’s important to be aware of potential risks. But in most cases, these risks are small and manageable and no reason to avoid pregnancy.

This press release is only a preview of a report that will be given in April at the American Academy of Neurology’s 74th Annual Meeting. For more on the study, see Is migraine tied to complications in pregnancy?

15 June 2017

Preeclampsia, Migraine, and Magnesium

James Uncategorized 0

Preeclampsia is a high blood pressure condition in pregnancy. It has come up here at Headache and Migraine News more than once for a couple of reasons. First, pre-eclampsia can cause a pulsating headache, as well as symptoms such as dizziness and nausea.

Although these symptoms may be similar to migraine attacks, migraine itself has also be connected to preeclampsia. Women with a history of migraine may be at increased risk for preeclampsia.

If you’re experiencing new headache symptoms late in pregnancy, it’s critical that you have a checkup as soon as possible. The headaches may be an indication of a number of conditions, some more dangerous than others.

Recently at the New York Headache blog, Dr. Alexander Mauskop pointed out another interesting connection between migraine and preeclampsia. There is a certain treatment that is similar in both – magnesium.

As the American Family Physician as pointed out, “Studies have shown the effectiveness of magnesium in eclampsia and preeclampsia, arrhythmia, severe asthma, and migraine” (see Magnesium: Top of the List for Migraine).

Magnesium is taken as a daily supplement by many people with migraine, but it’s also given in the emergency room to stop severe migraine in its tracks. It’s also given in cases of preeclampsia and eclampsia, to stop convulsions and allow for a more normal delivery of the baby.

So the question is – is it just that magnesium happens to be effective for both migraine and preeclampsia, or is this actually an indication of abnormally low levels of magnesium in some patients?

Dr. Mauskop looks at a recent study that searched for factors that may predispose women to preeclampsia. The study did not check for low magnesium levels. As he writes:

If preeclampsia responds so well to magnesium, it is possible that these women have chronic magnesium deficiency. Magnesium deficiency predisposes people not only to migraines, but also to heart attacks and strokes. The test that should have been done is red blood cell (RBC) magnesium since 98% of magnesium is inside the cells or in the bones. The most commonly used serum magnesium level measures the remaining 2% and is highly unreliable.

He goes on to recommend that women who have suffered from preeclampsia or eclampsia be tested, and that they generally try to lower their risk for vascular problems:

If you’ve suffered from preeclampsia or eclampsia, in addition to reducing other risk factors for vascular problems â€“ control your blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol, stop smoking if you smoke, lose weight, and exercise, you may also want to ask your doctor to check your RBC magnesium level. If the level is low or at the bottom of normal range, take a magnesium supplement. A good starting dose is 400 mg of magnesium glycinate taken daily with food. If subsequent tests show no improvement, the dose can be increased to 400 mg twice a day and even higher.

Read more from Dr. Mauskop here: Preeclampsia can have lasting effects on the brain

It would be interesting to see a study of magnesium levels in women who have had preeclampsia, and to hear from you if you’ve suffered from both preeclampsia and migraine, and have found magnesium to be an effective preventative.

6 June 2012

Preeclampsia and Migraines

James Information 0

Is there a connection between preeclampsia and migraines? Or are there special symptoms related to preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia is, of course, a high blood pressure condition that occurs during pregnancy. It can even be a slight increase in blood pressure. Preeclampsia is diagnosed when there is excess protein in your urine. There are other markers in a urine test that can warn you of preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia can put both you and your baby at serious risk. At times there are few or no symptoms, which is another reason why it’s important to have regular checkups during pregnancy.

But what about preeclampsia and migraines? Can this condition actually cause migraine attacks?

There are some clear links between pre-eclampsia and migraine. For example, women taking triptan medications during pregnancy are more likely to develop preeclampsia. At least one study has suggested that women with migraine are more likely to develop preeclampsia in pregnancy.

Changes in the body can certainly trigger migraine attacks in a migraineur. However, the headaches that are caused by preeclampsia are not called migraine headaches, although some of the symptoms may be similar.

There is a specific term for headache and related symptoms in preeclampsia – it has the rather unimaginative name of headache attributed to pre-eclampsia.

And yes, the symptoms can be similar to a migraine attack.

This headache has at least one of these characteristics: It’s on both sides of the head, pulsating, and/or aggravated by physical activity.

A preeclampsia headache will actually develop when your blood pressure is high. Once hypertension has been treated, the headache will be gone within a week.

Some of the other typical preeclampsia symptoms are also found in many migraine attacks. For example:

problems with vision, including loss of vision, blurred vision, and auras
photophobia (sensitivity to light)
nausea
dizziness
anxiety/confusion
abdominal pain

These symptoms can make a preeclampsia look very much like a migraine attack.

Since women with preeclampsia can actually be symptom-free, it can be challenging to diagnose preeclampsia early, especially if you’re not seeing your doctor at regular intervals during pregnancy. However, as always, if you notice any changes in your headache/migraine symptoms, you do need to see a doctor right away. If you’re pregnant, have tests done for preeclampsia. There are actually other factors that can cause a headache with Headache attributed to pre-eclampsia symptoms.

Once these other possibilities have been ruled out, you may have a diagnosis of migraine, or a type of headache. For more on dealing with headache during pregnancy, check here.

If you have migraine and pre-eclampsia, make sure your doctor knows about both conditions. There are some drugs that are used to treat both conditions.

Visit the Mayo Clinic for more on Preeclampsia.

1 June 2010

Women with Migraine and Preeclampsia

James Information, News 0

A recent study continues to raise the question – are women with a history of migraine at increased risk of preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia is a condition involving high blood pressure (hypertension). It happens during and after pregnancy. A brief description from the Mayo Clinic:

Preeclampsia is a condition of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure and excess protein in your urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Preeclampsia often causes only modest increases in blood pressure. Left untreated, however, preeclampsia can lead to serious â€” even fatal â€” complications for both you and your baby.

The study was small – just 90 women. The researchers concluded that there is a significant increase in risk for migraineurs. However, the study was prompted from reports of many women with a history of migraine having preeclampsia, and it is only a step to more conclusive research.

Interestingly, preeclampsia itself is characterized by severe headaches, dizziness, nausea, photophobia – all symptoms familiar to migraine sufferers. It likely that there is a common mechanism in the body triggering both the migraine attacks and the preeclampsia. (There are a number of causes of preeclampsia, but one or more may be related to migraine)

If you’re diagnosed with preeclampsia, your doctor may recommend medication, bed rest, and if you’re far enough along, induced delivery.

It’s very important, particularly for migraineurs, to report to your doctor any changes in migraine and headache symptoms (particularly after 20 or 30 weeks, when early cases of preeclampsia start to show up). It’s also important to get regular checkups. If you’re diagnosed with preeclampsia, your doctor will want to monitor you more closely.