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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Pregnancy
        
(Message started by: JayMoe on Jun 4^th, 2007, 7:31pm)

Title: Pregnancy
Post by JayMoe on Jun 4^th, 2007, 7:31pm

My husband and I want to start a family and I was wondering what other women with CH's had experienced when they were pregnant? How do I go about the issue of medication? I am on verapamil. lamictal, and pamelor....none of which can be taken during pregnancy. I can depend on my O2 during pregnancy but I am terrified about what may happen without my other meds and if the pregnancy will make the CH's worse.
Just curious how other women have responded to pregnancy....

Title: Re: Pregnancy
Post by Kate in Oz on Jun 4^th, 2007, 9:09pm

I was one of the lucky ones, when I was pregnant my headaches stopped!! They didn't come back til I stopped breast feeding. That was the first and only time I've not had the two episodes a year for over 20 years.

I'm not feeling so lucky now tho' :-/ its hard to look after a 4 yr old when your head is exploding!!!

Anyways, I wish you and your partner all the very best.

Title: Re: Pregnancy
Post by sandie99 on Jun 5^th, 2007, 3:25am

I believe that one of the older OUCH newsletters covered the ch & pregnancy topics via experiences from 3 clustermums.

I'm not a mum myself, so I cannot tell you what will happen. But I have met one clusterhead who had, just like Kate, been PF for the first time in ages when she was expecting.

Don't let ch control what you are going to do in your life. Don't let it stop you from doing what you want to do or the beast wins.

Hugs & PF wishes,
Sanna

Title: Re: Pregnancy
Post by lionsound on Jun 5^th, 2007, 9:21am

DO NOT let your clusters keep you from living your life!

I was preganant in 2005 and still got clusters and other HA's that I get. I used O2.

You need a great support network(like this place)...and a good OB/GYN and a headache specialist that has had pregnant patients before. Sometimes you are allowed pain meds in moderation under a doc's care.

Pregnancy may make CH worse, but in reality they can get worse if you are pregnant or not and there is no way to know what will happen. It is not fun when your head hurts and you are pregnant. However, You can deal with the pain because you know it's a means to your baby prize. :)

PF's,
Lionsound

Title: Re: Pregnancy
Post by Kate in Oz on Jun 5^th, 2007, 9:32am

Hey Jay, I just wanted to say sorry 'bout my last post. I was having a bit of a whinge :-/

I agree with Lionsound and Sandie, don't let CH stop you from living your life!!!!

No matter what happens, you will get through it!

Title: Re: Pregnancy
Post by kcopelin on Jun 5^th, 2007, 9:46am

Jay, the longest respite I've gotten from CH was during my pregnancies. Luck? I don't know. What I do know is if we let CH determine the big things in life (and having a baby is one of the biggest)we might as well live in a cave someplace. Life goes on, and children are a blessing.

Prayers for PFDAN!
kathy

Title: Re: Pregnancy
Post by Bob_Johnson on Jun 5^th, 2007, 10:08am

I checked drug info on medscape.com and Olanzapine is o.k. for limited use in pregnancy.

Headache 2001 Sep;41(:813-6

Olanzapine as an Abortive Agent for Cluster Headache.

Rozen TD.

Department of Neurology, Jefferson Headache Center/Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate olanzapine as a cluster headache abortive agent in an open-label trial. BACKGROUND: Cluster headache is the most painful headache syndrome known. There are very few recognized abortive therapies for cluster headache and fewer for patients who have contraindications to vasoconstrictive drugs. METHODS: Olanzapine was given as an abortive agent to five patients with cluster headache in an open-label trial. The initial olanzapine dose was 5 mg, and the dose was increased to 10 mg if there was no pain relief. The dosage was decreased to 2.5 mg if the 5-mg dose was effective but caused adverse effects. To be included in the study, each patient had to treat at least two attacks with either an effective dose or the highest tolerated dose. RESULTS: Five patients completed the investigation (four men, one woman; four with chronic cluster, one with episodic cluster). Olanzapine reduced cluster pain by at least 80% in four of five patients, and two patients became headache-free after taking the drug. Olanzapine typically alleviated pain within 20 minutes after oral dosing and treatment response was consistent across multiple treated attacks. The only adverse event was sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS: Olanzapine appears to be a good abortive agent for cluster headache. It alleviates pain quickly and has a consistent response across multiple treated attacks. It appears to work in both episodic and chronic cluster headache.

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Olanzapine has a brand name of "Zyprexa" and is a antipsychotic. Don't be put off by this primary usage. Several of the drugs used to treat CH are cross over applications, that is, drugs approved by the FDA for one purpose which are found to be effective with unrelated conditions--BJ.
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OTC meds are not very helpful with cluster, as you know, but may be one of the few options available to you. Some folks have good luck aborting/easing an attack by applying an ice pack to the pain site. Others find very hot water also works; others have used a hair dryer blasting the pain site works! No predicting; just try.
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Re. special needs of women. Both of these in HEADACHE QUARTERLY, Vol X, #2, 1991: "Women and headaches:a comprehensive approach", p. 31-36. "Special considerations in the management of headache in women", p. 37-43. The last one focuses on role of hormones in headache and how medications must be altered.
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J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006 Jan 11

Cluster headache in women - relation with menstruation, use of oral contraceptives, pregnancy and menopause.

van Vliet JA, Favier I, Helmerhorst FM, Haan J, Ferrari MD.

Medical Centre Haaglanden, Netherlands.

Abstract. In contrast to migraine, little is known about the relationship between cluster headache and menstrual cycle, oral contraceptives, pregnancy and menopause. We performed a population-based questionnaire study among 224 female cluster headache patients, and studied the possible effect of hormonal influences on cluster headache attacks. For control data, a similar but adjusted questionnaire was sent to healthy volunteers and migraine patients. We found that menstruation, use of oral contraceptives, pregnancy and menopause had a much smaller influence on cluster headache attacks than in migraine. Cluster headache can, however, have a large impact on individual women, for example to refrain from having children.

PMID: 16407458 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]