HeadWise HeadWise: Volume 3, Issue 2 | Page 10

reader mail You ask. Our headache experts answer. Tired of searching the internet for answers? It’s time to learn from those in the know. In every issue of HeadWise, our experts respond to reader-submitted questions about migraine and headache disorders. TENSION HEADACHES AND PREGNANCY I am currently being treated by a neurologist for tension headaches. I am now 13 weeks pregnant. I’ve been prescribed Tylenol #3, but can only take it up to 4 times per month. I currently have a headache every day that is severe. Do you have any recommendations? I was on a regimen that helped prior to getting pregnant. I know hormones can make it worse. – Jamie B. There really is not much data on the effects of pregnancy on tension-type headaches. However, migraine headaches generally improve during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. This is probably the result of high levels of estrogen and progesterone that occur during this time. These high hormone levels tend to have a “pain relieving” effect on migraine headache for many pregnant women. 8 Medications used during pregnancy are rated based on their safety by the Food and Drug Administration.  Category A is “controlled studies show no risk;” category B is “controlled studies in humans shows no risk, but animal studies showed risk”; category C is “risk to humans cannot be ruled out”; category d is “possible evidence of risk to humans from human studies”; and category X is “drug is