Pregnancy Headache

Having a pregnancy headache can be one of the worst things in the world. You feel so helpless because it seems like there is not much you can do about it.

The whole time I was pregnant with Hana, I only had a mild headache once or twice so I was not bothered very much by it.

But when I was pregnant with Lexi, my husband James had to go away for six weeks and there I was with morning sickness, and a two year old to take care of, and I got the worst pregnancy headache -- I think it was caused by stress.

I was worried about taking any Tylenol for it -- although my doctor said it was ok... but still I would rather have not taken anything.

I went to a Naturopathic doctor and she suggested I start taking large doses of Calcium/Magnesium. (Check with your doctor first before doing this - I am not a doctor!). And it absolutely worked for me.

I also bought a huge bag of Epsom salts and took hot baths (not too hot, mind you) with about 2 cups of Epson salts (yes, 2 cups - you have to add a lot of it). The magnesium in the Epsom salts works wonders. So the baths worked really well too.

OK, and here's the final thing that worked for me and it sounds really weird, so bear with me.

The Warm Sock Treatment

This treatment works for headaches and also for relieving conditions like ear pain, sore throats, and nasal congestion.

This treatment works best if repeated for three nights in a row, although I only did it once and it completely took my headache away.

OK, this is what you do:

Before bed, warm your feet by putting them into warm water (i.e. take a bath or soak them in warm water). This is important - your feet have to be warm first.

While you are warming your feet, soak cotton socks in icy cold water. Dry off your feet, wring out the cold socks well and put them on your feet. YOW! It's cold! Immediately put a pair of your husband's great big wool socks overtop of the cold wet socks -- and go straight to bed.

Leave them on overnight and when you wake up, your socks will be dry and your pregnancy headache will be gone.

I know, it's totally weird -- but it works!

Good luck, and hang in there. I know what you are going through and it is not easy.