So I have had mav for about…3 years now…and persistent migraine aura for 5. I literally woke up with the visual snow one morning after having my first daughter and a nasty virus. I was able to gain some control over the mav with a combo of cymbalta, verapamil and klonopin. That was after trialing numerous meds. When i decided i wanted to get pregnant i tried labetalol and lexapro instead of the other combo but ive had zero luck. Actually the labetalol dose was too high and my head tingled like crazy and my bp was low. I suppose i could try a lower dose. Anyway…seriously…what can i do? I dread work every day. I cant hardly even function…literally cannot stand up without holding on to something. I dont have the financial security to quit…and since im 7 weeks pregnant i need to save my fmla leave. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with this miserable miserable problem while pregnant? I also have excruciating headaches almost daily…but honestly if i could just stand up and do my damn job i wouldnt care. Im seriously on the verge of a major breakdown…and ive been there before…dont want to be there again.
I’m so sorry you have this horrible illness but congratulations on your pregnancy.
I just got through a twin pregnancy with this, you can do it i promise! I found that the first tri was worse as i expect the hormones were flying all over the place. I had severe morning sickness and felt vey dizzy BUT i found that 2nd tri i felt much better, no more sickness after 16 weeks and generally felt much better even with the dizziness. My symptoms did get a bit worse after 36 weeks but not too much worse and i found that i was not affected by the birth (symptoms stayed the same)
I have been worse recently again since giving up breastfeeding but i suspect that again is hormones rapidly changing.
I worked until 26 weeks and i only did 4 hours a day, it’s a real struggle to work with this, esp when pregnant, i can really sympathise with you.
I think all you can do is try to limit any triggers as much as you possibly can, drink a ton of water, make sure you get plenty of sleep/rest, perhaps some gentle exercsie each day in the fresh air and watch your diet etc.
I find ibuprofen helps on my bad days sometimes but obviously you cannot take that when pregnant, perhaps you can take paracetamol if you get a bad headache?
Good luck and take a day at a time, hopefully you will experience symptoms lessening as your pregnancy progresses 
Good luck and do let us know how you cope. I have heard mixed things about pregnancy so you never quite know how it will affect you, I hope you do well x
Hi,
Congrats on your pregnancy.
Pregnancy brought on my MAV, so I know how hard it is to work through this. Unfortunately, I was misdiagnosed for years including when this all first started, but the one drug they gave me was Valium, I found it helped calm things down and helped me sleep. I really don’t know how safe Valium is during pregnancy, but it was the only drug my obstetrician would give me. I have a friend with “normal” migraines who’s pregnant now and she takes propranolol. Good luck with everything!
Thanks everyone. Dee- I dont know how you managed with twins but congratulations! I too have horrible morning sickness…actually its all day sickness, i dont know why they call it morning sickness. I am just praying like crazy the 2nd trimester is easy otherwise I really might have to look into disability or something??? I dont even know if I could get it. The tylenol doesnt help much with the migraines but its better than nothing. Drinking water is soooo hard cuz it makes me want to vomit. Thanks for letting me vent everyone. I will definitely be sticking around here. I was on the visual snow forums (didnt post much) but the vision although it drives me crazy and does make everday activities more difficult does not even compare to how much my life has changed due to the MAV.
Dizzy diamond
Funny u mention persistent migraine aura (visual snow) and MAV. Like u I suffered a nasty sinus/virul infection and woke up one day with the visual snow which has been there ever since. But In my case I already had MAV and my visual show developed later. Like u I have managed to get my Mav somewhat under control with cymbalta but its not enough. I have tried a bunch of second meds but none have worked. I am male so dont need to worry about getting off my meds due to pregnancy and I feel so sorry that u have had too. I was wondering what dose of the cymbalta and verapmil and klonopin were u on and were u back to 100% with your vestibular symptoms?