Children - Migraines - painkillers - help!

[RNMOM]

Just something that happened in my family...my son had them from about 5-12 several times a month with vomiting and the whole 9 yrds. He was being assessed for braces but still had 5 baby teeth that hadn't come out on their own. We went to an oral surgeon to have them removed, which involved just pulling them gently as they were sitting on top of the perm. teeth which were trying to errupt. He hasn't had a migraine since. He still gets occ. sinus type headaches but no migraine. Just a thought to make sure he has no crowding, non errupted teeth or such. Hope it helps. I feel for him.

 

[Forevryoung]

I have a migraine breaker- acupuncture

I swear!

When I'm on day 2 of a migraine I get myself into the first available appointment that someone can drive me to and by the time she is done, my head is 50% better and a few hours later I'm between 75-80% better.

When I have a migraine the only thing that helps is a dark room with a cool cloth (or the bathroom floor) and sleep.

My acupuncturist says that she can get rid of my migraines in about 10 sessions but I haven't done it "yet"

 

[FoundMyPrince]

I was going to post about my DD(4) migraines earlier today and ran out of time. She's been having migraines since her 3rd birthday, about once every month. Her pediatrician says they really aren't often enough to be overly concerned about -- I told him he might think differently if he lived with DD. She's been on cyproheptadine (I think this is how it's spelled) which causes her to be tired and hungry...but hasn't helped the migraines. We're at a loss right now other than switching pediatricians.

 

[arminnie]

I have a migraine breaker- acupuncture

I swear!

When I'm on day 2 of a migraine I get myself into the first available appointment that someone can drive me to and by the time she is done, my head is 50% better and a few hours later I'm between 75-80% better.

When I have a migraine the only thing that helps is a dark room with a cool cloth (or the bathroom floor) and sleep.

My acupuncturist says that she can get rid of my migraines in about 10 sessions but I haven't done it "yet"

I was also going to recommend accupuncture. Not that all the medical stuff shouldn't also be done concurrently. A good accupuncturist will work will medical professionals. When my sister had ACL knee surgery her orthopedic surgeon (very traditional, best in regional area) said that patients with accupuncture have tended to heal faster.

Accupuncture is particularly good for pain issues. I also know people who have improved their migraine situations by switching totally to all natural foods.

I know I probably sound pretty "out there", but I am really the least "crunchy" person you would ever meet.

 

[WDWBarb]

DD (15) has been suffering from what they are calling migraines for about 9 months. She gets dizzy, nauseous and then a headache starts. Hers are by no means as bad as many people suffer (the headaches) but the dizziness and nausea are disturbing. This happens almost every day, several times a day.

She's been under a neurologist's care and had an MRI (clean).

He's put her on just about everything but Topamax is one that, if I had know the side effects, I would never have allowed her to take. Besides the absolute inability to think (her grades dropped drastically in the month she was on it), she lost about 30% of her hair.

Now she takes Butol (I think that's how you spell it) for the onset of headaches. But I'm not satisfied - I want to know the cause of all of this. I'm taking her to some other doctors (besides the neuro our GP referred us to) to see if we can get to some kind of root cause.

 

[couponclary]

DD (15) has been suffering from what they are calling migraines for about 9 months. She gets dizzy, nauseous and then a headache starts. Hers are by no means as bad as many people suffer (the headaches) but the dizziness and nausea are disturbing. This happens almost every day, several times a day.

She's been under a neurologist's care and had an MRI (clean).

He's put her on just about everything but Topamax is one that, if I had know the side effects, I would never have allowed her to take. Besides the absolute inability to think (her grades dropped drastically in the month she was on it), she lost about 30% of her hair.

Now she takes Butol (I think that's how you spell it) for the onset of headaches. But I'm not satisfied - I want to know the cause of all of this. I'm taking her to some other doctors (besides the neuro our GP referred us to) to see if we can get to some kind of root cause.

The inability to think was terrifying! I lost a good two months of my life (and 2 of my little boy's life too ) because of that stuff. I lost hair for a good six months after I stopped taking it (and my hair is very fine to begin with so it was EXTREMELY noticeable) and the stomach issues were crazy, to the point that I was unable to leave the house for days at a time. Not to mention that I was warned against stopping immediately (you must gradually decrease your dose, but my doctor just told me to stop ) by my pharmacist when I discussed these symptoms with him; stopping immediately can apparently cause people who have never experienced seizures to have them. Scary stuff.

 

[momw/2princesses]

I was going to post about my DD(4) migraines earlier today and ran out of time. She's been having migraines since her 3rd birthday, about once every month. Her pediatrician says they really aren't often enough to be overly concerned about -- I told him he might think differently if he lived with DD. She's been on cyproheptadine (I think this is how it's spelled) which causes her to be tired and hungry...but hasn't helped the migraines. We're at a loss right now other than switching pediatricians.

Please don't waste any more time with the pediatrician. Schedule an appointment with a pediatric neurologist. They are better prepared to take care of and treat someone with migraines, especially a child. You probably don't want to hear this, but once a month really isn't that often. I know the episodes are horrible, but at least they aren't 4-5 days per week. At one point, I was only having 3 or 4 days a month where I DIDN'T have a migraine. I have had migraines for years and we believe the my daughter (6) is having them. Her symptoms are atypical, but believe that's "her" type of migraine.

For the other poster that wondered about the cause - sometimes you may not be able to find a single "cause". Mine can be caused by changes in the weather (barometric pressure - the brain can't adjust quickly enough), not enough sleep, too much sleep, certain foods, red wine, the list goes on and on. Keep a diary of when the headaches occur and then note the surrounding issues - foods she ate, weather fronts coming through, stress, etc. This will help a neuro be able to pinpoint the triggers and hopefully get them under control.

I can't stress enough that a neuro, there are some that specialize in headaches, is much better suited to address the migraine issue than a general practitioner.

Good luck to all of those trying to get relief!!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Has your pediatrician suggested you keep a food diary? Many foods are migraine triggers & that might be the case with your DS.

Once a neurologist 100% diagnosis your DS I would use acupuncture combined w/ meds.
I had great success w/ the combo.
I know many people have said caffeine, caffeine, caffeine but that is one of my many triggers.
The last tool I used & continue to use for another pain issue is visualization.....it is a hard tool to learn but when you master it it's an amazing tool when it comes to pain & pain relief.

I'm also someone who has more comfort w/ ice packs than heat......whatever gives him comfort

Best of luck to you & your son.

 

[Evi]

I honestly didn't read through all the posts but I had migraines alot as a child and I think you should definitely look into food allergies. Once I was able to remove things I'm allergic to I've been able to reduce my migraines. I know the only thing that helps me when I have migraines is a cool, quiet dark room and ice water. Ooh and wait you must must try this its a product called blue oil from aveda you rub it on your forehead and I swear it helps its cooling and somehow dulls the pain.

 

[shortbun]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful input. Tonight-3am, his jaw started making clicking noises. TMJ? Could also be from grinding or clenching due to pain but I'm calling our chiro tomorrow and an accupunturist as well as our dentist. The pain meds he was given yesterday have not touched it and he hasn't slept all night. His body was trembling from exhaustion. I had to give him a stimulating and deep all over body massage to get it to stop. Still no sleep. off to work for me. stupid headache. Oh, and we're going to try the magnesium deal too.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful input. Tonight-3am, his jaw started making clicking noises. TMJ? Could also be from grinding or clenching due to pain but I'm calling our chiro tomorrow and an accupunturist as well as our dentist. The pain meds he was given yesterday have not touched it and he hasn't slept all night. His body was trembling from exhaustion. I had to give him a stimulating and deep all over body massage to get it to stop. Still no sleep. off to work for me. stupid headache. Oh, and we're going to try the magnesium deal too.

Skip the dentist and head to a Periodontist - they are the experts when it comes to TMJ and grinding issues. I posted earlier that a Periodontist ground down just a tiny bit off a couple of teeth and that instantly stopped the headaches I would wake up with. GOOD LUCK!

 

[H&Hmommy]

My son was diagnosed with nocturnal migraines(always has them between 3:00 a.m. and 6 a.m.) at the age of 5(he is now 10). They were never associated with allergies, but he does suffer with allergies??? He was put on Zomig. We put a monitor in his room so that we could hear if he was suffering. It is amazing that we are able to hear the softest moan in the middle of the night and become wide awake. As soon as I know he is getting a migraine, I fly into the kitchen and grab the Zomig along with a soda. The key is to get on top of it before it is full blown. Unfortunately if we are too late, he goes into the vomiting and suffers for quite awhile.
Good luck to you and your son. Breaks my heart to hear of kids having to go through this.

 

[shortbun]

Well, two docs told me to take him to the ER. We went. Five hours later, we are home with a small pain where the huge one used to be and a slight anxiety attack from the compazene. sigh. They gave him two doses of IV Benadryl and that is almost gone too.
What a ride. We shall be more diligent getting the meds in at the onset of a headache. When we were talking about that, Ds said, "mom, I get headaches every day and not all of them turn into migraines. How am I supposed to know the difference?" hmmm, indeed.

 

[MomRN]

My son was diagnosed with nocturnal migraines(always has them between 3:00 a.m. and 6 a.m.) at the age of 5(he is now 10). They were never associated with allergies, but he does suffer with allergies??? He was put on Zomig. We put a monitor in his room so that we could hear if he was suffering. It is amazing that we are able to hear the softest moan in the middle of the night and become wide awake. As soon as I know he is getting a migraine, I fly into the kitchen and grab the Zomig along with a soda. The key is to get on top of it before it is full blown. Unfortunately if we are too late, he goes into the vomiting and suffers for quite awhile.
Good luck to you and your son. Breaks my heart to hear of kids having to go through this.

Have you heard of cluster headaches? I suffer from those, and a primary symptom is a "migraine" that wakes you up. Not typically associated with a young child, but thought I'd bring it up to you to see if other symptoms work.

Oxygen works well also. At the hospital if someone starts to get a migraine I can slap 10-15L of O2 on with a non-rebreather mask, and 50% of the time their migraine has been aborted by the time I get the meds (which sometimes involve getting an order or getting up from pharmacy). By no means medical advice, and oxygen is a prescribed drug, but you may want to ask your neuro if it may help.