Children with migraines

[Disney Ella]

DD started having migraines in October when she turned 10. (It took me a little while to figure out that's what it was.) Since then, she's had seven or eight of them and misses two days of school if the headache happens during the week. The pediatrician's office said that they don't feel comfortable suggesting anything stronger than ibuprofen, which does nothing, so she has an appointment with a pediatric neurologist in February.

If you have a child with migraines, can you tell me what worked and what didn't, either medication or natural treatment? Did your child see a neurologist and were they able to help?

 

[barkley]

my ds (8) has started to have them. doctor said it can be heriditary (i have awful ones). pediatrician did'nt want him to use anything more than advil. we had a neurological referral and they did a cat scan to rule out anything in the brain (he had a fall on his head at about 3 and i was insistant i wanted to make sure nothing had happend over the years).

i've taught him to tell me when he starts getting signs-lights bothering his eyes, tunnel vision, slight headache with nausea. we have him take the advil then and retreat to a quiet area (seems to help him to be able to fall asleep and sleep it off).

the good thing (per our ped and neurologist) is that kids who get them seem to outgrow them and not have them as adults.

one thing that seems to help ds is to start pushing fluids when he first sees the signs of one-drinking bottled water or cranberry juice (helps some migrane sufferers incl. myself alot) to stay hydrated).

best wishes to you and dd (p.s.-i know she's a bit young for this but is there any cycle to them? in girls/women there can be a connection between your monthly cycle and when they occur-if you observe this a consult with a gynecologist for blood work on hormone levels might indicate something).

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Maybe an adjustment would help.

 

[lovinwdw]

I suffered from migraines as a child. (I still do now at 30). My mother took me to a neurologist, he wouldn't prescribe anything either. He suggested that I stay away from chocolate, nuts and cheeses. Those were what normally started my migraines. I even find that now as I get older, if I eat too much of any of these things, I will get a migraine. Good luck. I remember how painful they were as a child. Try a very very cold compress on her forehead and over his eyes. That can help.

 

[TEENEE]

My ds started getting migraines about that age. His ped came to the conclusion that his are stress induced because he had them more frequently during the school year. He's 14 now and can tell when one is coming. He takes excedrin migraine and lays down. Most of the time that does the trick for him.Good luck.

 

[Disney Ella]

Thanks for your replies and suggestions! Sorry your kids suffer too. I haven't been able to find a food trigger for DD. One time, the headache started when the weather changed and twice it happened during things she was excited about (Christmas and participating in the Benjamin Franklin's birthday program).

Jenn Lynn, I was actually thinking of taking her to a chiropractor.

My sisters started getting migraines at 10/11 and one of them was unlucky enough to get migraines and a brain tumor (took a long time to figure out it was a brain tumor and not just the headaches getting worse). My mother started getting migraines at 5, so there is definitely a family history.

 

[MamaLema]

DS 7 gets HORRIBLE migraines. He has had them for 2 years. The first year he had only 3 in the whole year. Now he is getting about 6/month. He is going to a specialist, but not till April I can't wait to see what they say. I have avoided the triggers like PP stated, but he still gets them.

It's so hard to see them suffering because you can't do anything, really. Pain reliever doesn't help at all.

I know that the majority of kids with migraines are boys. Then when they are teenagers the majority are girls. Then when they are adults, it's mostly women. I'm holding out for the small hope that he will outgrow them. It makes me cry when he's screaming in pain.

The only thing that seems to help him manage is to take a Gravol (doc recommended) and sleep for 2 hours. Then he wakes up like nothing happened.

 

[princess pooh]

My brother used to get awful migraines as a child and mine kicked in when I was 11. We still get them from time to time, as do our parents. The only thing that would help my brother would be to lie down in a pitch black room. Sometimes I feel better if I take an excedrin migraine with a diet coke. The last time I had a migraine DH hypnotized me and I managed to sleep it off.

 

[Disney Ella]

It is hard to see them in pain and not be able to do anything about it, isn't it? Princess pooh, what is a dirt coke?

 

[princess pooh]

Sorry Disney Ella, I meant Diet Coke. I guess I shouldn't post when I'm still half asleep

 

[JoBird]

I am glad you are taking her to the neurologist. When I was 10, I started with headaches so horrible that even now when I think of the pain I don't know how I survived. It was always so bad that I had to get in a room with no lights on, no sound, no scents. I would throw up and that would make it worse. The day after my headaches were gone, I'd have two black eyes, be swollen across my face and could not touch my head to even brush my hair. My parents took me to a neurologist and they ran test after test. They could not find any reason for my head to be hurting that way, but tests have come a long way since then. The Dr. said that a lot of times when girl's hormones are beginning to change they will experience Headaches like I described. When I began my cycle at age 12, they went away. However, I do have migraines now that coincide with my cycles. They just aren't ANYTHING like what I had back then.
Best of luck to you and your precious daughter.

 

[goodeats]

Two things -
1) Have you had her eyes checked at the optometrist?
2) When my friend was little she had migraines a lot, and it turned out they were due to the Flinstones vitamins she was taking. I guess she was ingesting too much iron and that triggered the migraine, once she stopped taking the vitamins they stopped.

Just my $.02.

 

[maryssasmom]

I got them as a child - started when I was between 5 and 6 and had them just about every day. I was very sick from them. I went for neurological tests - brain scans, etc and they found nothing other than it being hereditary. I was not put on meds, only told to take aspirin. My mom also found that crushing up ice and pouring a little bit of coca-cola syrup eased my nausea - you can find the syrup in a drug store. I would sip that - slowly and it helped so I didn't get sick.
I was finally put on fiorinol (sp?) with codeine when I was in my teens - maybe 16 or so. I no longer take this - only go to sleep in a dark room.
I still get the migraines, although not often. maybe one every few months (knck on wood, I do not want one!!) so it is better. They did test me for allergies and found that things with added preservatives or color did trigger them - orange cheeses - the cheese or stuff like cheetos - kool aid, chocolate, etc. I can eat this stuff but really need to limit my quantities.
My dd is home sick with one herself - she maybe gets 1-2 a year and her dad gets them also. Both of my parents also had them so I guess we are a migraine family.
My dad found that Kentucky Fried Chicken gave him migraines so he had to stay away, but he said sometimes the migraine was worth it - he must be nuts.
I hope all the kids get better..

 

[CathrynRose]

Both my boys get them (as do I). The older one gets them worse, but lately Danny has been catching up and getting them as intense, just not as frequent.

Also, no RX's for them either (which quite honestly, I think is BS - Advil, Tylenol, etc wouldnt TOUCH mine...theyre useless - AND with as quickly theyll write an RX for a anti-depressent, ADD drugs, etc for chidren....but something as necessary (IMO) and short-lived (pain pills dont linger in your system for days) ..they wont prescribe them)

I dont have much advise, other than what a previous poster mentioned. Teach her the signs of one coming on, so she can try her best to prevent it before it gets crazy-bad!

Good luck to you!

 

[Blondie]

I started having them when I was 10 years old. First I'd get the aura, followed by nausea and a horrific headache. I noticed that I'd get one after eating chocolate.

I just put up with them. I'd get one a month until I reached a certain age, then they backed off a little.

I still get them, but they are different now in that they aren't as severe, but they last a few days.

 

[minkydog]

You are wise to seek out a neuro opinion, just to make sure it's nothing more than migraines. Migraines are bad enough. I have them once a month("that"time) and it comes on almost like a seizure or a stroke--face goes numb, slurred speech, can't see, vertigo. then the nausea sets in. If i don't go to bed with meds immediately, it gets real ugly. Even then, i'm hung over for hours. If i had them more than once a month, i'd definitley be taking something preventative because it completely lays me cold.

There are different meds for kids with migraines. They have had a lot of success with low-dose anti-depresants and anti-seizure drugs, like Topamax, too. I would be extremely cautious about using aspirin or Excedrin for these headache due to the rare but serious risks of Reye's syndrome--ask you doctor about using it with kids under 21. Sometimes aspirin is okay, but they usually want you to use something else if it works.

I hope your child can get some relief. People who don't get migraines cannot fathom the intensity.

 

[barkley]

our ped and neurologist suggested having ds drink a bit of soda with caffeine as well. he pointed out that alot of migrane meds have a dosage of caffeine included with the pain reducing componants.

i encourage anyone whose kids have them to fight tooth and nail for a brain cat scan or mri. we had a friend who suffered with headaches that evolved into migranes as a kid. as a young adult he could get no relief (had the kind where he felt like his head was exploding). after years he got a neurologist to do a cat scan-found out that he had gotten a minute brain injury as a young kid (a small bleeder) that had gradualy caused an anuerism to form (he was literaly a time bomb waiting to go off-had surgery and pulled through with no more head aches). his parents went nuts trying to figure out when he could have gotten hurt-finaly remembered that around age 6 he had jumped off a swing set (like kids do) and tumbled head over heels. he had cried a bit but brushed himself off and seemed fine (no cuts, bruising or bumps).

seems like with adults doctors are more apt to check out the potential big/serious causes first then address the symptoms. with kids they are more apt to "wait and see". personaly i want to rule out the bad stuff first.

 

[gradtchr]

I had migraines as a child, in fact I had one that did not go away for a year. I went through several MRI's, eye checks, two sinus surgeries, and rounds of tests until we went back to the eye doctor and explained what my symptoms were and he diagnosed me with vascular migraines and prescribed beta blockers. The headache was gone in less than two weeks.

 

[MamaLema]

Two things -
1) Have you had her eyes checked at the optometrist?
2) When my friend was little she had migraines a lot, and it turned out they were due to the Flinstones vitamins she was taking. I guess she was ingesting too much iron and that triggered the migraine, once she stopped taking the vitamins they stopped.

Just my $.02.

I'm not the OP but

1) My DS migraines got worse since he's been wearing glasses

2)My DS migraines have gotten better since he's been taking Flintstones vitamins

That is so odd. I guess everybody's different Makes it that much harder to find triggers

 

[tmq2766]

My DD11 has suffered from migrains fior the past 5 years or so and after a visit to a pediatric neuro and and MRI. He prescribed a very low dose of Inderol (blood pressure medication) to be taken once a day. My DD has literally gone from getting 3-4 migrains per month to 3-4 per year. We also avoid (as much as possible) processed meats, certain cheeses and certain nuts.