Migraines in Children?

[lovetoscrap]

Unfortunately I am back to being serious today (after my ebay amusement last night). DD10 has been ill on and off since 2nd grade. Lots of stomach issues--horrible cramping, diarrhea, constipation and very infrequently vomiting-- and headaches and dizziness, although the headache has always seemed like the lesser problem when compared to the stomach issues. The intensity and frequency of the problem has been rising in the last year.

We have had her eyes checked each year, and she was in last month. We have seen a Pediatric Gastro. and many visits to her Dr. We have done major dietary changes including dairy free, egg free and most recently gluten free for 6 weeks. There has been no noticeable change in symptoms during the diet change or when we discontinued it.

Last night she had a really bad headache. Couldn't sleep and was really miserable. This morning she still has it and is saying she has a white spot in her eyes when she closes them. She is light and sound sensitive. Her stomach is hurting and she is having her usual symptom of diarrhea.

So I am wondering if this may be migraine? We are seeing her ped again this afternoon. We have been focusing on the gastrointestinal issues but maybe they are secondary to a headache, but just present with greater severity making the headache seem like less of an issue? There has been a mention of her possibly having "abdominal migraine" but I am not sure that is the same thing as a regular migraine. Need to do some looking into it.

Anyone have experiences with their young children having migraines and what symptoms-- and treatment they had?

 

[barkley]

ds has had migraines since about age 8. he gets the light sensitivity, tunnel vision, dizzyness and headaches. he does complain that his stomach bothers him when he has one.

see if you can get in to see a pediatric neurologist, they have the best expertese in this area. one of the issues with treating migraines in kids is that the meds used are greatly different than those used for adults.

whomever you see for this, make sure to let them know if there's any history of stroke in your family (no matter the age of the person at the time of stroke). reason being, is some of the kid's meds can increase the risk of stroke down the line (in adulthood), it's a small increase that's thought to safe, but if there's a history of stroke in the family they might want to do an mri (as they did with my ds) to see if there are any indicators for the future that would preclude prescribing these particular meds.

let the doctor know about the stomach issues-some migraine meds haver realy high levels of caffeine in them which can cause a tender tummy problems.

by any chance has your dd been evaluated for irratable bowel syndrome? her gastro symptoms sound exactly like mine when my ibs flares up. dietary changes don't impact mine at all-and it can flare up out of the blue with no seeming rhyme or reason. i now have meds that i can take when i have a flare up that takes care of it very quickly.

 

[goodeats]

Do you give her a children's multi-vitamin (like Flinstones or the like)? It's possible she could be getting too much iron. I've read about this side effect in kids. Maybe try not giving her the vitamins for a week and see if she feels better?

You might want to do a food journal to see if certain foods trigger reactions. It's a pain, but would give you more information.

 

[lovetoscrap]

see if you can get in to see a pediatric neurologist, they have the best expertese in this area. one of the issues with treating migraines in kids is that the meds used are greatly different than those used for adults.

by any chance has your dd been evaluated for irratable bowel syndrome? her gastro symptoms sound exactly like mine when my ibs flares up. dietary changes don't impact mine at all-and it can flare up out of the blue with no seeming rhyme or reason. i now have meds that i can take when i have a flare up that takes care of it very quickly.

She has been given somewhat of a diagnosis of IBS, but that is only because they have checked (bloodwork) for any major, serious problem and then just went and say IBS. What are you taking? They gave her anticramping med but even that doesn't seem to always help.

I figured that meds for kids would have to be very different than for adults. I do have migraines and the stuff they have given me is pretty powerful. I am really hesitant to even give her and ibuprofen because I am afraid that is to much for a child's system to handle.

Do you give her a children's multi-vitamin (like Flinstones or the like)? It's possible she could be getting too much iron. I've read about this side effect in kids. Maybe try not giving her the vitamins for a week and see if she feels better?

You might want to do a food journal to see if certain foods trigger reactions. It's a pain, but would give you more information.

This made me go --I have never heard that. So I got up and checked their vitamins to see the iron level and realized-- we bought the wrong stuff -- she has been taken vitamin C instead of a multi vitamin!

We have done the food journal and just couldn't find any correlations. That is part of what is so frustrating.

 

[ols386]

My dd had migraines when she was very young. She started with them when she was around 5. She outgrew them by the age of about 10.

If we could catch the headaches when they FIRST started, by giving her Children's Tylenol, then they would not become migraines. But if we didn't, then it would turn into a full blown migraine.

She would be screaming because of the pain, and then she would vomit, after that, she would lay down, take a nap, wake-up two hours later, and you'd never have known that she had just had a migraine.

We took her to the doctor about the migraines, and he wasn't overly concerned about them. He said to give her the Tylenol, and if that took care of it, then not to worry about it. And as I said, if we gave her the Tylenol early on when the headache started, then it wasn't a problem.

I was so thankful that she outgrew them. I hope your dd feels better. That must be tough for her and for you.

 

[barkley]

She has been given somewhat of a diagnosis of IBS, but that is only because they have checked (bloodwork) for any major, serious problem and then just went and say IBS. What are you taking? They gave her anticramping med but even that doesn't seem to always help.

I figured that meds for kids would have to be very different than for adults. I do have migraines and the stuff they have given me is pretty powerful. I am really hesitant to even give her and ibuprofen because I am afraid that is to much for a child's system to handle.



This made me go --I have never heard that. So I got up and checked their vitamins to see the iron level and realized-- we bought the wrong stuff -- she has been taken vitamin C instead of a multi vitamin!

We have done the food journal and just couldn't find any correlations. That is part of what is so frustrating.

for ibs i take hyoscyamine, it works wonders (and is realy gentle).

 

[lovetoscrap]

for ibs i take hyoscyamine, it works wonders (and is realy gentle).

That is what they gave her. It only helps some of the time.