Migraines in Children May be Largely Undetected

Staying on the topic of migraines in children, today we look at a
rather serious topic – how migraine could go undetected in young
children.

 For those of us who face the torment of migraine headaches, it may be hard to believe that at any age where communication is possible that one would not know the source of their ailment. See if this scenario sounds familiar to you, as it is one that plays out thousands of times every day.

 Little Johnny wakes up and complains that his stomach hurts.  He looks a bit tired and is nothing like his energetic self.  You think that he is probably nervous about his spelling test or the new material he is struggling with in Math.  He only picks at his breakfast and drinks his milk, and with your encouragement heads off to school.  On the hot and fume-ridden school bus, he continues to feel nauseated. By the time he arrives at school, he is really feeling sick to his stomach.

 You get that dreaded call by mid-morning, that Johnny is in the nurse’s office and has thrown up on his way to the bathroom.  You think to yourself, it must be the flu, since you heard that your friend’s kids had the flu last week.  You pick him up from school, and he squints all the way home complaining about how bright the sunlight is.  He gets home, vomits one more time, and heads to bed without your need for encouragement.  Later that afternoon he arises, energetic and hungry.  You think, this is the strangest stomach flu you’ve ever seen.

While Johnny NEVER once indicated that he had a pain in his head, he was experiencing a migraine event. In many children, nausea is the dominant symptom of migraine, and while a headache may be present, it is not what is causing the most immediate concern to the child – vomiting is.  Johnny provided other key clues as to his condition. Lack of appetite, and intolerance to heat, odors, and motion are also key symptoms.  Finally, even after the relief from vomiting, the intolerance to light is a classic migraine symptom.  Other clues are the desire to sleep, and the tendency to awake with an immediate need for food.

 If this sounds familiar to you, it may be time to discuss with  your pediatrician the need for an evaluation for migraine.  You could see how easily that migraine could be overlooked, or mistakenas anxiety, foodborne illness, the flu, or as we discussed earlier, symptoms that look a lot like the inattentive form of ADHD.  With children, prevention remains the top form of managing migraines, as over-the-counter pain medications are not well-tolerated in young children, nor are recommended in most cases.  Understanding the many possible triggers of a migraine event could be challenging.  We recommend becoming
familiar with the triggers through the following electronic applications,
available in most smart phone formats, pads and tablets.  
 
We also suggest that you read “What If It’s  Migraine?  Treatments and
Remedies”, available through Portrait Health Publishing and wherever eBooks are sold.  Click Here For Details

Continue to follow our posts on the topic, and share with us your
stories and successful remedies of how you have confronted migraine in your  household.