Migraine Headaches Support Group
Migraine is a neurological disease, of which the most common symptom is an intense and disabling episodic headache. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head and are often accompanied by photophobia (hypersensitivity to light), phonophobia (hypersensitivity to sound) and nausea.
Does anyone have experience, either personally (that you can remember or that someone has told you about your childhood) or with your children?
My son is 3.5 years old. Over the past year, he has had 6-7 episodes. At first I thought he just had a gastro bug. But it keeps happening. He doesn't complain of headache, but he says he feels sick, and he throws up a lot, and he gets kind of groggy and wants to sleep. He does sleep a lot when it's happening and usually feels better when he wakes up. It always comes on suddenly and goes away suddenly. No one else in the house ever gets sick at the same time as him so I don't think its a stomach bug. The shortest episode lasted only 2 hours. The longest is the one he's having right now - it started on Wednesday at noon, then he slept from 5 pm till 7 am the next morning (woke up once to drink water). He seemed ok when he woke up but ten he threw up again from 8 am - 1 pm. After that he was completely fun, running around, had his appetite back, seemed normal, until today at noon. He said he was sick, laid down, then at 12:45 he threw up, then after that he felt totally fine and started playing again.
I made an appointment with his doctor for next week but I'm just wondering if anybody else has had similar experiences. I think it's migraine but I don't know for sure. His dad and I both get migraines.
My son is 3.5 years old. Over the past year, he has had 6-7 episodes. At first I thought he just had a gastro bug. But it keeps happening. He doesn't complain of headache, but he says he feels sick, and he throws up a lot, and he gets kind of groggy and wants to sleep. He does sleep a lot when it's happening and usually feels better when he wakes up. It always comes on suddenly and goes away suddenly. No one else in the house ever gets sick at the same time as him so I don't think its a stomach bug. The shortest episode lasted only 2 hours. The longest is the one he's having right now - it started on Wednesday at noon, then he slept from 5 pm till 7 am the next morning (woke up once to drink water). He seemed ok when he woke up but ten he threw up again from 8 am - 1 pm. After that he was completely fun, running around, had his appetite back, seemed normal, until today at noon. He said he was sick, laid down, then at 12:45 he threw up, then after that he felt totally fine and started playing again.
I made an appointment with his doctor for next week but I'm just wondering if anybody else has had similar experiences. I think it's migraine but I don't know for sure. His dad and I both get migraines.
My oldest son had his first migraine at 4, started at a pizza place. My youngest son started getting migraines in high school. For us it turns out I carry the DNA gene for celiac and passed celiac disease on to both of my sons. The gluten causes about 98% of our migraines. We were only diagnosed 4 years ago even though I was born with it, 58 years ago. Gluten can cause the headache and/or the vomitting. The test for celiac is not very accurate, only about a 40% accuracy rate.
You might want to think about allergy testing for food problems since he is also throwing up so much. My oldest son kept throwing up milk at 9 months, we had to switch to soy.
I hope this helps. I'm sorry your little guy is having problems.
My sister went through hell at about the same age. Same thing with her. Neurologists, different medications, nothing really helped her, always in pain. I think back then it was stress and anxiety that set our migraines off.
I have two sisters. Both of them have sons, both around 9 years old. Both of those boys have bad headaches. There is nothing to suggest that THOSE are migraines, but it wouldn't surprise me. There isn't a person on my mother's side of the family that has escaped the curse of migraines, not even the men.
The other is what they call abdominal migraines or cyclic vomiting syndrome. There is no definitive test for it - basically you know that's what it is if it responds to treatment. Some kids outgrow it. In other kids, it gradually changes into a more typical migraine with head pain being the primary symptom.