child with abdominal migraines

[sspth]

Hello,

One of my children has regular abdominal migraines. He feels nauseous and sometimes have a headache, too. The migraines come on every fortnight and tend to last for two days.

We have seen specialists and excluded other potential causes.

We have been prescribed pizotofin but that did not seem to affect the frequency or intensity of the migraines. Painkillers don't seem to affect the symptoms either.

All in all, it is manageable but it means he is missing out on a lot of school and other activities. If anyone can recommend anything for us to either avoid triggering migraines or making the symptoms more manageable, then please do.

[Cat00]

Is there anything in his timetable he doesn't like?I had migraines from 5 years old onwards which was very likely to be caused by stress combined with a natural predisposition for migraine.

When I was a teenager I used to get them every Thursday for 2 days like clockwork because I hated my Monday and Wednesdays, the relief it was over would trigger a migraine. I was given Pizotifen too , which didn't help me either.

If he has anything very regular in his timetable you could look at I would look into that.

Remember when looking for triggers you need to look for things that occur or things that he consumed up to three days before the pain starts because that is when the Prodrome can start.

You could also look into his general levels of stress. I had undiagnosed ADHD which caused my stress levels to be permanently high, resulting in a highly excitable brain that could be easily triggered.

I don't sleep well too which can be another trigger. Usually you don't sleep well for a few nights, then exhaustion sets in so I would have one night I slept heavier, that would trigger a migraine.

Sorry its all a bit vague.

[sspth in reply to Cat00]

Many thanks for replying and sharing your experience. It has made me think differently about his migraines. We had previously wondered whether the migraines were linked to future stressful situations, i.e. migraines coming on as a result of that and helping him avoid the situation, rather than stressful situations as cumulative triggers. He gets the migraines most often on Mondays, so we will look at Fridays and weekends more closely. It also resonates what you write about general high levels of anxiety and not sleeping well and so we are trying to stick to clear routines at home, improve his diet and make time for football and friends. The school is really helpful, which is a relief. Many thanks again!

[Cat00 in reply to sspth]

If you think about the classic adult pattern of migraine, it's the weekend migraine. Stress as a result of work or school builds up during the week then you finally you let go because its the weekend then BAM migraine all weekend. Our bodies know our behaviour intimately. I once had a physio tell me that our body knows that we go to spin on Tuesday, swim Wednesday afternoon etc it's so good at knowing our patterns that it becomes too efficient and the only way to make gains in our sporting endeavours is to mix up these routines so our bodies have to work harder, that's how you stop plateauing in your fitness levels.

But this is true also for the things we dread, the things we push down because we know that is what we have to do, what is expected of us. People always say to me "oh but you seem to cope with it, you're able to do it" and I have to say "yes I can do it, but it makes me ill" Non-migraineurs don't have any knowledge of the physical echo of our psychological distress, our psychosomatic existences.

Of course it could be external, a food allergy, perfume allergy and if they were female we'd definitely be looking at hormones. But the fact it's every two weeks makes me think it's wider than that.

I rely heavily on sport to insert regular physical relief, so that it is less able to build up over the days and weeks. Obviously sport is usefull bc it's good for you in other ways, builds up endorphins etc which help with pain levels. But anything he can do regularly that relaxes him, that he can look forward too would be good.

It can only do so much, I have migraine 50% of the time for 30 years now, but the severity of them is hugely reduced. Of course I am not typical, your son is not likely to end up like me so don't panic! But building into his young life these systems to help manage stress and mood won't do him any harm and might help a lot, unlike a lot of the medications he may be exposed to later.

[sspth]

That all makes sense. I get migraines myself though only every six weeks, so have some understanding of this but I don't face the same challenge that you do. We are trying to focus on the whole child and childhood experience but it remains a challenge.