Migranes?

Suzibeck

Active member
Anyone have a child with migranes? My oldest, will be 11 in July, had one today. The poor girl! She came to me about 11:00 saying she was seeing spots, like after you look at a bright light and look away. In less than a hour, she was complaining of a headache, which became severe quickly. I called the doctor's office to ask what more I could do for her, I had already given her an extra strength Tylenol and put her in a dark, quiet room. They refused to give me any advice over the phone and made me bring her in. Fortunately, dh was able to come home to stay with the other two, who both have head colds.

Of course, after checking her out, they tell me they think she is having a migrane. And then the NP says, you don't have to worry that she has a brain tumor or anything. I told her I only brought her in because the nurse line refused to tell me what more to do and told me I had to bring her in. I KNEW it was a migrane!

Anyway, the only thing they told me was to let her sleep in a dark room. OK, I was already doing that! They told me to give her Motrin if she starts to see the spots again to hopefully stop the pain and vomiting. Oh yeah, she puked in the car on the way to the doctor's office. I had brought something for her to puke in so no mess anyway.

I hate in when they make me bring her in, pay them $100 and then tell me to keep doing what I'm doing! Anyone else have any suggestions if this happens again?
 
ADS

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Proper diet, sleep & exercise helps mine out.... I also tend to get these severe headaches when I'm stressed -- I also grind my teeth horribly in my sleep. Sometimes a warm or cool washcloth can help, but mostly just keep me hidden under the blankets away from all light & sound! (((((poor girl)))))
 

Chameleon

New member
I get them and am on daily meds for them. THey are under control with them. My 4 year old was diagnosed with them as well. She would have insane headaches so I brought her in and with my history they did a CT Scan on her. For now we are just to give more than the label says of Motrin. I think that my almost 21 month old son gets them as well. He will sometimes get these "uncontrollable fits" when he just writhes in pain like he is posessed. I was told by my neuro that even babies can get migraines. How awful is that? Both my mother and father had migraines, so one of us siblings were going to get them. I was the lucky one.

For suggestions. Try alternating hot and cold by her temple and see what helps her. A lot of times I just push on my eye. Gross I know. It relieves pressure.
 

Lys

Senior Community Member
I used to have them at least once a month. After having kids , I only get them occasionally. My 14yo gets them frequently when he doesn't get enough sleep.
From the research I have done on migraines, Here's what I have found.
Migraines are caouse by the dilation of blood vessels. Hot compresses usually make them worse because it causes more dilation. Ice compresses will constrict the blood vessels and make the headache more manageable.
I'm very surprised they didn't give you Phenergan for the nausea. It also works well on the pain in migraines.
there are vasoconstrictor meds that can be given, I'm not sure if they are ok for kids though.
A dark, sound proof, cool room was the best thing for me.
Also, most migraine sufferers KNOW when one is coming. There are "warning" signs you can look for-
this website has some good info about them.
http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/ECon...ame=01612&title=MIGRAINE+HEADACHE+&cid=HTHLTH
Hope she feels better soon.
 

gwenvet

New member
Oh I can't imagine just giving someone some Ibuprophen! I'm surprised that they won't give anything else. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor and can help migraines although for some it is also a trigger. My latest trigger is dehydration...maybe you can find someting in common on days when she gets them. good Luck.
 

Suzibeck

Active member
Thanks! I think I'll pick up some Excedrin to keep on hand and maybe some Coke to try if it happens again. She certainly had a classic migraine from the link above. She was not overtired, or stressed, or dehydrated (maybe over hydrated as I've been pushing liquids to prevent constipation :rolleyes: ). Could very well be hormonal as she is entering puberty.

Could it be a delayed reaction to Splenda? I don't ever give the kids artificial sweeteners, but she had vanilla yogurt with Splenda in it at a friend's house on Sunday. They are low-carbers and have all sorts of those poisons around their house.
 

oxeye

New member
All the previous advice sounds good. You might also want to think about anything in her diet that could be a trigger. I recently realized that MSG (which is in TONS of food) is a trigger for me. Artificial sweeteners are also a trigger (aspartame is the worst, I've been too afraid to try Splenda - so that could be with her also).

(((Hugs))) to her. Migraines are no fun. :(
 

murphydog77

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Oh, poor thing! That's around the age I started getting mine. I won't go into how often I get them now ;). I, too, am on daily preventive meds, but I also have a family history of them. My 7 yr old ds has had migraines now since around age 3, but he gets them only occasionally (and my dh has them too, so ds can't blame them all on me :D).

Hydration is important, as are good, non-sugary snacks, and about the only things that work for my ds are ice, Motrin, and sleep. I also started taking him to a chiropractor last summer and that's helped him a lot in reducing the number of headaches he's gotten.

You can't really start giving kids triptans until they're older. I don't know when because we're not there yet, but I know it's not until teens at least, I think. My first line of defense is Excedrin if I can catch my migraines at the very first twitch. If it even goes 5 minutes into a headache, it's too late to work. You may want to be careful with the Excedrin--the caffeine in it is very strong. I usually only take 1 and sometimes the caffeine hits me wrong, and I'm not a caffeine-free person.
 

supercrunch

New member
Poor girl :(

I started having them at age 4. My mom remembers the first one clearly...it was when we were all at the movie theatre watching "Terms of Endearment" lol. They weren't very frequent until junior high when I had to go on meds because I was getting them daily.

I am afraid my daughter is going to get them also. She has only had one headache bad enough that she was crying and wanted to go to bed...but she has had a few more that seem to really hurt and I can feel the veins on her temple pulsating.

Next time it happens, try Motrin...but don't overdo it with ibuprofen on a regular basis. It can be really hard on the gut. If she needs it on a regular basis, find a pediatric neurologist and get her on some preventative meds, or even just something strong for her to take when she gets them. I remember being given fiorinal (although I don't remember how to spell it, lol) when I was 12 to take when I would get a migrane. It had aspirin in it...which is often a big no-no for kids and teens...but I discovered that aspirin worked best on my headaches...much better than tylenol or ibuprofen. (but then again, aspirin is also hard on the gut)

Splenda definitely could have been the trigger. Nutrasweet always did it for me, so I avoid all artificial sweeteners.

Hang in there!
I hope that her first one will be her last one :)
 

Melizerd

New member
Oh I'm so sorry. Both my brother and I started having mirgaines when we were kids. My brother routinely has to go to the ER for IV medication to stop his vomitting. NOTHING has helped him.

For me I was about 13 (midst of puberty) and being put on the pill completely stopped mine. They were hormonal and I would get them right before AF. It was a Godsend. We tried everything else we could first.

Remember that Excedrin has caffeine in it as well so if you give it and a soda she can have a rebound headache the next day.
 

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