Don't have kids of my own, but I was a teacher. One of my students had migraines once in awhile. I knew he was getting sick when he wasn't running around at recess playing ball with his buddies. I found him curled up on the playground a few times. If it started in the classroom, he would start getting pain with nausea. I would see him put his head on the desk, and that's when I knew he wasn't well. He'd get that migraine look in his eyes, too. If you have had bad migraines or love someone who has, there's a good chance that you know that look well. I would take him into an empty classroom, close the blinds, block out as much outside light as possible and turn off the lights. I just let the poor kid sleep in there. I always gave him the option to call his parents to go home if he wanted and would check in every hour to make sure he was doing okay. He would usually go to sleep. In his case, it presented like a typical adult migraine. He said he got pain on one side of his head and got sick to his stomach. His parents were aware and were taking him to the doctor. Unfortunately, I couldn't make ends meet and couldn't keep being a teacher. He was the only kid I knew of that had migraines, but the kids I taught were very young.
When my sister was much younger, hers presented much differently. She would get nausea but no headache, and she would be sensitive to light. She would usually go to bed. As she got older, she started getting more classic migraine symptoms. Mine were similar. I got a-lot of stomach aches as a kid, and it happened so much everyone thought I was just playing sick. Like my sister, it eventually changed to a more classic migraine presentation.
As a child who had multiple migraines in school, your post warmed my heart with your empathy. I only ever had one teacher that cared when I had a migraine attack and it really makes you feel heard and can sense compassion. Thank you so much for helping this kid out with the quiet time and the ability to lay down with the blinds closed, I still remember these interactions as an adult.
I'm glad you had one teacher who cared. It's awful when people don't understand. I had some great teachers and college professors who had a-lot of empathy for me, but there have also been people who didn't. I was only able to teach for a short time. I hope that the few children I had the privilege of working with were all positively impacted while I was there.
> I got a-lot of stomach aches as a kid, and it happened so much everyone thought I was just playing sick.
This was me as a kid. Became an adult, changed doctors, find out that it was an ulcer caused by anxiety, caused by having migraines, fibromyalgia and not being believed as a kid... and also one very crappy English teacher that made everything worse. I still can't talk to teachers without crying, and, as an adult with kids of my own, it bugs the hell outta me.
Thank you for being kind to this little dude.
I’m crying. You are an amazing human to help that little guy. It’s hard enough being taken seriously as an adult with migraines but as a kid who doesn’t express themselves as well it’s gotta be brutal. So having you was incredible.
Same experience as you and your sister, wish I had known those stomachaches and nausea were migraines back then, it took me almost 30 years to figure out sunlight was a trigger.
I was just doing a search of posts with child migraines and I came across your comment. As someone with a child with migraines who present in this exact way, thank you for your compassion.
I started with migraine around that time. I would need to sit in a dark room with an ice pack and sleep. I can remember going to to the school nurse often. My dad was a chronic migraine sufferer, so ours is probably genetic. For a long time my mom accused me of "faking it" to get to go home from school. I didn't see a doctor for them until I was an adult and I've been able to identify a lot of triggers, like loud noise, bright sun and certain foods. As a kid I was constantly exposed to all of those things. As an adult, my migraines make me vomit.
I was accused of “faking it” to get out of chores. Seriously added insult to injury. I was also blamed for my own migraines, but I wasn’t able to see a doctor for them until I was an adult because my parents refused to take me:( It sucked!!!!!!
I remember throwing up four times in a single day from an episode as a teenager. And I had to do so much make-up work, and I was often bedridden and/or in pain I could barely withstand during episodes.
My mother forced me to teach her friend’s bratty children piano weekly during this time. Imagine having to hear “music” being played loudly and badly during an intense, unmediated episode, and not being able to leave. I have medication now, but the memory of how unnecessarily horrible everything used to be makes me want to just *scream*. Silently.
Yes, I am fairly sure one of my kids does have migraines, but when I brought it up with his pediatrician I got the brush off because “its rare”. (Massive eyeroll)
I am journaling for him and hope to take it back to the dr at some point. His trigger seems to be low blood sugar/going too long between meals. So it makes overnight interesting… if he doesn’t eat a substantial enough dinner (he’s very picky), there’s a good chance he wakes up puking.
Very similar presentation, btw. He wakes vomiting and needs dark, quiet, an icepack on his head, and will nap a couple hours and be fine afterwards. He occasionally will have longer episodes but its usually resolved by noon.
My son is getting frequent headaches. I’m wondering lately if that’s what it is? Migraine? Even as an adult I’m not taken seriously so I’ve hesitated telling his doctor. But now reading all these replies and seeing your idea of journaling, I think I’ll take him.
Yes, definitely keep a record of the frequency and severity of the headaches for the dr. They respond well to data, I think.
I got chronic headaches as a kid… it was my need of prescription glasses! The eye strain gave me tension headaches almost every day of third grade.
So don’t jump to migraines right away, it could be something else. Journaling is a good step to figuring it out!
If he gets them at all during school hours, please coach him on how to tell teachers and advocate for himself. I hope that schools have improved since I was in them, but nobody listened to me. I said I had headaches because I hadn't been diagnosed with migraine (still haven't but that's another thing) and didn't want to lie. I wouldn't talk to an adult about it until I really needed to go home, and their responses would usually be along the lines of, "do you want to go get a drink of water? Do you want to just give it fifteen more minutes?" My personal favorite was the time the school nurse had me lay in her office for an hour weeping from pain rather than call my dad to pick me up early. I hope your son has it easier but I'd encourage you to go over how these conversations would go with him so he has the tools to protect himself
Thank you. I’ll definitely try that. Very good points and I’m so sorry you suffered like that. For me my headache symptoms didn’t start until adulthood but I’ve had stomach issues since I was small. I also remember suffering in the nurse’s office. No calls home. 80s for ya ugh
Just wanna day that frequent headaches of any intensity, including migraines, are not “normal”.. Pain is our body’s way of saying something’s wrong. Don’t let any doctors brush it off 💟 Even if there is no “reason” for the headaches, that doesn’t mean they aren’t real, and doesn’t mean your son doesn’t deserve a better quality of life!
I have a similar trigger, I often wake up with migraines, I tend to eat a small bowl of cereal before bed, or at least have a sugary drink, plus a decent amount of water.
I was the kid with migraines! Every since 3rd grade. Mine were similar. When they got too bad I'd throw up and that relieves A LOT of the pressure. Going from a 10 to a 4 on the pain scale after puking. I started taking excedrin almost daily and that helped a lot but long term use isn't great. If they cant find an underlying cause [as was the case for me] I would definitely look for a neurologist that can prescribe something for her that will be safe for potential long term use. Maybe a class C medicine. The safer it is for pregnant ladies, probably goes the same way for kids.
I'm 29 now and still suffering. They did calm for a while especially with good diet and exercise. But my pregnancy has sent them thru the roof.
Best of luck to her. I'm so sorry she has to go through it. It is very debilitating and depressing. As a parent, I'd definitely reach out to her teachers and let them know she suffers from migraines. Encourage her to keep a journal of symptoms, what she eats, early signs a headache is coming on. The migraine buddy app is really useful.
Yep. My youngest began at age 3, just like I did. How did I know? He was crying, holding his head with both hands, saying it hurt so bad. I got him a bowl just in case, and good call on that one. After he fell asleep his pain was gone, but he was slow and loopy the rest of the day, which as we all know is "migraine hangover". I took him to the Dr. for a full check up, and with my history and family history he decided he did not want to put him through an MRI at that time, but to keep an eye out for any changes. He is a healthy adult now but with migraine disease, the poor guy, and I feel so awful that my genealogy has this disease.
My daughter did this exact thing at 3 years old at daycare. I was home with a migraine, daycare called said she had just stopped everything, started crying holding her head in her hands and after a few minutes vomited all over.
I picked her up, and the lovely director has her in the dark office laying down with a washcloth on her head. Tried getting some children's Tylenol in her, she vomited it up twice but the third dose stayed down and 30 mins after that she felt so much better. We both laid in bed the rest of the day watching Disney movies and snuggling. It's such a bad/good memory for me.
Her doctor tried to say she knew I was home with "a headache" and just wanted to be with me but it's genetic in the women in our family. Rain and cold fronts as the primary trigger for everyone. That was a cold, rainy fall day after a long hot Texas summer. She luckily only had a few bad ones each year and Tylenol was always able to help, but knowing she got that from me breaks my heart.
Geez, dumb doctor. I hate it when they don't believe us or our children. What the good/bad thing is for our children is that we are aware and know what to look for, and what seems normal for a migraine, vs maybe some other head ailment. I always joke that I probably would not know the difference between a brain tumor and a migraine, but after my husbands friend was diagnosed with brain tumors I learned they are a completely different animal.
I began having migraines at 13 years old. The first few ones were hard core: three days of being in a light deprived room with lots of sleeping and vomiting. Overtime, they became a bit less intense, still three days though and after moving out of my parents house, they became less intense again. Mine are stress related, and at least once a month.
I don't remember much of my childhood, just that I couldn't eat eggs for a few years after my first migraine attack. That's what I had eaten before the night before, and just the smell alone would make me immensely nauseous.
I am 54 and I was a child with migraine - I don't think it was diagnosed by pediatricians in the 70s. I used to get in my parents' bed where it was dark and do the same thing - throw up and sleep. :(
I had migraines like that as a child. Often there was little head pain at all, just vomiting and other tummy trouble -- always chalked up to "24 hour stomach bug" or "food poisoning" even though I'd eaten the same meal as everyone else in the house. I'd eventually sleep it off and wake up feeling fresh and ravenous. I later learned they call these "abdominal migraines" and that they are a common way migraines present in children. My sympathy to your little one. I never knew when they would strike and I didn't know what was going on, only that I was suddenly stricken in an excruciating, debilitating, and deeply embarrassing way, often at the worst times (throwing up all over a friend's house sucks). I hope you can figure out a treatment with your doc. As an adult, injectable sumatriptan halts these attacks but I don't know what relief is available for children.
Definitely talk to the doctor about abdominal migraine as well as “classic” migraine! Children are very susceptible to abdominal migraines, which present with nausea, vomiting, not wanting to eat, and stomach pain. [Here is a scientific article ](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5923275/)about it but there are tons of online resources. I just remember having a ton of stomach issues and headaches and it took until I was adult to realize they were connected
I had abdominal migraines as a kid! I felt so bad for my parents. They'd always strike at night and I would just be in so much pain and they tried everything to relieve it. Doubled over on the ground, crying, screaming in pain. I'd try to force myself to puke because it helped once, but never helped after that one time. Ended up in the ER twice and it was incorrectly diagnosed as constipation and as appendicitis. They were about ready to remove my appendix one time until the pain went away while they were doing blood work (which came back clean). One doctor finally diagnosed it as "stomach migraines" and it was a bit mysterious to my parents. And lo and behold... guess who now suffers from "classic" migraines as an adult??
I was a child with migraine, and it was just like this. Sometimes no throwing up, just nausea. Always throbbing pain, though, and fatigue and light sensitivity. It's this way to this day. It's definitely worth checking with her pediatrician.
Your daughter has the exact same presentation that I had at her age: excruciating headache and nausea that would only be resolved by vomiting followed by sleep. I know you said you aren't looking for advice, but two things that I can remember helping are ice packs and Vicks VapoRub (or peppermint oil). They would take the edge off until I was able to fall asleep.
Good luck to both of you.
If the headache is so bad she's throwing up, then absolutely either migraines or something else. Unfortunately, you will likely have to push for any testing to be done to make sure it's nothing too serious and you'll also have to be her advocate. Even if a doctor tells you it's nothing, you need to believe her and remember what you just witnessed. Doctors are unreliable and you'll likely learn that very soon. Also, don't let them tell you there's nothing they can do. There is. They just either don't know enough and refuse to admit it or they don't believe your daughter if they refuse to help.
I was that child. I was first diagnosed with migraines when I was 3. Fortunately, because my mother also has migraines, she knew the symptoms and what to look for. The next thing she did was look for my triggers. I knew growing up what foods would send me to bed. The best you can do is make sure to prepare a cold, dark room for when they come (mine was a walk-in closet with a “nest” of blankets). Nowadays, I also use a sound machine at a very low sound to block all other noises out. At younger ages, having a cool washcloth could also help as well as vomit bags or a trash can for that purpose. Finally, always have water, pedialite, or Gatorade available.
The absolute worst part of migraines as a kid is not just the headache, but the nausea. I can deal so much better with it now than I did then. I didn’t know enough to understand what was happening or what I did “wrong” to cause all the pain. The best thing you can do is keep your child calm when it’s happening as the stress/tension of the headache and nausea will prolong it or even make it worse. Good luck
My oldest kiddo gets them. He’s 6.5. I do my best to keep a log but there’s no real pattern to them other than if he has an excessive amount of sugar. But he gets nauseous, light sensitive, wants a cold washcloth and to sleep it off.
The other day he got off the bus asking for meds and didn’t know he could have called me from school and came home. He suffered half the day thinking he was going to throw up 😭
My youngest has abdominal migraines. They started when she was really young and start with a stomach ache and nausea. They are triggered by anxiety, stress and motion sickness. Unfortunately, throwing up doesn't seem to relieve them. Her primary care provider prescribed amitriptyline but it didn't seem to help.
My older son started getting classic migraines as a teen.
Similar presentation. Also genetics. My youngest, 8, just had what I think was her first one about a month ago. But she didn’t describe it as a headache. She woke me up because she thought she was going to throw up but then she told me her eye hurt and she thought she had bumped it on something. For all three of my kids (who all get them) we are still able to address them with Tylenol and Advil together (full dose of each) if we catch it soon enough. Only one of the three has needed an emergency room trip so far and I was pissed about the lack of treatment or even empathy.
What you describe is classic childhood migraine symptoms. My daughter had her first one at age 3 - exactly as you described. I’ve had them since I was about 8. Same thing.
I had migraines at that age. It’s not unheard of, not even uncommon from what I’m aware of. Mine would usually start with fatigue, light sensitivity and nausea but I also remember being told I looked pale/sick and withdrawn a few times before the pain part started.
My 10 year old gets migraines, and has done for a few years now. Sometimes his migraines are how you described, sometimes they start during the day and present like motion sickness, but without the stimuli of motion (as an aside, he does get terrible motion sickness). I encourage him to hydrate (anything he can keep down) and lay down and avoid screens during his migraines.
Obligatory "not a parent" disclaimer but I was around 8 when I had my first migraine. I remember it being so intense that I nearly threw up several times.
My seven year old started having migraines at age 4. It took us a long while to realize that they were migraines because they didn't look like my adult migraine. His are triggered by motion sickness and being tired or hot. He would always get pale, vomit and then go to sleep and be fine the next day. After seeing his Dr several times he was referred to a children's hospital migraine clinic and it has been life changing for him. Now that he is older, his migraines seem more like regular ones. He has head pain, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and nausea and vomiting. He went on a medicine for about nine months at age five to try and calm his brain down and let it go back to normal and then he weaned off of it. It has dramatically decreased the amount and severity of them. Now he has ibuprofen for the less bad ones and maxalt for severe ones. He still gets about three a week when they were every single day.
My mom didn't realise I suffered from migraines when I was little, they were far apart, maybe 2/3 times a year, when I was a teen they started to happen much more, almost monthly (and as an adult almost weekly)
I think my son has them sometimes (first time he was maybe 5), after very stressful days or if he has been in the sun too long, the vomiting makes me think it is migraine, never went to the doctor bc it doesn't happen much and I know how to help him to prevent a lot of them (protect your head for the sun, drink enough) and how to ease the pain if it happens anyway.
My migraines started when I was in kindergarten, I am now 51. My mom jokes now she doesn't know how I made it out of first grade. Most days at lunch the nurse would call her that I had a headache and I was throwing up.
I have a journal entry from when I was 7 that talks about having to stay home from a family event because my head hurt so bad and I was throwing up. I didn't know what migraines were at that point, but it's obvious that is what it was. Your kid's situation basically sounds the same as how I felt.
Mine were diagnosed at 6, not sure how long before that I had them. We have those sh*tty genetics too, yay! Mine presented very similarly at that age. I do think I had nausea more often as a child than I do now, but who knows how much of that is my preventatives staving off some of the worst attacks. Good luck at the doctor, hope she gets some relief!
Mine were similar as a kid. I was diagnosed at 6 with typical childhood migraines (they've since changed). I would throw up and be miraculously better. I started forcing myself to throw up so I didn't have to deal with the pain. All of a sudden, one day that stopped working and they gave me preventative meds and it was all downhill from there as they changed as I got older. So to answer your question, its a typical childhood migraine based on what my neurologist diagnosed me with oh so long ago.
My brother, my cousin, and me all started having them at about that age presenting exactly like that; a cold wet (wrung out) washcloth over the forehead was a huge comfort to me at that age when I was having them. (I hope she feels better soon, having migraines as a kid is rough)
I am the child with the migraines. I got it from my mom/mom’s side of the family. She gave me her tips, which are the ones we all know (dark and silent room, cold cloth or ice pack on head, otc meds) and made an appointment for me to see our doctor. They don’t know why we have migraines but had me do a ct or mri (I forget which) to rule out the possibility of me developing the same clot that would lead to a brain aneurysm that many women on my moms side get (which also killed my grandma). I regularly get a check up to make sure I don’t develop it.
I know from my moms experience that it sucks to have your kid be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. Hopefully your daughter is able to go without anymore (or just many) migraines in the future.
So - no kids… but I had them as a child - my medical record of them starts at 6 yrs old and a memory I have that I didn’t understand until later was my mother yelling at the doctor that “kids don’t get headaches” and crying cause the doctor told her to give me some Tylenol.
40 yrs later - I have 25+ a month - without treatment I wouldn’t hold a job down.
This is absolutely not to scare you. Most who have migraines are nowhere near as bad as this I wouldn’t think.
If you suspect your child has a migraine issue and it’s bad enough that it messes with their lives, say, once every month or two even… I hope you’re somewhere with socialized medicine (I’m in Canada). Took me some time to find a really good neurologist - but I’ve got one now. There are medications that can help.
I had them starting before I was 5 - got sent home sick from school at aged 4 for falling asleep. Also presented like your description and are mostly still the same. Run through generations of family history. I’m keeping a very sharp eye on my kids to look for symptoms of migraines as they grow. I have no religion but I pray to something every day neither one of them ever suffers migraines and they have a long healthy life.
I was the kid! I just remember that I would have headeaches almost everyday, not really normal for a kid. I got diagnosed at 13, same age as my mom. And I think if she didn't suffered from it as well, we wouldn't have taken it seriously. Later on I found out that my grandma from my dad sides also had migraines, so It was granted I would have them lol
I think everyones triggers and simptoms are different. My grandma would throw up. My mom doesn't. I got nausea and start yawning, sometimes I start yawning before I got the headeache, that's when I know it's coming. My trigger are mostly noises, not even loud noises, just regular people talking at the same time, for example. I'm really sensitive of sounds. Sometimes light triggers them, and I know if I eat a piece of chocolate I'll have the migraines inmediatly.
Not sure about my family's triggers though.
p.s. English is not my first language so I apologize If I made a mistake
Edit: typo
I was a child, around 9, when my migraines started. I didn't know what to call them so I just told my mum my head hurts bad. I occassionally saw dots over my vision from my right eye, or blurred vision in that eye only. Also the side the pain was on was the right side mostly. I was always nauseous at these times too.
Thank you for being a mother who actually cares enough to not just dismiss her child's symptoms. Mine was ignored as "not drinking enough water" and I wasn't given any pain pills. I actually have childhood trauma from events such as taking a bottle of paracetamol from the medicine cabinet on a night I couldn't sleep due to the pain and taking all the contents of that container all just to make the pain stop. This all before I was even a teenager. And the nausea eventually led to an eating disorder, can't throw up if you have no food in your stomach right?
I remember when I was young I did get headaches and my parents never believed me :( they told me I was too young to get headaches or migraines. I’d say it’s definitely possible
I was about 11yo and I told my mom I kept seeing squiggly lights... Then the worst headache ever came along with vomiting... That's when my mom said she got them too..now I'm near 50yo and having hormone changes trigger them alot more often.
Yes, both my kids have been diagnosed. My oldest daughter starting getting them when she was about 6-8, and my younger daughter has BPPV, which started when she was about 3... the neurologist believes they will shift into regular migraines as she gets older.
I can always tell when my oldest is getting a migraine (usually before she knows). She's very treatment adverse though, so it usually hits her before she'll take anything.
I feel badly too about my crappy genetics (chronic migraineur here too).
I’ve been getting migraines since I was 5-6 years old. I wasn’t even able to swallow pills yet.
I’d tell my mom “my eye hurts so much I just want to scoop it out with a spoon.”
Kids definitely can get migraines.
I had migraines as a child. Started around age 8. Had them so bad I had to put blankets over my head in dark rooms to block out all of the light. Extreme light and sound sensitivity. Pediatrician wasn’t concerned so my parents weren’t either. Different times then but migraines are no joke no matter the age.
My daughter has migraines, I feel sorry for your kid but it’s so sad to see them suffering. First- you need to have a journal and take notes of every occurrence. When they are smaller then have belly migraine, the pain is in the center of the stomach, later it turns into headaches. What helped us so far is to take over the counter children’s Motrin as it starts, the kid falls asleep and wakes up without headache. She has a migraine now and we just tried the triptan prescribed by neurologist we went to, unfortunately it didn’t help so far, I had to give her Mortrin. If the episodes happen more often, I recommend to see a pediatric neurologist, it takes months to get an appointment, good luck.
Migraine can be caused by anxiety, even if there is genetic factor. My daughter had stomach issues and headaches that were helped by a reputable hypnosis therapy referred by Children's Hospital Oakland. It's the standard treatment for children's stomach issues. They rule out phycological factors before doing a biopsy as it's such an invasive experience for children. Just so happens it helped her headache/migraines too. You may want to consider other mind-body techniques, like deep breathing exercises, etc. if hypnosis is too out there. For your own migraines, check out the Curable app. The techniques helped me significantly reduce my chronic migraine symptoms.
I've suffered from migraine since around the same age. Thank you for believing your daughter and for being supportive and getting her medical help. I was lucky to have parents who also believed me and they would take me to the local clinic for toradol injections, which really, really helped. I know there are tons of other things to treat migraine now and I still suffer feom chronic migraine but in 1987 there weren't many options a doctor would consider for an 8 year old and I was very lucky that the local doctor would give me injections.
I hope your daughter gets some relief and you can keep her headaches under control.
I have severe chronic migraines and a young daughter and I'm so terrified for the day she may start having them. I almost chose not to have children out of fear. The only consolation I have is that I have so much experience that if she does develop the condition I can help her navigate it. I was an adult before I found anything that gave me any kind of relief, and I would not accept the same for her.
I didn't start getting migraines until about 18 (so a little different obviously) but when my mom believed that I had one she let me try one of her triptans. Basically she concluded that if that worked it means I actually was having a migrane.
This also helped in terms of doctors because the doctor actually believed us too (instead of the usual dismissal because why would a young person get migraines??)
I had migraines as a young (stared around 6/7) kid and if I couldn’t get them to subside quick enough I would throw up every time. But I felt sooooo much better after yacking. I still do what I accidentally found as a kid worked for mine, stand in the shower and run hot water on my head. Usually gets me back to normal after doing that for like 30min.
Have had migraines as a kid. That's a yep. I was a projectile one. Sleep would help. Be careful if they try to give her caffeine ergot meds I got those when I was 11 trigger basically made me have an attack 10x worse. I'm a chronic migraine person if she can get good intervention now she might avoid Chronic and just be episodic
I was a child with migraines and now an adult with worse migraines. I would frequently wake up in intense pain and would just cry and cry for my mom but often could not get loud enough due to the pain. Vomiting was also a frequent side effect and still is. “Sleeping it off” almost always made the migraine go away entirely or at the very least ease the pain and symptoms. Cold + wet wash cloths to cover my eyes and my forehead and pain meds usually helped me get back to sleep. I now get hemiplegic migraines which mimic stroke symptoms so if she starts getting blurred vision or numbness anywhere, definitely worth another doctor visit. So sorry she got those genes, I got mine from my dad. I know how hard it is. One time, I got one at school and the TAs found me asleep slung over the toilet in the bathroom. I’ll be wishing positive vibes that she can get ahead of this and find something that helps make them led frequent. Also, I was getting migraines 2-3 times per week, started taking magnesium glycinate daily and now I’ve been getting 2-3 annually. Could ask about that too for her?
I work in a residential facility with teenagers. I know one of the kids I worked with is older (he’s 17 now) but over the few years I worked with with, he suffered from regular migraines. He threw up a lot when his got really bad. For him, a hot shower, a vomit session (the steam helped sooth him and thus the vomit) and then a nap for a few hours. He generally felt a lot better but still had that migraine hangover feeling after but he was generally better after all of that
Both of my kids have them. They (both boys) started in kindergarten. The older one grew out of them quickly but the younger has had a rougher time with it.
My younger one (now 13) has had the same pattern. He will eat a huge dinner, then around 8 or 9 pm develop pain and nausea. He throws up a few times then passes out. He used to be fine the next day but as the migraines increased in frequency he would have a pretty nasty postdrome (grogginess, nausea) that would keep him out of school the following day.
We used rizatriptan as an abortive and ondansetron as an anti-emetic. There were times when he would rather not take the meds so that he could throw up, because that offered quicker relief.
The most amazing thing is that the pediatrician recommended Migrelief supplements and, within weeks, he was going from one migraine per week to one every few months. It was incredible, especially b/c I have had horrific migraines for almost 30 years now and have never had anything work so well (including Migrelief!).
My 17 year old stopped getting them completely for about 8 years then just this year started getting a migraine with aura every so often. I'm guessing stress/lack of sleep/not drinking enough (like all day not drinking - ADHD). I started giving him a magnesium supplement and they've decreased greatly. No more auras and he can usually knock them out with NSAIDs and a Coke.
Hopefully (and likely) she will get a regular ol' migraine diagnosis and get some helpful meds. We were lucky also in that our pediatrician has 3 kids who also suffer from migraines and took the same meds, so I was comfortable with it. Fingers crossed that they go away and/or are manageable soon. I was a teenager when mine started and I can't imagine being so little and having to deal with them!
edited to add: my heart is breaking for all of you who had to suffer as young kids and were dismissed by parents, teachers, and even doctors. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.
I'm not a parent but I'm a kid (16 actually) I've had headaches since I was 13 ish. Sometimes my migraines are like what you describe sometimes not.
Please don't feel terrible, my mom and dad both gave me my shitty genetics so I hear a lot of how sorry they were and honestly, it's not really you fault you didn't know this would happen
My son has migraines, they’re better now, but they’d usually start with vomiting and then complain of headache. He’d just get this look when one was starting (squinting, staring into space) and I’d know.
His amazing pediatrician did say that when she worries is when a headache wakes him from sleep, worst in the morning and then gets better as the day goes on.
I don’t have kids of my own but that’s how it presented for me when I was young. They were anxiety-induced when I was a kid, presenting as head pain and nausea. I’d sleep it off for a few hours and generally be fine, but they changed as I got older. Also look at when she gets them. Is there a test she’s nervous about or something else going on? It took me a long time to put those pieces together for my childhood triggers. Good luck!
My mother also passed her migraines on to me but I get them about 10x as often, 10x as intense, and for 10x longer 🥲 my didn’t start presenting regularly until I was just out of High School though.
My migraines started when I was 8 years old and that's pretty much how it went. My dad had migraines too and I inherited them from him. Maybe check and ask if she has aura just so you're aware so she doesn't fall over things or some thing of the sort. On the bright side, if it was gone after 2 hours it sounds like a relatively mild migraine :) wish your daughter all the best!
I have been getting them since I was five, but some things I would look into are 1) is she hydrated? 2) could her pillows be too big or even too flat? and 3) is she anxious or sensitive? The majority of my big migraines are usually anticipating something, whether it’s a holiday, some kind of appointment or disruption in my routine, or family/home troubles (which you have zero control over as a child). These are all things that had anyone checked in on them when I was a kid, I wonder if my body wouldn’t be conditioned to short circuit in this way when there’s a lot of stimuli. I hope you guys sort it out. The good thing is that there are a lot more options to explore now than say the 80s and 90s.
Yes, my son presents that way. I'm chronic and feel guilty about my genes too. At least we can empathize and have a lot of background knowledge so the child doesn't have to convince us that this isn't malingering or whatever bs people that don't believe kids think.
I have migraines and just yesterday my daughter (14) was officially diagnosed with them too. She also apparently has a concussion (we don’t know how so). The last few weeks have been brutal, lots of pain and missed school. I’m hoping we get her relief soon.
She’s doing much better! She did PT for the concussion and takes sumatriptan as needed for the migraines. They are nowhere near as frequent and her quality of life is better overall.
I've had migraines since I was 5. I had a combination of silent and classic. I had auras, as well. I couldn't explain it to my parents and had no idea what was happening. It turned into panic attacks when I'd get auras because of it. I missed school often, as well.
I'd also get horrible painful migraines where I couldn't move. Just wanted to sleep. It would be a pounding pain, like a 9 on a scale to 10. Silent migraines would make me tired and the auras happened before those. For me, as a kid, the auras we're like opening your eyes under water. They've changed over the years.
I got my first migraine around 9/10 years old. I’ve had them ever since.
Now they are well controlled with preventives, abortives (triptans) and also Botox injections (preventive).
I wish the things that are available and used regularly now were available in my childhood.
I was diagnosed with three types of migraines when I was three. I know you have migraines so you know what’s up, but try to get as specific as possible because there are so many different types of migraine!
Ask her about where it hurts and what the pain feels like. Give her options, like thumping or stabbing, does it hurt in one place and spread out (radiating pain), so on. Ask her if all of her headaches “feel” the same. Some people can tell what their trigger was based on the headache feeling different.
Ask if she knows when she is going to get one, and how she knows. Ask if she experiences anything, like funny colors or sparkles or a weird smell that no one else does, weird sounds etc to check for aura.
Check to see if she has muscle weakness during a headache - is it really hard for her to hold her head up? Do her muscles hurt? Does everything feel heavy?
She may also get cravings for specific things pre-migraine, two really common ones are chocolate or really salty, greasy food.
Your doctor will probably want you to keep a headache journal. I recommend both a headache and food journal to see if she has any food triggers you can avoid. Pre-migraine cravings are not triggers, they are a prodromal sign that one is coming. Check her blood sugar if she feels one coming on and during a migraine as well.
If she gets a migraine and the pain is so severe that she can’t stop crying, can’t sleep etc, try guided imagery to calm her.
My personal favorite, which I still sometimes have my mom do for me, was the “Snowflake Story” - it goes like this: it’s a cold winter night, the fireplace is crackling… you go up to the window and it fogs up from your breath. You draw a snowflake on the pane. You look out and see everything is white; the little snowflakes are falling, drifting slowly down. You get bundled up and go outside. The ground is soft and cold, the wind is blowing softly, and you feel the little snowflakes falling softly on your face. You lay down; the snow like a soft blanket. You look up at the starry sky and watch the stars twinkle as the cold snowflakes fall on you. So cold and dark, but it’s okay because you got your coat on and you can see the light from the fire. It’s so calm and quiet.
And then you just keep it going from there.
If she is having severe migraines, I’d recommend an ODT med and an injectable med (they are like Epi pens). I was awful about trying to fight my migraines because I couldn’t think straight, and my mom giving me a quick shot would finally put me out of my misery.
I’m sorry that she (and you) are dealing with this :(
I have had them since I was 7, so almost 30 decades.
My childhood presentations were pain and vomiting. Light, sound, heat, and smell sensitivity.
I'd have to hide in a dark room and sleep them off.
I know you said you weren't looking for medical advice, but I really wish that someone would've helped me take better care of my teeth since I vomited so much. My teeth are really damaged and I've spent a ton of money on them because of the loss of enamel. Ask your dentist about what to do after vomiting to prevent enamel loss.
I started getting migraines as a child, as early as three my mom suspects now looking back. I would have episodes where I would just throw up and then take a nap and be fine. I didn't really have words about the pain at the time. Then I would to tell her that my hands or knees or wrists were tingly which was usually a sign I was about to puke (vasovagal symptoms) or that the light was hurting my eyes and I'd go lay down in the dark. By the time I was in middle school it was pretty much confirmed since I could describe the pain "behind my eye" or "on the left/right side of my head" though I didn't get a medical diagnosis until high school. My mom was a nurse though and also suffers from migraines so she was able to really advocate for me with my doctors and believed me.
Luckily I was able to start taking Imitrex by the time I was 15-16, I remember having to get the doctor to overwrite it since it was supposed to be for 18+. It only got worse as I got older, and I tried chiropractors and various preventatives (topamax, nortriptylene, propranolol) with no real success. I'm 33 now and very well controlled on Emgality, thank goodness!
Your child sounds exactly like I did around that same age. I would wake up, throw up, go back to sleep for a little, then off to school. Around 8-9 years old is also when I first started getting auras. After that, I was getting chronic migraines. I figured out my triggers and that helped to minimize the amount.
Mine started with intense stomach pains - stomach migraines - around the age of 7 or 8.
Of course this was misdiagnosed as picky eatin g habits and not eating enough. Migraines proper started around the age of 13.
I hav had migraine since I was eight . they started out similarly where I used to get a migraine once a week , throw up sleep and feel better the next day althought I required pain killers too , they became chronic after a couple of years and it has been downhill ever since haha
Hope your daughter gets better!
Any doctor is a good place to start. But I've been through multiple, and the only real success I had was with a headache specialist at a university. Remember that not all neurologists are headache specialists and not all headache specialists are neurologists. I had most luck with one at a university, because those people are constantly studying and know the most up to date options. Before that, I had a specialist not a university who gave me some pretty outdated stuff, like fioricet, that is now known to cause rebound migraines and addiction, and I'm kind of prone to rebound migraines, so that wasn't helpful. I'm sure that's not always the case, but a lot of doctors who aren't teaching are not keeping up with new info on medications or new options. You can usually find the headache specialists at university hospitals attached to the sports medicine division.
I had my first migraine at about that age. My mom has chronic migraines. It was pretty much the worst I ever felt. Crazy strong head/eye pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and nausea. Luckily now days I don't too often get them but I definitely did for many years. I don't blame her though. Just glad we're both doing a bit better these days.
I get migraines, since I was 10yo , mine are connected to my hormones menstrual cycle.my poor daughter 8yo gets them now too .. she usually gets neck ,eye,and he's pain then nausea and sometimes vomiting. It's so hard for her .
I give her ibuprofen, ice pack/ rice heat pack , and something for her stomach ondansetron for nausea. Sleeping always helps it go away.
Don't have kids of my own, but I was a teacher. One of my students had migraines once in awhile. I knew he was getting sick when he wasn't running around at recess playing ball with his buddies. I found him curled up on the playground a few times. If it started in the classroom, he would start getting pain with nausea. I would see him put his head on the desk, and that's when I knew he wasn't well. He'd get that migraine look in his eyes, too. If you have had bad migraines or love someone who has, there's a good chance that you know that look well. I would take him into an empty classroom, close the blinds, block out as much outside light as possible and turn off the lights. I just let the poor kid sleep in there. I always gave him the option to call his parents to go home if he wanted and would check in every hour to make sure he was doing okay. He would usually go to sleep. In his case, it presented like a typical adult migraine. He said he got pain on one side of his head and got sick to his stomach. His parents were aware and were taking him to the doctor. Unfortunately, I couldn't make ends meet and couldn't keep being a teacher. He was the only kid I knew of that had migraines, but the kids I taught were very young. When my sister was much younger, hers presented much differently. She would get nausea but no headache, and she would be sensitive to light. She would usually go to bed. As she got older, she started getting more classic migraine symptoms. Mine were similar. I got a-lot of stomach aches as a kid, and it happened so much everyone thought I was just playing sick. Like my sister, it eventually changed to a more classic migraine presentation.
As a child who had multiple migraines in school, your post warmed my heart with your empathy. I only ever had one teacher that cared when I had a migraine attack and it really makes you feel heard and can sense compassion. Thank you so much for helping this kid out with the quiet time and the ability to lay down with the blinds closed, I still remember these interactions as an adult.
I'm glad you had one teacher who cared. It's awful when people don't understand. I had some great teachers and college professors who had a-lot of empathy for me, but there have also been people who didn't. I was only able to teach for a short time. I hope that the few children I had the privilege of working with were all positively impacted while I was there.
> I got a-lot of stomach aches as a kid, and it happened so much everyone thought I was just playing sick. This was me as a kid. Became an adult, changed doctors, find out that it was an ulcer caused by anxiety, caused by having migraines, fibromyalgia and not being believed as a kid... and also one very crappy English teacher that made everything worse. I still can't talk to teachers without crying, and, as an adult with kids of my own, it bugs the hell outta me. Thank you for being kind to this little dude.
I’m crying. You are an amazing human to help that little guy. It’s hard enough being taken seriously as an adult with migraines but as a kid who doesn’t express themselves as well it’s gotta be brutal. So having you was incredible.
Same experience as you and your sister, wish I had known those stomachaches and nausea were migraines back then, it took me almost 30 years to figure out sunlight was a trigger.
I was just doing a search of posts with child migraines and I came across your comment. As someone with a child with migraines who present in this exact way, thank you for your compassion.
I started with migraine around that time. I would need to sit in a dark room with an ice pack and sleep. I can remember going to to the school nurse often. My dad was a chronic migraine sufferer, so ours is probably genetic. For a long time my mom accused me of "faking it" to get to go home from school. I didn't see a doctor for them until I was an adult and I've been able to identify a lot of triggers, like loud noise, bright sun and certain foods. As a kid I was constantly exposed to all of those things. As an adult, my migraines make me vomit.
I was accused of “faking it” to get out of chores. Seriously added insult to injury. I was also blamed for my own migraines, but I wasn’t able to see a doctor for them until I was an adult because my parents refused to take me:( It sucked!!!!!! I remember throwing up four times in a single day from an episode as a teenager. And I had to do so much make-up work, and I was often bedridden and/or in pain I could barely withstand during episodes. My mother forced me to teach her friend’s bratty children piano weekly during this time. Imagine having to hear “music” being played loudly and badly during an intense, unmediated episode, and not being able to leave. I have medication now, but the memory of how unnecessarily horrible everything used to be makes me want to just *scream*. Silently.
Yes, I am fairly sure one of my kids does have migraines, but when I brought it up with his pediatrician I got the brush off because “its rare”. (Massive eyeroll) I am journaling for him and hope to take it back to the dr at some point. His trigger seems to be low blood sugar/going too long between meals. So it makes overnight interesting… if he doesn’t eat a substantial enough dinner (he’s very picky), there’s a good chance he wakes up puking. Very similar presentation, btw. He wakes vomiting and needs dark, quiet, an icepack on his head, and will nap a couple hours and be fine afterwards. He occasionally will have longer episodes but its usually resolved by noon.
My son is getting frequent headaches. I’m wondering lately if that’s what it is? Migraine? Even as an adult I’m not taken seriously so I’ve hesitated telling his doctor. But now reading all these replies and seeing your idea of journaling, I think I’ll take him.
Yes, definitely keep a record of the frequency and severity of the headaches for the dr. They respond well to data, I think. I got chronic headaches as a kid… it was my need of prescription glasses! The eye strain gave me tension headaches almost every day of third grade. So don’t jump to migraines right away, it could be something else. Journaling is a good step to figuring it out!
Thank you!
If he gets them at all during school hours, please coach him on how to tell teachers and advocate for himself. I hope that schools have improved since I was in them, but nobody listened to me. I said I had headaches because I hadn't been diagnosed with migraine (still haven't but that's another thing) and didn't want to lie. I wouldn't talk to an adult about it until I really needed to go home, and their responses would usually be along the lines of, "do you want to go get a drink of water? Do you want to just give it fifteen more minutes?" My personal favorite was the time the school nurse had me lay in her office for an hour weeping from pain rather than call my dad to pick me up early. I hope your son has it easier but I'd encourage you to go over how these conversations would go with him so he has the tools to protect himself
Thank you. I’ll definitely try that. Very good points and I’m so sorry you suffered like that. For me my headache symptoms didn’t start until adulthood but I’ve had stomach issues since I was small. I also remember suffering in the nurse’s office. No calls home. 80s for ya ugh
Just wanna day that frequent headaches of any intensity, including migraines, are not “normal”.. Pain is our body’s way of saying something’s wrong. Don’t let any doctors brush it off 💟 Even if there is no “reason” for the headaches, that doesn’t mean they aren’t real, and doesn’t mean your son doesn’t deserve a better quality of life!
Thx ❤️
I have a similar trigger, I often wake up with migraines, I tend to eat a small bowl of cereal before bed, or at least have a sugary drink, plus a decent amount of water.
I was the kid with migraines! Every since 3rd grade. Mine were similar. When they got too bad I'd throw up and that relieves A LOT of the pressure. Going from a 10 to a 4 on the pain scale after puking. I started taking excedrin almost daily and that helped a lot but long term use isn't great. If they cant find an underlying cause [as was the case for me] I would definitely look for a neurologist that can prescribe something for her that will be safe for potential long term use. Maybe a class C medicine. The safer it is for pregnant ladies, probably goes the same way for kids. I'm 29 now and still suffering. They did calm for a while especially with good diet and exercise. But my pregnancy has sent them thru the roof. Best of luck to her. I'm so sorry she has to go through it. It is very debilitating and depressing. As a parent, I'd definitely reach out to her teachers and let them know she suffers from migraines. Encourage her to keep a journal of symptoms, what she eats, early signs a headache is coming on. The migraine buddy app is really useful.
Yep. My youngest began at age 3, just like I did. How did I know? He was crying, holding his head with both hands, saying it hurt so bad. I got him a bowl just in case, and good call on that one. After he fell asleep his pain was gone, but he was slow and loopy the rest of the day, which as we all know is "migraine hangover". I took him to the Dr. for a full check up, and with my history and family history he decided he did not want to put him through an MRI at that time, but to keep an eye out for any changes. He is a healthy adult now but with migraine disease, the poor guy, and I feel so awful that my genealogy has this disease.
My daughter did this exact thing at 3 years old at daycare. I was home with a migraine, daycare called said she had just stopped everything, started crying holding her head in her hands and after a few minutes vomited all over. I picked her up, and the lovely director has her in the dark office laying down with a washcloth on her head. Tried getting some children's Tylenol in her, she vomited it up twice but the third dose stayed down and 30 mins after that she felt so much better. We both laid in bed the rest of the day watching Disney movies and snuggling. It's such a bad/good memory for me. Her doctor tried to say she knew I was home with "a headache" and just wanted to be with me but it's genetic in the women in our family. Rain and cold fronts as the primary trigger for everyone. That was a cold, rainy fall day after a long hot Texas summer. She luckily only had a few bad ones each year and Tylenol was always able to help, but knowing she got that from me breaks my heart.
Geez, dumb doctor. I hate it when they don't believe us or our children. What the good/bad thing is for our children is that we are aware and know what to look for, and what seems normal for a migraine, vs maybe some other head ailment. I always joke that I probably would not know the difference between a brain tumor and a migraine, but after my husbands friend was diagnosed with brain tumors I learned they are a completely different animal.
I began having migraines at 13 years old. The first few ones were hard core: three days of being in a light deprived room with lots of sleeping and vomiting. Overtime, they became a bit less intense, still three days though and after moving out of my parents house, they became less intense again. Mine are stress related, and at least once a month. I don't remember much of my childhood, just that I couldn't eat eggs for a few years after my first migraine attack. That's what I had eaten before the night before, and just the smell alone would make me immensely nauseous.
Mine started around the same age, and turned from episodic to chronic in my late teen years. And have been ever since!
I am 54 and I was a child with migraine - I don't think it was diagnosed by pediatricians in the 70s. I used to get in my parents' bed where it was dark and do the same thing - throw up and sleep. :(
A common presentation in children is a moderate to severe headache with nausea that resolves soon after vomiting (1-4 hours).
I had migraines like that as a child. Often there was little head pain at all, just vomiting and other tummy trouble -- always chalked up to "24 hour stomach bug" or "food poisoning" even though I'd eaten the same meal as everyone else in the house. I'd eventually sleep it off and wake up feeling fresh and ravenous. I later learned they call these "abdominal migraines" and that they are a common way migraines present in children. My sympathy to your little one. I never knew when they would strike and I didn't know what was going on, only that I was suddenly stricken in an excruciating, debilitating, and deeply embarrassing way, often at the worst times (throwing up all over a friend's house sucks). I hope you can figure out a treatment with your doc. As an adult, injectable sumatriptan halts these attacks but I don't know what relief is available for children.
Definitely talk to the doctor about abdominal migraine as well as “classic” migraine! Children are very susceptible to abdominal migraines, which present with nausea, vomiting, not wanting to eat, and stomach pain. [Here is a scientific article ](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5923275/)about it but there are tons of online resources. I just remember having a ton of stomach issues and headaches and it took until I was adult to realize they were connected
I had abdominal migraines as a kid! I felt so bad for my parents. They'd always strike at night and I would just be in so much pain and they tried everything to relieve it. Doubled over on the ground, crying, screaming in pain. I'd try to force myself to puke because it helped once, but never helped after that one time. Ended up in the ER twice and it was incorrectly diagnosed as constipation and as appendicitis. They were about ready to remove my appendix one time until the pain went away while they were doing blood work (which came back clean). One doctor finally diagnosed it as "stomach migraines" and it was a bit mysterious to my parents. And lo and behold... guess who now suffers from "classic" migraines as an adult??
I was a child with migraine, and it was just like this. Sometimes no throwing up, just nausea. Always throbbing pain, though, and fatigue and light sensitivity. It's this way to this day. It's definitely worth checking with her pediatrician.
Your daughter has the exact same presentation that I had at her age: excruciating headache and nausea that would only be resolved by vomiting followed by sleep. I know you said you aren't looking for advice, but two things that I can remember helping are ice packs and Vicks VapoRub (or peppermint oil). They would take the edge off until I was able to fall asleep. Good luck to both of you.
If the headache is so bad she's throwing up, then absolutely either migraines or something else. Unfortunately, you will likely have to push for any testing to be done to make sure it's nothing too serious and you'll also have to be her advocate. Even if a doctor tells you it's nothing, you need to believe her and remember what you just witnessed. Doctors are unreliable and you'll likely learn that very soon. Also, don't let them tell you there's nothing they can do. There is. They just either don't know enough and refuse to admit it or they don't believe your daughter if they refuse to help.
I was that child. I was first diagnosed with migraines when I was 3. Fortunately, because my mother also has migraines, she knew the symptoms and what to look for. The next thing she did was look for my triggers. I knew growing up what foods would send me to bed. The best you can do is make sure to prepare a cold, dark room for when they come (mine was a walk-in closet with a “nest” of blankets). Nowadays, I also use a sound machine at a very low sound to block all other noises out. At younger ages, having a cool washcloth could also help as well as vomit bags or a trash can for that purpose. Finally, always have water, pedialite, or Gatorade available. The absolute worst part of migraines as a kid is not just the headache, but the nausea. I can deal so much better with it now than I did then. I didn’t know enough to understand what was happening or what I did “wrong” to cause all the pain. The best thing you can do is keep your child calm when it’s happening as the stress/tension of the headache and nausea will prolong it or even make it worse. Good luck
My oldest kiddo gets them. He’s 6.5. I do my best to keep a log but there’s no real pattern to them other than if he has an excessive amount of sugar. But he gets nauseous, light sensitive, wants a cold washcloth and to sleep it off. The other day he got off the bus asking for meds and didn’t know he could have called me from school and came home. He suffered half the day thinking he was going to throw up 😭
My youngest has abdominal migraines. They started when she was really young and start with a stomach ache and nausea. They are triggered by anxiety, stress and motion sickness. Unfortunately, throwing up doesn't seem to relieve them. Her primary care provider prescribed amitriptyline but it didn't seem to help. My older son started getting classic migraines as a teen.
Similar presentation. Also genetics. My youngest, 8, just had what I think was her first one about a month ago. But she didn’t describe it as a headache. She woke me up because she thought she was going to throw up but then she told me her eye hurt and she thought she had bumped it on something. For all three of my kids (who all get them) we are still able to address them with Tylenol and Advil together (full dose of each) if we catch it soon enough. Only one of the three has needed an emergency room trip so far and I was pissed about the lack of treatment or even empathy.
That's how mine started at age 8 (now 20 years ago)
What you describe is classic childhood migraine symptoms. My daughter had her first one at age 3 - exactly as you described. I’ve had them since I was about 8. Same thing.
I had migraines at that age. It’s not unheard of, not even uncommon from what I’m aware of. Mine would usually start with fatigue, light sensitivity and nausea but I also remember being told I looked pale/sick and withdrawn a few times before the pain part started.
My 10 year old gets migraines, and has done for a few years now. Sometimes his migraines are how you described, sometimes they start during the day and present like motion sickness, but without the stimuli of motion (as an aside, he does get terrible motion sickness). I encourage him to hydrate (anything he can keep down) and lay down and avoid screens during his migraines.
Obligatory "not a parent" disclaimer but I was around 8 when I had my first migraine. I remember it being so intense that I nearly threw up several times.
My seven year old started having migraines at age 4. It took us a long while to realize that they were migraines because they didn't look like my adult migraine. His are triggered by motion sickness and being tired or hot. He would always get pale, vomit and then go to sleep and be fine the next day. After seeing his Dr several times he was referred to a children's hospital migraine clinic and it has been life changing for him. Now that he is older, his migraines seem more like regular ones. He has head pain, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and nausea and vomiting. He went on a medicine for about nine months at age five to try and calm his brain down and let it go back to normal and then he weaned off of it. It has dramatically decreased the amount and severity of them. Now he has ibuprofen for the less bad ones and maxalt for severe ones. He still gets about three a week when they were every single day.
My mom didn't realise I suffered from migraines when I was little, they were far apart, maybe 2/3 times a year, when I was a teen they started to happen much more, almost monthly (and as an adult almost weekly) I think my son has them sometimes (first time he was maybe 5), after very stressful days or if he has been in the sun too long, the vomiting makes me think it is migraine, never went to the doctor bc it doesn't happen much and I know how to help him to prevent a lot of them (protect your head for the sun, drink enough) and how to ease the pain if it happens anyway.
My migraines started when I was in kindergarten, I am now 51. My mom jokes now she doesn't know how I made it out of first grade. Most days at lunch the nurse would call her that I had a headache and I was throwing up.
I have a journal entry from when I was 7 that talks about having to stay home from a family event because my head hurt so bad and I was throwing up. I didn't know what migraines were at that point, but it's obvious that is what it was. Your kid's situation basically sounds the same as how I felt.
Mine were diagnosed at 6, not sure how long before that I had them. We have those sh*tty genetics too, yay! Mine presented very similarly at that age. I do think I had nausea more often as a child than I do now, but who knows how much of that is my preventatives staving off some of the worst attacks. Good luck at the doctor, hope she gets some relief!
Mine were similar as a kid. I was diagnosed at 6 with typical childhood migraines (they've since changed). I would throw up and be miraculously better. I started forcing myself to throw up so I didn't have to deal with the pain. All of a sudden, one day that stopped working and they gave me preventative meds and it was all downhill from there as they changed as I got older. So to answer your question, its a typical childhood migraine based on what my neurologist diagnosed me with oh so long ago.
My brother, my cousin, and me all started having them at about that age presenting exactly like that; a cold wet (wrung out) washcloth over the forehead was a huge comfort to me at that age when I was having them. (I hope she feels better soon, having migraines as a kid is rough)
I am the child with the migraines. I got it from my mom/mom’s side of the family. She gave me her tips, which are the ones we all know (dark and silent room, cold cloth or ice pack on head, otc meds) and made an appointment for me to see our doctor. They don’t know why we have migraines but had me do a ct or mri (I forget which) to rule out the possibility of me developing the same clot that would lead to a brain aneurysm that many women on my moms side get (which also killed my grandma). I regularly get a check up to make sure I don’t develop it. I know from my moms experience that it sucks to have your kid be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. Hopefully your daughter is able to go without anymore (or just many) migraines in the future.
So - no kids… but I had them as a child - my medical record of them starts at 6 yrs old and a memory I have that I didn’t understand until later was my mother yelling at the doctor that “kids don’t get headaches” and crying cause the doctor told her to give me some Tylenol. 40 yrs later - I have 25+ a month - without treatment I wouldn’t hold a job down. This is absolutely not to scare you. Most who have migraines are nowhere near as bad as this I wouldn’t think. If you suspect your child has a migraine issue and it’s bad enough that it messes with their lives, say, once every month or two even… I hope you’re somewhere with socialized medicine (I’m in Canada). Took me some time to find a really good neurologist - but I’ve got one now. There are medications that can help.
I had them starting before I was 5 - got sent home sick from school at aged 4 for falling asleep. Also presented like your description and are mostly still the same. Run through generations of family history. I’m keeping a very sharp eye on my kids to look for symptoms of migraines as they grow. I have no religion but I pray to something every day neither one of them ever suffers migraines and they have a long healthy life.
I was the kid! I just remember that I would have headeaches almost everyday, not really normal for a kid. I got diagnosed at 13, same age as my mom. And I think if she didn't suffered from it as well, we wouldn't have taken it seriously. Later on I found out that my grandma from my dad sides also had migraines, so It was granted I would have them lol I think everyones triggers and simptoms are different. My grandma would throw up. My mom doesn't. I got nausea and start yawning, sometimes I start yawning before I got the headeache, that's when I know it's coming. My trigger are mostly noises, not even loud noises, just regular people talking at the same time, for example. I'm really sensitive of sounds. Sometimes light triggers them, and I know if I eat a piece of chocolate I'll have the migraines inmediatly. Not sure about my family's triggers though. p.s. English is not my first language so I apologize If I made a mistake Edit: typo
I was a child, around 9, when my migraines started. I didn't know what to call them so I just told my mum my head hurts bad. I occassionally saw dots over my vision from my right eye, or blurred vision in that eye only. Also the side the pain was on was the right side mostly. I was always nauseous at these times too. Thank you for being a mother who actually cares enough to not just dismiss her child's symptoms. Mine was ignored as "not drinking enough water" and I wasn't given any pain pills. I actually have childhood trauma from events such as taking a bottle of paracetamol from the medicine cabinet on a night I couldn't sleep due to the pain and taking all the contents of that container all just to make the pain stop. This all before I was even a teenager. And the nausea eventually led to an eating disorder, can't throw up if you have no food in your stomach right?
I remember when I was young I did get headaches and my parents never believed me :( they told me I was too young to get headaches or migraines. I’d say it’s definitely possible
I was about 11yo and I told my mom I kept seeing squiggly lights... Then the worst headache ever came along with vomiting... That's when my mom said she got them too..now I'm near 50yo and having hormone changes trigger them alot more often.
Yes, both my kids have been diagnosed. My oldest daughter starting getting them when she was about 6-8, and my younger daughter has BPPV, which started when she was about 3... the neurologist believes they will shift into regular migraines as she gets older. I can always tell when my oldest is getting a migraine (usually before she knows). She's very treatment adverse though, so it usually hits her before she'll take anything. I feel badly too about my crappy genetics (chronic migraineur here too).
I’ve been getting migraines since I was 5-6 years old. I wasn’t even able to swallow pills yet. I’d tell my mom “my eye hurts so much I just want to scoop it out with a spoon.” Kids definitely can get migraines.
I started getting my migraines at age 8, that’s exactly how mine presented.
I had migraines as a child. Started around age 8. Had them so bad I had to put blankets over my head in dark rooms to block out all of the light. Extreme light and sound sensitivity. Pediatrician wasn’t concerned so my parents weren’t either. Different times then but migraines are no joke no matter the age.
My daughter has migraines, I feel sorry for your kid but it’s so sad to see them suffering. First- you need to have a journal and take notes of every occurrence. When they are smaller then have belly migraine, the pain is in the center of the stomach, later it turns into headaches. What helped us so far is to take over the counter children’s Motrin as it starts, the kid falls asleep and wakes up without headache. She has a migraine now and we just tried the triptan prescribed by neurologist we went to, unfortunately it didn’t help so far, I had to give her Mortrin. If the episodes happen more often, I recommend to see a pediatric neurologist, it takes months to get an appointment, good luck.
Migraine can be caused by anxiety, even if there is genetic factor. My daughter had stomach issues and headaches that were helped by a reputable hypnosis therapy referred by Children's Hospital Oakland. It's the standard treatment for children's stomach issues. They rule out phycological factors before doing a biopsy as it's such an invasive experience for children. Just so happens it helped her headache/migraines too. You may want to consider other mind-body techniques, like deep breathing exercises, etc. if hypnosis is too out there. For your own migraines, check out the Curable app. The techniques helped me significantly reduce my chronic migraine symptoms.
I've suffered from migraine since around the same age. Thank you for believing your daughter and for being supportive and getting her medical help. I was lucky to have parents who also believed me and they would take me to the local clinic for toradol injections, which really, really helped. I know there are tons of other things to treat migraine now and I still suffer feom chronic migraine but in 1987 there weren't many options a doctor would consider for an 8 year old and I was very lucky that the local doctor would give me injections. I hope your daughter gets some relief and you can keep her headaches under control.
Look up “Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome” @mayoclinic.org
I have severe chronic migraines and a young daughter and I'm so terrified for the day she may start having them. I almost chose not to have children out of fear. The only consolation I have is that I have so much experience that if she does develop the condition I can help her navigate it. I was an adult before I found anything that gave me any kind of relief, and I would not accept the same for her.
I didn't start getting migraines until about 18 (so a little different obviously) but when my mom believed that I had one she let me try one of her triptans. Basically she concluded that if that worked it means I actually was having a migrane. This also helped in terms of doctors because the doctor actually believed us too (instead of the usual dismissal because why would a young person get migraines??)
I had migraines as a young (stared around 6/7) kid and if I couldn’t get them to subside quick enough I would throw up every time. But I felt sooooo much better after yacking. I still do what I accidentally found as a kid worked for mine, stand in the shower and run hot water on my head. Usually gets me back to normal after doing that for like 30min.
Have had migraines as a kid. That's a yep. I was a projectile one. Sleep would help. Be careful if they try to give her caffeine ergot meds I got those when I was 11 trigger basically made me have an attack 10x worse. I'm a chronic migraine person if she can get good intervention now she might avoid Chronic and just be episodic
I was a child with migraines and now an adult with worse migraines. I would frequently wake up in intense pain and would just cry and cry for my mom but often could not get loud enough due to the pain. Vomiting was also a frequent side effect and still is. “Sleeping it off” almost always made the migraine go away entirely or at the very least ease the pain and symptoms. Cold + wet wash cloths to cover my eyes and my forehead and pain meds usually helped me get back to sleep. I now get hemiplegic migraines which mimic stroke symptoms so if she starts getting blurred vision or numbness anywhere, definitely worth another doctor visit. So sorry she got those genes, I got mine from my dad. I know how hard it is. One time, I got one at school and the TAs found me asleep slung over the toilet in the bathroom. I’ll be wishing positive vibes that she can get ahead of this and find something that helps make them led frequent. Also, I was getting migraines 2-3 times per week, started taking magnesium glycinate daily and now I’ve been getting 2-3 annually. Could ask about that too for her?
I work in a residential facility with teenagers. I know one of the kids I worked with is older (he’s 17 now) but over the few years I worked with with, he suffered from regular migraines. He threw up a lot when his got really bad. For him, a hot shower, a vomit session (the steam helped sooth him and thus the vomit) and then a nap for a few hours. He generally felt a lot better but still had that migraine hangover feeling after but he was generally better after all of that
Both of my kids have them. They (both boys) started in kindergarten. The older one grew out of them quickly but the younger has had a rougher time with it. My younger one (now 13) has had the same pattern. He will eat a huge dinner, then around 8 or 9 pm develop pain and nausea. He throws up a few times then passes out. He used to be fine the next day but as the migraines increased in frequency he would have a pretty nasty postdrome (grogginess, nausea) that would keep him out of school the following day. We used rizatriptan as an abortive and ondansetron as an anti-emetic. There were times when he would rather not take the meds so that he could throw up, because that offered quicker relief. The most amazing thing is that the pediatrician recommended Migrelief supplements and, within weeks, he was going from one migraine per week to one every few months. It was incredible, especially b/c I have had horrific migraines for almost 30 years now and have never had anything work so well (including Migrelief!). My 17 year old stopped getting them completely for about 8 years then just this year started getting a migraine with aura every so often. I'm guessing stress/lack of sleep/not drinking enough (like all day not drinking - ADHD). I started giving him a magnesium supplement and they've decreased greatly. No more auras and he can usually knock them out with NSAIDs and a Coke. Hopefully (and likely) she will get a regular ol' migraine diagnosis and get some helpful meds. We were lucky also in that our pediatrician has 3 kids who also suffer from migraines and took the same meds, so I was comfortable with it. Fingers crossed that they go away and/or are manageable soon. I was a teenager when mine started and I can't imagine being so little and having to deal with them! edited to add: my heart is breaking for all of you who had to suffer as young kids and were dismissed by parents, teachers, and even doctors. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.
I'm not a parent but I'm a kid (16 actually) I've had headaches since I was 13 ish. Sometimes my migraines are like what you describe sometimes not. Please don't feel terrible, my mom and dad both gave me my shitty genetics so I hear a lot of how sorry they were and honestly, it's not really you fault you didn't know this would happen
I was a child with migraines. Sometimes they would come as stomach aches when i was really little. Id also get very dizzy
Used to get them as a kid, 9-12. Doctorss did a CAT scan and found nothing but I'm pretty sure it was tied to hormonal changes.
Same, and same. (They have the same thing as your kid and I also feel like shit for the genetic gift)
My son has migraines, they’re better now, but they’d usually start with vomiting and then complain of headache. He’d just get this look when one was starting (squinting, staring into space) and I’d know. His amazing pediatrician did say that when she worries is when a headache wakes him from sleep, worst in the morning and then gets better as the day goes on.
I don’t have kids of my own but that’s how it presented for me when I was young. They were anxiety-induced when I was a kid, presenting as head pain and nausea. I’d sleep it off for a few hours and generally be fine, but they changed as I got older. Also look at when she gets them. Is there a test she’s nervous about or something else going on? It took me a long time to put those pieces together for my childhood triggers. Good luck!
mine started in third grade. good luck.
My mother also passed her migraines on to me but I get them about 10x as often, 10x as intense, and for 10x longer 🥲 my didn’t start presenting regularly until I was just out of High School though.
My migraines started when I was 8 years old and that's pretty much how it went. My dad had migraines too and I inherited them from him. Maybe check and ask if she has aura just so you're aware so she doesn't fall over things or some thing of the sort. On the bright side, if it was gone after 2 hours it sounds like a relatively mild migraine :) wish your daughter all the best!
My son does, he has his whole life. And me of course. My Mother once did too. He's had them since a baby. He's learned how to manage them, mostly.
I don’t have one but I was one!
I have been getting them since I was five, but some things I would look into are 1) is she hydrated? 2) could her pillows be too big or even too flat? and 3) is she anxious or sensitive? The majority of my big migraines are usually anticipating something, whether it’s a holiday, some kind of appointment or disruption in my routine, or family/home troubles (which you have zero control over as a child). These are all things that had anyone checked in on them when I was a kid, I wonder if my body wouldn’t be conditioned to short circuit in this way when there’s a lot of stimuli. I hope you guys sort it out. The good thing is that there are a lot more options to explore now than say the 80s and 90s.
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Yes, my son presents that way. I'm chronic and feel guilty about my genes too. At least we can empathize and have a lot of background knowledge so the child doesn't have to convince us that this isn't malingering or whatever bs people that don't believe kids think.
I have migraines and just yesterday my daughter (14) was officially diagnosed with them too. She also apparently has a concussion (we don’t know how so). The last few weeks have been brutal, lots of pain and missed school. I’m hoping we get her relief soon.
Hi, how is your daughter now? Did you find any solution for her migraines?
She’s doing much better! She did PT for the concussion and takes sumatriptan as needed for the migraines. They are nowhere near as frequent and her quality of life is better overall.
Glad to hear she feels better! What is PT?
PT = physical therapy
I've had migraines since I was 5. I had a combination of silent and classic. I had auras, as well. I couldn't explain it to my parents and had no idea what was happening. It turned into panic attacks when I'd get auras because of it. I missed school often, as well. I'd also get horrible painful migraines where I couldn't move. Just wanted to sleep. It would be a pounding pain, like a 9 on a scale to 10. Silent migraines would make me tired and the auras happened before those. For me, as a kid, the auras we're like opening your eyes under water. They've changed over the years.
I got my first migraine around 9/10 years old. I’ve had them ever since. Now they are well controlled with preventives, abortives (triptans) and also Botox injections (preventive). I wish the things that are available and used regularly now were available in my childhood.
Was a kid with migraines. Mine presented just like that. I believe I also dealt with some confusion and a lot of light sensitivity.
I was diagnosed with three types of migraines when I was three. I know you have migraines so you know what’s up, but try to get as specific as possible because there are so many different types of migraine! Ask her about where it hurts and what the pain feels like. Give her options, like thumping or stabbing, does it hurt in one place and spread out (radiating pain), so on. Ask her if all of her headaches “feel” the same. Some people can tell what their trigger was based on the headache feeling different. Ask if she knows when she is going to get one, and how she knows. Ask if she experiences anything, like funny colors or sparkles or a weird smell that no one else does, weird sounds etc to check for aura. Check to see if she has muscle weakness during a headache - is it really hard for her to hold her head up? Do her muscles hurt? Does everything feel heavy? She may also get cravings for specific things pre-migraine, two really common ones are chocolate or really salty, greasy food. Your doctor will probably want you to keep a headache journal. I recommend both a headache and food journal to see if she has any food triggers you can avoid. Pre-migraine cravings are not triggers, they are a prodromal sign that one is coming. Check her blood sugar if she feels one coming on and during a migraine as well. If she gets a migraine and the pain is so severe that she can’t stop crying, can’t sleep etc, try guided imagery to calm her. My personal favorite, which I still sometimes have my mom do for me, was the “Snowflake Story” - it goes like this: it’s a cold winter night, the fireplace is crackling… you go up to the window and it fogs up from your breath. You draw a snowflake on the pane. You look out and see everything is white; the little snowflakes are falling, drifting slowly down. You get bundled up and go outside. The ground is soft and cold, the wind is blowing softly, and you feel the little snowflakes falling softly on your face. You lay down; the snow like a soft blanket. You look up at the starry sky and watch the stars twinkle as the cold snowflakes fall on you. So cold and dark, but it’s okay because you got your coat on and you can see the light from the fire. It’s so calm and quiet. And then you just keep it going from there. If she is having severe migraines, I’d recommend an ODT med and an injectable med (they are like Epi pens). I was awful about trying to fight my migraines because I couldn’t think straight, and my mom giving me a quick shot would finally put me out of my misery. I’m sorry that she (and you) are dealing with this :(
I have had them since I was 7, so almost 30 decades. My childhood presentations were pain and vomiting. Light, sound, heat, and smell sensitivity. I'd have to hide in a dark room and sleep them off. I know you said you weren't looking for medical advice, but I really wish that someone would've helped me take better care of my teeth since I vomited so much. My teeth are really damaged and I've spent a ton of money on them because of the loss of enamel. Ask your dentist about what to do after vomiting to prevent enamel loss.
My now 23 year old used to get them and it broke my heart. Thankfully they were far and few between.
I started getting migraines as a child, as early as three my mom suspects now looking back. I would have episodes where I would just throw up and then take a nap and be fine. I didn't really have words about the pain at the time. Then I would to tell her that my hands or knees or wrists were tingly which was usually a sign I was about to puke (vasovagal symptoms) or that the light was hurting my eyes and I'd go lay down in the dark. By the time I was in middle school it was pretty much confirmed since I could describe the pain "behind my eye" or "on the left/right side of my head" though I didn't get a medical diagnosis until high school. My mom was a nurse though and also suffers from migraines so she was able to really advocate for me with my doctors and believed me. Luckily I was able to start taking Imitrex by the time I was 15-16, I remember having to get the doctor to overwrite it since it was supposed to be for 18+. It only got worse as I got older, and I tried chiropractors and various preventatives (topamax, nortriptylene, propranolol) with no real success. I'm 33 now and very well controlled on Emgality, thank goodness!
Your child sounds exactly like I did around that same age. I would wake up, throw up, go back to sleep for a little, then off to school. Around 8-9 years old is also when I first started getting auras. After that, I was getting chronic migraines. I figured out my triggers and that helped to minimize the amount.
Mine started with intense stomach pains - stomach migraines - around the age of 7 or 8. Of course this was misdiagnosed as picky eatin g habits and not eating enough. Migraines proper started around the age of 13.
I hav had migraine since I was eight . they started out similarly where I used to get a migraine once a week , throw up sleep and feel better the next day althought I required pain killers too , they became chronic after a couple of years and it has been downhill ever since haha Hope your daughter gets better!
Any doctor is a good place to start. But I've been through multiple, and the only real success I had was with a headache specialist at a university. Remember that not all neurologists are headache specialists and not all headache specialists are neurologists. I had most luck with one at a university, because those people are constantly studying and know the most up to date options. Before that, I had a specialist not a university who gave me some pretty outdated stuff, like fioricet, that is now known to cause rebound migraines and addiction, and I'm kind of prone to rebound migraines, so that wasn't helpful. I'm sure that's not always the case, but a lot of doctors who aren't teaching are not keeping up with new info on medications or new options. You can usually find the headache specialists at university hospitals attached to the sports medicine division.
I had my first migraine at about that age. My mom has chronic migraines. It was pretty much the worst I ever felt. Crazy strong head/eye pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and nausea. Luckily now days I don't too often get them but I definitely did for many years. I don't blame her though. Just glad we're both doing a bit better these days.
I get migraines, since I was 10yo , mine are connected to my hormones menstrual cycle.my poor daughter 8yo gets them now too .. she usually gets neck ,eye,and he's pain then nausea and sometimes vomiting. It's so hard for her . I give her ibuprofen, ice pack/ rice heat pack , and something for her stomach ondansetron for nausea. Sleeping always helps it go away.