8 yr old having migraines

[canella]

I posted on here last year cause dd (now 8) was having regular episodes of abdo pain and vomiting where she goes so pale and has to sleep it off. Got some great advice which has put us in the direction that she's having migraines. Not been formally diagnosed but dh is a doctor and agrees she fits the classic example of childhood migraines and it runs in his family. In between times she's absolutely fine!

just want some advice on how to manage it really. Found some good charts on the internet which allow her to document how she felt before and during an attack and what she's done/eaten etc to try to find a link.

But we're just not sure whats triggering them. My only thought is when she's tired she seems to get one. so this weekend she's been to a party on sat afternoon and then we spent the day at her grandparents yesterday. didnt do much when we were there but its a 90 min drive each way and she was an hour later in bed.

so today she's irritable and crying about her homework and really pale but no headche/tummyache. I've cancelled her going to sport this afternoon but she's refusing to have a sleep (and being stroppy in the way 8 year olds can be!!!)

just dont know how to manage this without turning her into a "precious" wee girl that cant live her life to the full in case she gets a migraine!

how do other parents of children with migraines deal with avoiding it?

[iggypiggy]

I used to get these as a child - always after a long and stressful day. Mainly if I was competing - I'd finish for the day and then throw up and have terrible headache.

I never 'managed' mine - but they weren't that frequent..

Sorry - not much help for you - but a long stressful day (also prob not eating properly) was definitely my trigger.

[MrsZuko]

I started having migraines at 8 years old The best thing to do is work out her triggers but also give her some coping mechanisms for when she feels an attack coming on and isn't at home. The most important thing is to make sure she drinks lots of water and eats regularly. A big one for me though was stress which might be why she's getting them when she's tired. I understand about the "precious" child thing, but there's no fun always being the kid throwing up or in pain when everyone else is enjoying themselves - it's impossible to ignore a migraine so it's important that she understands that as soon as she feels an attack coming on she can take steps to slow it down - lie down, dark room etc until you can collect her. Good luck to both of you!

[MrsZuko]

I started having migraines at 8 years old The best thing to do is work out her triggers but also give her some coping mechanisms for when she feels an attack coming on and isn't at home. The most important thing is to make sure she drinks lots of water and eats regularly. A big one for me though was stress which might be why she's getting them when she's tired. I understand about the "precious" child thing, but there's no fun always being the kid throwing up or in pain when everyone else is enjoying themselves - it's impossible to ignore a migraine so it's important that she understands that as soon as she feels an attack coming on she can take steps to slow it down - lie down, dark room etc until you can collect her. Good luck to both of you!

[canella]

thanks for those replies! she's been having them for a couple of years now but its only in the last 6 months that we saw a pattern to it.

i dont think its a particular food thats triggering it but i do think that your ideas about making sure she eats regularly and well are good. Sometimes when she's had one she's been busy with friends/grandparents etc and had a bit too much processed food!

have wondered about her blood sugars at times like those but in between attacks she's so well.

not sure if she's building up to one today or whether i'm just trying to mollycoddle her unnecessarily (and i'm not a mollycoddling type of mum!!!) but she looks so unwell (and is so unwell)when she has one that i feel so bad for her and i just want to stop it coming if i can!

but thanks mrszuko about giving her advice about what to do if it comes on when she's not home - hadnt thought about that! dont think she's stressed at the mo - she's doing well at school but was crying about her homeowrk this pm - think that was more cause she was tired than she couldnt do it! wish she'd just have had a sleep this pm - might have helped!

[iggypiggy]

Schoolwork could trigger a migraine for me - i seem to remember

These days I only get them when I am under loads of pressure from work... last one was last year - but def less than once a year these days..

[flamingtoaster]

My daughter's two biggest triggers were being overtired, and low blood sugar (she really did need meals at the right time and to have a sensible snack between meals and to have a sweet snack in her pocket when out so she could eat it immediately if she felt "wobbly" and avert an attack). It's also worth looking at the timing of foods - chocolate after 4.00 pm would trigger a middle of the night attack but she was fine with chocolate any other time. For some years she couldn't eat ham after about 4.00 either but she can now. We also made sure she didn't sleep late without eating - we would wake her for breakfast and then let her go back to sleep if necessary. We managed to get rid of them completely by sticking to "normal" routine of eating and sleeping as rigidly as we could - boring but better than the alternative! Hope you can get rid of your DD's attacks too.

[canella]

flamingtoaster - thanks for that good advice! we've been trying to stick to reg mealtimes (which we did most of the time anyway) and reg bedtimes even at the weekend which she hates but that seems to be when she has a migraine! or during school holidays when her sleeptimes are out of sync!

but you can imagine how happy she is with being sent to bed at 8 every night!