9 year old migraines help

[Merrymumofgirls]

My daughter started with cyclical vomitting at 8 (In sept 23), after 3 episodes about once a month they turned into migraines. These have got steadily worse, this weekend she had a bad migraine on Saturday night, headache most of Sunday, then aura at school on Monday on and off and another migraine in the evening. I assume the very start of puberty as she has grown alot. Weirdly she doesn't get them when at her dad's house where she is close to half the week (she gets aura sometimes but they don't turn to migraines). Started to affect my well being as I feel so guilty, started having nightmares about them.

Triggers seem to be swimming (I take her to lessons on a Monday), change to routine, chocolate, bright lights definitely and maybe central heating. Seem to be getting them under control at school (where she has a had a few). So any advice?.anyone know if they will go away ( been 5 months now and getting worse, although none over Xmas at mine or her dad's for 2 weeks).
I am worried and can't bear seeing her in pain and she is so brave!

I get migraines, and started at about 9yo as did my dd.

Swimming is one of my triggers. It was suggested that it might be low blood sugar, and now if I've done swimming (which I don't often) I'll have something like a small mars bar afterwards (not good if chocolate is a trigger, but maybe try dextrous tablets-my dd has success with those) or full fat coke, and that makes a huge difference.

The not at dad's house is probably conversely that she's more stressed there and relaxes with you. I can sort of hold off migraines, then they hit worse than if they'd just come on when I relax.

Bright light or flickering lights are again something I've got increasingly sensitive to. The worst for me is if the sun is really bright through the curtains in the morning in winter. I think it must be to do with the angle. So I have black up blinds and black up linings and a border round the curtains to stop most of the light.
The second worst is sun flickering through trees when I'm driving, so I always have sunglasses in the car.

https://happyrhealth.com/

this migraine sufferer wrote a book for kids and developed an app - might be helpful . My child is younger but starting to show signs (both us parents are sufferers)

For me personally, the transition from bright to dark spaces is the ultimate trigger. The winter sun, then going into a dark house suddenly. Especially if I’m rushing. I need to transition slowly between different lights and absolutely avoid flashing lights (such as bike lights).

My son was similar. You can get a referral from your GP to a specialist at the hospital. They can give medication which is a type of anti histamine to help with them. We have also tried acupuncture. Making sure he doesn't get too tired or too hungry as these seemed to be triggers. After years what we have found that works for him is glasses with a blue light filter. (cheap on amazon) I think its trial and error to find what works but i really wish we'd found the glasses earlier! I'd also recommend following @migrainedoc on instagram.

My triggers when I was younger was relaxing.

I was a student nurse when I had them most badly. I could do 12 night shifts in a row (1970s) without an issue - or without a migraine issue at least. First day of 6 off I would be bedridden. There would often be one or two more episodes over the following 5 days and then - back to work and migraine free.

I had them a lot as a teenager. Mine would be before I came on my period but also triggered by tiredness and stress. Chocolate or a sugar boost would help and lying down in a dark room. I hope you find a solution x

Thanks, helpful to hear swimming is a trigger. She had a lot of watermelon and fruit juice after as was trying to make sure her blood sugars were up but the migraine seems worse than normal this time. She said it's like needles in one eye and tonight her tummy hurts too. She also gets hyper with them at times. So can't settle...in pain but still keeps trying to get up and chat 🙄
I just feel so helpless.

They say that you can 'grow out of' migraines - but I never did. I had early puberty but started with migraines at 15. I've had long periods of time where I've not had migraines and think they've stopped altogether but they return.

I was 18 when I first had specific medication for them. Up until then it was painkillers and hope for the best. They could last 3-4 days.

My granddaughter started with headache and eye pain which was intermittent this time last year when she was six. She's had constant pain since last October. She has paracetamol and ibuprofen alternated. She has it prescribed so she can have a dose midday at school.

Her eyes were checked at the opticians - she had three pairs of glasses in quick succession with increasing prescription. She often has unequal sized pupils and a droopy eyelid.

GP said could be migraine or cluster headaches and referred her for MRI. She's seen a neurologist and is awaiting results.

This last month (on a sleepover Friday) she told me that the boy next to her in class (yr 3) told her that she smells funky. She has BO!

So now we're hoping that it's all due to hormones. Still a bit on the early side though - only 7 years old.

She was excited to get some of her own special soap, sponge and deodorant (which she calls 'duffy' for some reason). She now showers every day with her special shower cap.

We're thinking it's nothing sinister as the MRI was in January and her results will be next week. Hopefully there will be some advice/medication to help with the pain.

She had a growth spurt last summer and despite being the youngest in her class, she is the tallest. She is tall and skinny. The bouts of vomiting she has make it obvious she loses a little weight each time it happens. A couple of times she's had to go to hospital for a medication which stops her being sick (ondansetron) - sometimes it takes up to three doses.

It's been a year since it started, so quite a long wait to get sorted.

All females in the family have migraines and take triptans. Her headaches seem worse than usual though as they are worse in a morning and tend to wake her up crying in the night. She goes really pale and quiet when it's bad and it looks like she's developing a fear of being sick as she's had a few episodes where it's come down her nose.

Hopefully after next week we will get answers and be able to bring it under control.

I started getting migraines at 9 or 10 - doctor thought it might be hormone related. When at secondary school I was able to and sleep at my nans house if I got one - the only things that helped was a dark quiet room (which couldn't get at school, and as lived rurally was reliant on the school bus), soluble panad9l worked better than capsules as hot into bloodstream, a good sleep, and sometimes vomiting when felt sick helped. I wasn't allowed chocolate or cheese as were popular triggers, but eat both now! I got less of them as have gotten older, so.may have been mainly hormonal, but may also be stress related..maybe the chlorine triggers something as is quite a strong smell and chemical.

My DS, now in his 40s, was diagnosed with migraines at age 9. He got them at least once a fortnight and was referred to a specialist paediatric migraine clinic which definitely helped. Thankfully he did pretty much grow out of it in his 20s and now only gets them a couple of times a year.

That wouldn't be enough of a hit for me to stop a migraine. It has to be fairly pure sugar to stop it. Try the dextrose tablets (the orange ones are nice); you can get them from a pharmacy. I find 2-3 are enough normally.

Thank you for the advice, lying in the dark with a child in lots of pain but unable to stop chatting or moving !!