Anyone with a child under 10 on migraine meds ?? Ds needs something stronger than calpol

[TheOriginalNutcracker]

Calpol is no longer working. I am taking him to the gp, but was wondering what other meds there are available for children his age ??

My ds was prescribed Migraleve at the age of 8, we found this a great help.He is now 10 and has been prescribed Imigran as well.
How old is your child?
Have you tried Ibuprofen? you can give that and Calpol together at the same time.

Forgot to say we also use 4head stick.

Can't help with meds but just wondered if you'd seen the Food Hospital on Channel 4. The first episode in the series had a little boy under 10 who suffered 2-3 crippling migraines a week. They changes his diet (not sure of details but probably on website) and the headaches stopped immediately. It was quite remarkable and he was so much happier.
Hope you get some help as it must be horrible to your little one in pain.

He is 9. Have tried calpol and ibuprofen together and sometimes it works, but somtimes not. We also use cooling strip things on his forehead.

School now want something there to give him when he getss an attack because they have become more regular and it is effecting schooling.

Germom - I didn't see it but my mum did. I have never managed to locate any item of food as a trigger. Ds's triggers seem to be over excitement, heat and tiredness.

NK - Is the miraleve in liqued form ??

As far as i am aware Migraleve isn't available in liquid form. You can crush Migraleve tablets and mix with yoghurt, but my ds managed to swallow them after a few tries.
I would ask to be referred to a paediatrician who has an interest in migraine in children, the one my ds sees has been so helpful. Not sure what area you live in but GOSH has a migraine clinic.

It is a worry about them missing school,my ds has missed alot as he always needs the next day off as well after an attack.

Triggers -with ds it is tiredness,exercise, stress and tomatoes ( common one is tomato sauce according to paed)

Try keeping a diary both food and a sort of day to day one to see if you spot anything that might be triggering them.

We have tried preventative treatments with ds , Topirimate seemed to help but only on a high dose that it took him to lunchtime to be properly alert, so we abandoned that.

My son has suffered with them from the age of 3, so please ask if you need anymore help.

HTH

My DS was diagnosed with migraines this year aged 8. We went to a paediatrician and he tried him on Pizotifen. We tried this for 2 months but no affect. He is missing lots of school as even between attacks he is not right and hs had to drop all sporting activities. We are just starting on Propanalol this week so fingers crossed for this. Hope you find something that works for your DS. Good Luck

Thank you NK, that really helpful.

He is currently under alot of stress at school, as he hates going, and is seeing camhs for anxiety and anger issues. The migraines have increased since all of this started.

I did see a diary thing that you can print off, so i will do that and start making a note of everything.

The problem with him taking an oral med is that he also feels really sick and is usually sick with a migraine. I did see a nasal spray when i was goggling last night, and that would be better for him.

Thank's for your post too dinky. Ds also doesn't seem right between attacks atm which is quite worrying. He always seems to have something wrong with him. Hopefully i will be able to get him into the gp tomorrow and try something new. Do they automatially refer to a paed or will i have to ask ??

I am in Birmingham btw.

We have the problem with nausea as well, is he better after he has been sick? Sometimes with my son i am relieved he is sick as it seems to switch the pain off it is so distressing to see them in so much pain.
Is the spray Sumatriptan ( Imigran) ? as i have been wondering if this could be prescribed for my ds.

My ds was referred to a paed because he was losing sensation down one side of his body with some attacks, but i would ask to have your son referred. In my experince GP's arent good with migraine in childhood.

www.migraine.org.uk/index.php?sectionid=283 list of children's migraine clinics. Also there helpline is very good, they have helped us alot.

my son was on migraine meds , and pead put him on a exclusion diet, plus avoidance of xbox and play station.

food we avoided , chocolate, cola ( caffine containing food and drinks) cheese, (high in histamine )
oranges.

we did this for a month to see if things improved. and it did.

could re-introduce later on, in small amounts, and is now clear of his migraines, which were once so bad we took him to hospital, so can really recommed !

pitzotifen works :o and those migralef strips
my dd was put on pitzotifen at age 6 still on em

I've had migraines since I was tiny - horrible at school, as no-one seems to understand. I've been on strong medication for them but am not able to currently as I'm breastfeeding, but have found a few things that help. Ibuprofen seems to work for me better than paracetamol, but whatever it is needs to be taken right at the start of an attack. I used to be embarrassed about asking to go out of the classroom at school to take medicine as soon as I started feeling a migraine come on, but that did really make a difference. Does your son feel a migraine coming on before the headache starts?

Another thing that works for me and helps the nausea is a can of cold coca cola drunk with the ibuprofen - no idea why this works, something to do with the sugar and caffeine? - but could be worth a try.

I've tried lots of strong medication, and although things like triptans can feel like a miracle cure during an attack, I did get side effects from them and ended up taking them more and more as I was getting rebound headaches. When I stop breastfeeding I think I'll only use them again with great caution.

And like others have said, just keep working on identifying triggers. I don't really have food triggers, my main ones are going too long between meals, not drinking enough, waiting too long to go to the loo (weird I know!), getting too hot and fluorescent lights (especially flickering ones).