Childrens migraines

[Losingthewill01]

Hi,
My DD is 10 and has suffered with migraines from the age of 4.
She is currently having around 13-14 per month and they are truly ruining her childhood.
She misses out on activities clubs socialising and it’s heart breaking to watch.
She was put on propanalol 10mg twice a day in august (6 months ago) and we have not seen any change in the frequency at all. At first I thought they had helped the intensity and length of an episode but the past few weeks they seem to be just as intense and long as they did prior to taking propanalol.
My gp increased her dose to 15mg twice a day 2 weeks ago and still no improvement.
She is showing signs of puberty so maybe it’s that which is making them worse now?.
I wanted to know if anyone else had a child suffering like this with migraines and if preventative treatment actually works???.
It’s so sad to see her childhood spent in a dark room asleep in pain 3 times or more a week.

I would push for a referral.

@Hwory we are already under the hospital neurologist. Mri all clear tests all clear. It’s the medication I’m not sure is working it not.

My husband had them and my 15 year old daughter has them now. Two years ago she missed a whole month of school as she had an almost continuous migraine. I took her to gp three times (only recommended paracetamol) and a & e once as she was crying in pain. The referral was for four months later so I had a private MRI (fine). She's been on a couple different triptans and some other medicine I can't recall, none of which helped. We tried them for a month or so each but there was minimal improvement. We tried a physiotherapist and chiropractor as she also had shoulder and neck pain and I thought either that might be contributing to her headaches or the headaches triggering the neck pain. And acupuncture. Nothing has helped. She suffers from near constant dizziness and has fainted a few times. She's had an eeg and ecg - months ago and still not had followup from consultant. Another mri and several blood tests.
I do think it is partially hormonal and the migraines are less frequent now - the dizziness is more worrying. She really is not one to exaggerate or look for attention, so I don't think she is making it up - she hated missing school and is a high achiever. Stress may play a part.
So stress, hormones and genetics all contribute. And yes it is so distressing seeing them in pain and missing out - though in my daughter's case I fear pain and feeling faint is her 'normal' now. I don't know what to do and find the NHS so slow, but going private wasn't any help either. We have a face to face appointment next month (last one was over the phone last summer, when he ordered the tests). I do not have much hope however. I'm not looking for a cure, I know there isnt one, but I'd like her to be able to manage it better.

Gosh your poor daughter, and you of course. It's so awful seeing your child go through this and I really empathise. My dd started having migraines at 7 and she's had them for 9 years now. She tried a couple of preventive medications but none agreed with her so she just takes a triptan as soon as she feels a migraine coming on. We've tried pretty much every alternative therapy. Osteopathy, reflexology, acupuncture etc and spend a long time over the years looking at food intolerances and exclusion diets. What we found was that things would work for a while and then they would revert to how it was before. She has missed out on a great deal over the years so I understand exactly what you mean... it's heartbreaking at times. I think your point about puberty may be right. We certainly saw an increase in intensity and frequency at the start of puberty too. Also at times of stress or when she was tired. A late night or sleepover would always guarantee a migraine the following day...so unfair!

After considering this for some time, dd had her daith pierced about 6 months ago and there really has been a massive improvement. She really can't believe it. I actually can't remember when her last full blown migraine was as they have been much milder since and will go within a few hours of taking a tablet. I know that's not particularly helpful for your daughter as she is so young but it could be something to consider when she's older. I too have had it done and it's really helped me too. Good luck with your dd and push for another appointment with the consultant.

I’m so sorry your DD is suffering. I’m an adult sufferer and it’s heartbreaking to think of a child having to go through it.

A popular theory at the moment seems to be that migraines forge new neural pain pathways in the brain and that, much like practicing a skill makes your brain learn it better, each time you have a migraine the pain pathway is reinforced.

Has she tried Pitozifen as a preventative? It does have some side effects (don’t they all?! ) but I think it’s often very successful for children and may only need to be taken for 6 months if effective. My own neurologist says that the aim with preventives is to completely suppress migraines for 6 months to give the brain a chance to ‘unlearn’ its sensitisation. Many, although not all, people can then stop taking them. That’s the holy grail of treatment anyway...

That's really interesting regarding neural pathways and you're right regarding trying different preventative medication as an alternative may certainly suit better.