Abdominal Migraines

[turtledovelove]

Does anyone have any experience of their child experiencing abdominal migraines?

DD (11) gets these 'episodes' every few months whereby she has a very painful tummy ache and feels very nauseous. It goes off eventually and I'm wondering whether this is something other than a tummy bug.

Last night seemed the worst one yet. She couldn't sleep due to the abdominal pain and she actually 'vomited' a couple of times. I say vomited but it was mostly dry wretching, she did however bring up a tiny bit of liquid.

I've obviously kept her off school today as she's feeling tired and a bit washed out. Not to mention the 48 hr rule. However she's just said she's feeling a bit hungry now so I've made her a toasted bagel with butter.

Appendicitis can be ruled out because she had hers taken out a year ago.

Of course this could well be a tummy bug as they're always doing the rounds. It just doesn't seem like your typical tummy bug and the fact she gets flair ups every so often makes me wonder....

My DD had very similar symptoms on and off for years. Eventually the GP brought up abdominal migraine but the hospital doctor didn’t think so. She was given various meds but nothing really helped. They stopped in her late teens, though she occasionally has tummy aches.

I had something similar from my mid teens to mid twenties and occasionally after that. I would sometimes wake up with agonising cramps (not period related) or sometimes it would just come on during the day. I would just start feeling sick with a stomach ache.

It is horrible and debilitating but doesn’t seem to be a serious underlying illness. The best thing to do is treat the symptoms and wait for it to pass. I haven’t had it since I had my gallbladder out but I doubt that was the cause.

Abdominal migraine - yes. I honestly think they’re down to stress and anxiety.

Thank you for your helpful replies.

I often wonder if her 'funny turns' of feeling sick are brought on by anxiety. Although I never understand why at that particular moment it is triggered because usually up until that point she's been having such a nice time. Unfortunately she is a sufferer of emetaphobia which exacerbates the whole problem!

She is otherwise a healthy girl with no underlying health issues (not that I'm aware of anyway).

We will just treat it the same way as if it were a tummy bug. Fluids and small amounts of plain food until it subsides.

I think there was an anxiety element but I also think it’s a combination of things - maybe certain foods, eating habits, hormones etc that come together and tip the balance.

After reading all of your posts I feel somewhat comforted but still angry. My 17 year old daughter has been suffering with “ abdominal migraines “ for almost four years.
she is in her room right now with extreme pain.
we’ve tried tripans and now preventative meds. The last few months seemed to be better but tonight is really bad again.
four years of sudden extreme debilitating pain with no relief.
I am angry and sad. I have migraines and my mom and grandmother. So there is a history.
how does no one know how to treat this?
I’ve read all of your stories. Why don’t we have an answer for our daughters pain? It’s been years for most of us. Our children should not be suffering like this. No one has ever even heard of abdominal migraines.
there are so many more children out there undiagnosed .
anxiety is definitely a huge factor in most cases.
how do we get more awareness out about this debilitating illness?

I used to get abdominal migraines myself until I was 13, when they turned into regular migraines. The symptoms were much like you describe your DD experiencing.

My son learned his triggers. Get them to pay attention to how they feel. You often get a warning.

Dehydration, heat, excitement/stress and irregular eating trigger it.

So, graduation day.
Holidays
Travelling

Actual anxiety stress was a trigger more in his teens- emotional repression if you like. He was a very 'good' boy and I had to encourage him to complain and whinge and express his dissatisfaction. He had a tendency to dash upstairs and cry into his pillow, to avoid stressing me.

Remedies now he recognises it coming on- caffeine and possibly food like crisps. So a full sugar coke is good. Then off to bed for a couple of hours. Wakes up right as rain.

Don't starve her like with a bug. Get her to nibble crisps. The salt helps if she's dehydrated. Settled the nausea too.

Look up mesenteric adenitis. My DD had terrible aches and pains for years but grew out of it

Like @Entwifery my ds and dd had abdominal migraines that then turned into regular migraine.

I had abdominal migraines when I was a child. Or so I thought... don't know if it's connected but as an adult was diagnosed with Inflammatory bowel disease.

We've had a bad run here. 4 in the last 10 days

DS has cyclical vomiting syndrome, which comes as a variant of migraine as do abdominal migraine. They are neurological conditions, not tummy bugs. If they follow a cycle, like every 6 weeks, with or without triggers, it may well be AM. You'd need a diagnosis but we have a migraine tablet, lots of sedatives and anti sickness melts. Getting a diagnosis is a pain in itself, so long drawn out, but it does sound similar.

Both my DSes had / have them.

One stopped when he was 9, diagnosed with ADHD and put on ADHD meds. They really help his anxiety and his migraines just disappeared.

Youngest still gets bad abdominal and normal migraines. He was on a preventive treatment for a couple of years but they didn't help when he was extremely anxious so we stopped and just treat the crisis.

I get migraines as well. Best way to manage them is routine (always eat at same time, never skip a meal, go to bed and get up at same time even at weekends and on holiday). Always drink a lot of water and don't let your blood sugar get too low. Get enough sleep. Try to relieve anxiety and stress.

Don't stop her eating when she has them.

Sometimes she doesn't feel like eating.
I kept a food diary for some time but couldn't find a trigger.
Dehydration and tiredness maybe a trigger.
For the last 2 years its been once a month except Dec had none. Wonder if hormonal. Now bad few days

Another flair up tonight. Haven't a clue what brought it on. She's been fine all day. Had a friend round, eaten various bits throughout the day, had dinner etc....then from 9pm onwards feeling really sick with tummy ache and back pain! Again the dry retching which is just awful and I feel so sorry for her.

Here's hoping that by morning she'll start to feel a little better.

Think I need to seek some advice from a GP which we've not done yet. She hasn't had an episode this bad for quite a few months so it hasn't been at the forefront of my mind.

imo that will have been the excitement/sub conscious stress of having her friend round that set off the migraine.

I used to have them in my early twenties and eventually they wore off to being less and less painful each time. I don’t get them anymore thankfully. I do have migraines with aura now but I think I did anyway. I didn’t take anything for them because I would vomit it up each time. I found a hot water bottle helped and every time I was sick I got slight respite until the pain started again. Very unpleasant. I feel very sorry for anyone who has them as I know how awful they are.