Teenage son migraines

[chiey]

My 15 year old son has been diagnosed with having migraines. The last/first one lasted 6 weeks. Unknown trigger. He had a CT scan and blood tests but nothing showed up so the conclusion was a migraine. That was a few months ago. He's now having another. No medication seems to touch it. The headache or the nausea/sick.

I wasn't really aware that this happened to teenage boys. Any recommendations for something to try to alleviate the symptoms?

I think stress and lack of sleep could be a trigger.

6 weeks , poor lad 😣
Hot shower on head, neck, shoulders
Then liberal amounts of white tiger balm on neck and shoulders
Migraine is awful.

Are there any other symptoms? My DS though a lot younger than yours, is 10, and has a migraine about every 6 weeks. It usually comes on early evening followed by nausea / vomiting then he'll fall asleep for the whole evening and through the night. He also has tics even though we were told there was no link to this. The fact he sleeps so long after makes me think it is tiredness, and he can get quite anxious about things so agree this could be a trigger.

6 weeks! That is hardcore, poor DS :(

My DS is 18 now and has had migraine since about 9yrs, but they only tend to last a day. Triggers for him are stress and tiredness, also irregular eating. He gets headache, nausea, sometimes vomiting. He heads off to bed to sleep it off if he can. Painkillers help a bit.

I also have occasional migraine (although I get the warning aura so can sometimes head them off), so I wonder if there's a genetic element?

Your poor son, that’s awful. I’m a migraine sufferer, and my teen daughter too. Awful condition. When I’m in the throes of an attack, they last 24 hrs but I have to go through extreme vomiting and unbearable pain to get them out my system. If I keep them at bay with meds, the pain comes back daily for weeks. It’s a vicious cycle. Are you giving daily meds? It could be that he just needs to get it out his system (by taking nothing) to feel well again.

It’s important to find the trigger/s if you can. So many possibilities from stress to diet. My daughter definitely gets them from stress / tiredness. For me lack of sleep and alcohol are definite triggers but I suspect there are many others.

I found this book really helpful:

Managing Your Migraine (Penguin... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241514282?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

My daughter was prescribed Pizotifen when she was 7 after getting repeated abdominal pains which would come on suddenly. Literally fine one minute and then doubled over in agony. They were completely debilitating. She would also vomit. She would then sleep and usually be ok on waking, apart from exhaustion. She was referred by a GP who thought she might be suffering from abdominal migraines to a consultant gastroenterologist, who agreed. He then prescribed a low dose (5mg) of Pizotifen to be taken daily as a preventative. This worked really well and she stopped taking them at 14. Her migraines had escalated to occurring about every 7/10 days (each time needing time of school), to maybe once a month or 6 weeks.
The only side effect we encountered was tiredness, so the consultant advised us to shift the time taking them from bedtime to tea time. No weight gain or anything else. We were also later given an anti emetic (Ondesetron) to stop the nausea and sickness. There were no food triggers identified but I certainly felt that nervousness/anxiety could be one trigger, nothing major but the sort you might experience before an exam or competition.
Our consultant was outstanding. He also had absolutely no concerns about her remaining on the Pizotifen but as her migraines had virtually stopped, we thought we’d try not taking them (with his approval obviously).
Hope that helps, OP.

Thankyou for sharing

My son takes no medication at all, he says nothing works so doesn't want to take anything. We've tried Paracetamol, Ibuprofen and cocodamol, plus the migraleave pills. The anti sickness pill domperidone did nothing either. He's currently wearing a cold compress hat that we found on Amazon, I think the pressure and coolness brings some relief

Do you know if he grinds or bites down on his teeth when he sleeps? This can cause migraines for some people and its often exacerbated by stress. His dentist can make a mouthguard to be worn at night to help alleviate the biting.

Have you had his eyes checked at an optometrist? Sometimes sight issues can trigger migraines too.

My 15 year old is prescribed zolmitriptin which he takes at the first sign of a migraine and it really helps. He also has ondansetron melts for sickness.

Pizotofen. Though it's not without side affects. My dd was prescibed that one for migraines.

I've read to put a cold compress around your neck and putting your feet in the hottest water you can stand. Apparently it pulls the blood from your head to your feet by opening the blood vessels.....

Maybe keep a food diary

Some people get migraines from

Dairy
MSG in Chinese takeaway
Chocolate
Wheat
Hormones
Sugar
Chocolate
Alcohol

Eyes
Ears

All sorts of weird things

Definitely stress or lack of sleep like you've mentioned

Caffeine
Soft drinks

Cocodamol is terrible for migraines as it contained codeine. If you are prone to headaches or migraines, it can make them more frequent.

The best painkiller I’ve found is Ibuprofen Lysine which is also sold as Nurofen Migraine. He should only be using painkillers for up to three days per week to avoid rebound or medication overuse headaches, so it’s important he takes the painkillers every four hours on those days for the cumulative benefit.

He also needs a triptan from his GP. The nausea may mean his stomach has shut down (does he get constipated or throw up?). Doctors can prescribe nose sprays and wafers that dissolve on the tongue which bypass the stomach and are more effective in this situation.

I also second white tiger balm. Rub it wherever it hurts.

Kool n Soothe are brilliant too. Gel patches you stick to your forehead. They soothe the muscles.

Hot water bottles help if he gets a stiff neck or bad back.

Chug a can of Coke as quickly as he can.

Water with a pinch of salt or electrolytes rather than plain.

Salty carbs like crisps, chips or even toast and marmite if he craves them. Lots of people think you shouldn’t be able to eat with a migraine but I’m always starving.

This sounds a bit woo woo but breathing deeply into my stomach (in and out through my nose) and telling myself the pain will pass help me ‘control’ the pain to a degree.

I hope he finds his bag of tricks!

Any age group can get them. DD started having them aged 9 - I think that there must be a genetic link as all of the women in my side of the family (me included unfortunately!) get them quite severely.

Co-codamol and migraleve are big no-nos, they both contain codeine which is known to be ineffective for migraine symptoms and like other opioid medications can actually worsen and/or trigger migraines.

Ask the GP for sumatriptan. It’s a migraine relieving drug (specifically developed for this purpose) and is very effective. It can have some unpleasant side effects but they’re much preferable to a full blown migraine attack. You take it at the onset of symptoms and within an hour the migraine is gone

During an attack both I and DD find that sipping a full fat coke lessens the pain and improves nausea. The sugar/caffeine combination works magic. A neurosurgeon in work recommends it to his patients so can’t be too bad of a trick!

There really is something about full fat sugary coke that works

It could be worth seeing a physio or Chiropractor to see if it's related to muscoskeletal I used to suffer with awful migranes visual and sick lasting for days and Chiropractor sorted it no migranes since was out of alinement and muscular issue causing pressure

Id definitely visit the optician, if he's gaming (sorry for the stereotype) or studying a lot then slightly poor eyesight could give migraines

Perhaps see a chiropractor? They can manipulate the back of the skull which provides relief.
My teenage son was getting severe migraines every week or two and now they are once in a blue moon. He goes to the chiropractor every six weeks for an adjustment.

I take sumatriptan, which as mentioned above (like other triptans) is very effective at getting rid of a migraine when over-the-counter meds can’t. I do find that the migraine tends to come back the next day though unless I shut down and rest - as I would during a full blown attack.

What have the docs prescribed? Six weeks is too long to be enduring that kind of pain, it’s debilitating.

My 14 yr old DS started getting migraines. Triggers were tiredness, stress low blood sugar and overheating. Felt very sick and sometimes was sick with them. Generally just needed to go to bed with painkillers and would be better in 12 hours, albeit a bit woozy/tired the next day. 6 weeks sounds horrendous!

They were frequent enough that we were referred to a consultant who said they could be hormonal or could be a lifelong issue and prescribed Pizotofen. This seemed to significantly reduce the number he was getting.

He's 16 now and is having a trial.off the Pizotofen as he is hoping he has outgrown them (or at least the worst of them) and whilst not awful, there were definitely some side effects. So far so good, but it's early days.

I would get a neurology referral if a migraine lasted 6 weeks.

I would want the diagnosis confirmed and also there might be new/different drugs to try which can only be prescribed by a specialist.

My son was diagnosed with migraine at 5 and was prescribed Pizotifen which worked brilliantly. A year of those and he was taken off and they didn't return. He's 13 now and has probably had two since. Both of those were triggered by ADHD medication that he has had to stop taking. I would see if Pizotifen is a possibility for your child. Poor kid, it's horrible.

Have you tried prescribed meds from either the GP or a neurologist? Amitriptyline and / or propanalol are usually offered as a preventative in adults, I’m not sure if it would be the same for under 18s. Migraine Botox can work very well as a preventative too. Tristan’s (sumatriptan or others) are usually offered for when an attack begins.

Take a look at https://migrainetrust.org lots of helpful information on here

Also there’s a few migraine groups on Facebook which can be helpful, search for the UK migraine group or similar

I hope they improve for your son, it’s a horrible condition to live with

Triptan’s - not Tristan’s!