Help Please

[linzoid]

Do 8 year olds suffer from migraines? Has anyone else had experience of this? My ds is a very robust healthy lad but gets a lot of headaches. Tonight he has been going mad with it and has thrown up a couple of times too. He's now asleep in bed, doesn't have a temperature in fact feels very cool. It has happened once before where his head really hurts despite calpol and then thrown up. I'm thinking a trip to the doctor might be in order tomorrow.

yes,my ds who is nearly 5 was diagnosed with migraine this year.its terrible to see them so poorly,isnt it?we ended up in casualty as it got so bad,his lasted 5-6 days,codeine was the only thing to touch the pain,calpol and nurofen just wont do the trick,definately see the doc.the trick is to get the painkillers into the system RIGHT AT THE START of the attack,as apparently the body sort of shuts down during migraine and painkillers cant work properly.our local hospital has special childrens migraine clinic,find out if yours has one and get refered,they offer tons of support and advice.is his pain worse when trying to sit upright?another migraine sign,if pain is worse when laying flat then seek medical advice urgently as this is a sign of something perhaps more serious.sorry dont wont to scare you,that is what the hospital consulktant told us.i really wish your son a speedy recovery.

Yes they do, my DD started when she was about 8, and it is more common than you think.

She still gets migraine now at 17. It is a familial thing for us as I have it, do does my mother and so did her mother.

Poor boy, it is not much fun when you are so young. DD would never take Calpol, always made my children sick, so I used to get Paracetemol BP liquid, about a 10th of the price and far more palatable than Calpol. I used to top up with Junior neurofen as well.

Get his eyes checked as well, if you haven't done recently, could be a cause, or something he eats, keep a record of when they occur and see if you can find a trigger. Good luck

Yes children CAN get migraines, but it's probably best to talk to the doctor anyway. Hope your little one feels better soon.

I used to get what were then called cyclical vomiting attacks when I was a child, that sound exactly like your ds's headaches. Always a really appalling headache and then vomiting that often went on for several days. Once I got to my teens, although they were still infrequent, they tunred into much more classical migraines, with the flashing lights and so on, but I never had visal disturbances as a young child. They started when I was 3, on my birthday (sob), and were quite often associated with events that I was excited about, trips to the zoo and so on.
Poor thing, I hope he gets better. I would do what yoko suggests and get him to see a doctor, but that's probably what it is.

I used to have abdominal migranes as a child. Don't know if that is any help. Have never had one as an adult (head or tum)

Thanks peeps, will take him to the doctor and see what they can do. I'm really hoping he's o.k by morning. He's sound asleep now so fingers crossed.

My Seven year old has been having them for a few years. My doctor said to keep a food diary every day, and see if there is something he was eating each time he had one. We have never found a trigger, but i know people who have - my sister being one of them.
He is much better now, he knows when one is coming on, tells me straight away, so i give him calpol at the start. This really helps. Good luck**

I have had migraines since I was about 8. Throwing up is a classic migraine sign. Is he 'seeing stars' or auras round things or anything, wiggly lines in his vision etc etc - this is also part of migraine though not always. And the light always hurt my eyes.
Would be worth phoning doc in the morning to ask, just to check its nothing worse. As long as he is cool, no fever and no rash, probably nothing to worry about tonight but if you are worried call the doc, they should always come to see a sick child with worried parents (I'm a GPs wife, I know what they're supposed to do!!)
Hope he feel better soon, its not nice, poor thing.

I agree with everyone else, Linzoid. We now think ds2 has had migraine since babyhood. I hope your little lad is feeling better this morning - it's so miserable. I've been getting migraine for 40 yrs, I even have one hanging around today.

You could try Migraine Action for more info. HTH