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Original poster

recurrent headaches in children?

30 replies

MerlinsBeard · 24/07/2007 16:06

DS1` has had a fair few headaches recently. I put it down to the fact that he knows now what a head ache is and that he doesn't drink masses of juice/water. I do think he drinks enough, just not LOADS.

However, i have just picked him up from his friends house (hes 4 btw) and the friends mum said he had said a short while ago that he had a headache and wanted to lie down. On the way home (literally a 10 min walk) he was crying and grabbing his head and then was sick. hes now asleep in bed but i keep going in to check on him cos its really odd. He has a slight temp...as in he is hot but not so hot i need to know the actual numbers iyswim.

can children get migraines? is it likely that this is what this is? or is it just lots of headaches? Its not been sunny so its not sunstroke type headaches either

OP posts:
Desiderata · 24/07/2007 16:10

Poor little man

I think you need to take him to the GP, mumof.

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 24/07/2007 16:12

whoops sorry, forgot to say that i am taking him 2mo if he is no better but otherwise i can get him on Monday

OP posts:
Desiderata · 24/07/2007 16:21

At his age, I'm certain the surgery will prioritize him.

Fingers crossed that he wakes up feeling better

SaintGeorge · 24/07/2007 16:23

Yes, children can get migraines. My brother was diagnosed at about 4yrs (he is now in his late 40s).

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 24/07/2007 16:30

i just googled-against my better judgement i have to say- but am relieved to find that children can get migraines, more so if there is a family risk which there is, although mine only appear in pregnancy, my mum gets them frequently.

Will take him to GP next week and see what they advise. am sure its nothing specific setting them off but we will see what they say.

Thank you

OP posts:
ishouldbeironing · 24/07/2007 16:32

My DDS migraines started when she was about 6/7

SaintGeorge · 24/07/2007 16:32

Cheese was my brother's big trigger when he was younger.

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 24/07/2007 16:40

he does eat a lot of cheese but he always has. can they just suddenly start like that?

OP posts:
ishouldbeironing · 24/07/2007 16:42

Yes my DDS did without warning and she also now stays away from cheese

KTWhoMustNotBeNamed · 24/07/2007 16:45

I would also get his eyesight checked - if he needs glasses he might be having eyestrain and this can cause headaches

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 24/07/2007 16:47

he has his preschool check soon - i am assuming but i hadn't thought of that as a cause.

OP posts:
SaintGeorge · 24/07/2007 16:49

My brother's did. A few mild headache then suddenly bang, full on migraine.

My mum remembers it so well because it happened as she was visiting the GP for something else. They had just left when my brother screamed, vomited and starting banging his head on a lamp post because he was in such distress. She rushed him back into the GP's who gave him a suppository and diagnosed migraine on the spot.

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 25/07/2007 09:39

he is absolutly fine today and back in nursery this morning.

OP posts:
Leati · 25/07/2007 09:47

Yes a child can get migrains, one of mine has them. He gets them a lot less now then he did when he was younger. I have a whole list of foods to avoid.

My doctor had me do a food/headache journal. I just wrote down everything he ate for a couple of months, so that I could see what might be triggering the migrains.

suedonim · 25/07/2007 15:44

My ds has had migraine since he was v young and I suspect he maybe even had them from babyhood. On a number of occasions he became ill with a v high temp and vomiting but it never materialised into anything else and was often gone within a day. It wasn't until a long time later that I read in a book about migraine that he could have been suffering from abdominal migraine even at that age.

He's grown up now and migraines are few and far between for him these days.

bundle · 25/07/2007 15:45

mumofmonsters where do you live?

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 25/07/2007 15:47

why where do i live? does that make miraines more or less likely?

OP posts:
bundle · 25/07/2007 15:48

i interviewed a specialist at alder hey hospital in liverpool - a general paediatrician but he'd taken a specialist interest in children's headaches. was v knowledgeable. i could dig his name out if you live anywhere in the north you should be able to get a referral.

bundle · 25/07/2007 15:50

here we go, he's called steve ryan

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 25/07/2007 15:53

oh, sorry! thought you were being odd! I am in Manchester. Will go look at your link now

OP posts:
bundle · 25/07/2007 15:58

lol!

he was a really nice man and obviously not that far from you. there may be other experts closer to you, but he'd taken a real interest in the different types of migraine in kids - have a read through the transcript, it'll give you an idea

Nightynight · 25/07/2007 16:07

several members of my family, including me, had headaches from early childhood, due to reacting to cows milk.

Original poster
MerlinsBeard · 25/07/2007 16:15

bundle, thats a really interesting link ty

nighty night, did yours just start out of no where?

OP posts:
Nightynight · 25/07/2007 16:43

yes they did.

my father said that he cant remember a time when he didnt have headaches. (he was around 50 when he discovered the cows milk sensitivity, so no more headaches now)

chopster · 25/07/2007 16:45

there is a bug going round, dd and I have had it. It's really nasty - causes a very bad migraine lasting hours and sickness, it could well be that.

It is also worth getting him checked out for mild epilepsy, as frequent headaches can be a cause. Def go to GP.