Year 8 attendance issue due to health problem

[Welshandhappy]

Dd currently has 62% attendance . Rapidly going down due to so many absences due to hemiplegic migraines .

We can’t find the trigger (suspect may be hormones?) and the referral for neurology is up to 9 months wait . Can’t afford to go private.

Each episode is ending up with 2/3 days off school. The first day as she loses vision and speech, the second day with a terrible headache and has to sleep and sometimes a third day as if she uses a screen or reads any text it returns.
School aren’t happy but I have no idea what to do! Dd is also losing confidence and has anxiety as when it happens she can’t see and then muddles up what she wants to say as can’t talk properly then loses function of one side of her body (the first time it happened we rushed to a and e as didn’t know why it was )
I know attendance is important but I’m at a loss as to how we can improve this 😞 has anyone been through similar or knows of something we can try as paracetamol/ ibuprofen isn’t doing much to help,

Im worried about dd missing so much work too - year 8 isn’t too intense is it she will be able to catch up ??!

I don't have any advice about school. But massive sympathy with her it's honestly the most frightening thing ! I only get them about twice a year and when it's happening you feel like you are going to die. Poor girl I'm sorry she can't get any treatment quicker.
I read somewhere once that putting salt under your tongue when you feel one coming on followed by a glass of water helps. It could be an old wives tale but won't hurt to try. I find wearing sunglasses helps because light sets mine off. Strong smells like bleach seem to sometimes too.

I’ll get her to try the salt as we are desperate! Can’t seem to pinpoint any definite triggers and it’s not coinciding with her period or anything it just seems to be all the time she’s having 3-4 a month and it’s really started to affect her mood and obviously anxiety probably won’t help.

Have you been back to the GP? Your GP may be able to prescribe something for it whilst you wait for an appointment - I have a feeling that most triptans aren’t licensed for under 16s, but you never know. You can also contact the Migraine Trust for advice. Acupuncture is also good for treating migraines. Hormonal migraines are a nightmare - DD gets them although not as badly as that but we’ve identified other triggers though - tiredness and dehydration being two others.

She should be fine to catch up - I’d perhaps keep an eye on things like Maths and Science and make sure you known what is being covered so you can support her.

Has she been tested for Coeliac disease? Along with anaemia, migraines were one of my daughter’s main symptoms (she didn’t have any bowel symptoms).

Clearly she can't be in school when she is ill so school will just need to cope.

In your shoes I would try:

Speaking to the GP to see if there is anything they can suggest to try - common triggers, cutting out foods, etc. they may also be able to try some medications.

Is there a society or charity that might have information or a support line that you can ring for advice? Even knowing what the common triggers are might help you start trying to remove them

Easier says than done, but don't worry about missing school. She is not in a gcse year. She can catch up on what she has missed if necessary - you'd be surprised how quickly someone can learn 1:1 compared to in a classroom with 30 other kids.

Hi OP, sorry to hear about how the migraines are. I used to have them as a teenager until early twenties and had the loss of vision, slurred speech, numb arms etc. A week to get over it, then another starting. Very frightening. I did find out what was causing them though and even though it’s a small chance it would be the same for your DD, I felt I should come on and tell you in case.

For me, it was MSG, a flavour enhancer, which unfortunately was in many foods then (20 mumble years ago) So crisps, concentrated soup (which my mum was a fan of), flavoured noodles, biscuits etc. I could never make the connection as the reaction was delayed so two or three days could go by after eating it. My particular reaction to MSG also made me crave more of it and it made me feel temporarily better so very self propelling. I took umpteen unnecessary drugs as I didn’t have “true” migraines so the drugs did no good at all, how could they. MSG acts as a neurotransmitter in susceptible people, hence all the weird neurological symptoms.

I can across a website someone had written about their experiences (bless them!) I tried it, avoiding all MSG and MSG like additives and … I had my life back! The GP had always maintained I was stressed however much I said I wasn’t, I liked school, liked the work.

I hope it is something like this for your DD. I know it seemed miraculous for me. If I can tell you anything else that might help do ask. All the best to you and your DD. She has all my sympathy

It sounds really difficult and I'm sorry the school are unsympathetic. The school I work for would try to support where we could, although if she struggles to read from a screen etc, then I suspect sending work home wouldn't help much.

I know she is young for it, but if something hormonal is suspected, would doctors try her on the pill? I have very painful headaches sometimes with migraine type symptoms (e.g. loss of vision, tingling in one hand etc) due to hormonal changes and the combined pill does seem to mitigate this at it keeps my hormones on a regular level. I'm not sure if she is too young for this though?

I also take migraleve which I believe children from 12 can take- it contains paracetamol, codeine and and something to relieve nausea and if I take it at the right time, it totally relieves symptoms, although hers do sound especially severe.

I do think she will be able to catch up gaps from Y8, but obviously it would be great if she could get it resolved now, so that as she goes into GCSEs, she misses less school? I know you say you can't afford a private diagnosis, but could you afford tutors in key subjects if she did fall behind?

If it's a short term issue she will probably catch up. However, if it could go on for years then I'd speak to school asap.

School and the local Authority have a statutory duty to provide education when 15 days have been missed due to illness - they don't have to be consecutive. I would be asking them to provide some regular 1-1 tuition in addition to her normal school hours to help minimise the impact of her illness. This can be used to mitigate the impact of her absence - at least for maths, English and science.

Are you keeping a diary to track triggers. Food/drinks/ stress levels. Also hormonal wise can be a few days before periods as levels are higher. The other thing maybe worth checking her eyesight for visual stress. You can google this and see if she fits this.

I don't think the lights at school help so you can ask if she can sit at a darker area of the classroom. So she isn't directly under the fluorescent lights.

I would do the diary for at least a few weeks then talk to the GP as then your know how best to treat. Is she talking any migraine medication?

My year 7 daughter has the exact same problem with the exact same symptoms.
MRI's have also shown that she has a benign adenoma (non-cancerous tumour) on her pituitary gland.

I have been very vocal with her school and kept them in the loop via email of all her hospital visits and admissions. I have also got a system in place for when she starts to have symptoms (she goes to medical, and they assess and then call me), and I have also ensured the school have evidence in the form of GP letter, admission/discharge letter and visits to the hospital.

My daughter has been prescribed Cinnarizine and Propranolol as well as a strong pain killer. These are all hospital prescribed by the Paediatric Neurologist and are now on repeat with the GP. She is an outpatient under the Neurology clinic.

At the end of January, I just calmly took her to A&E for 6am. By 11am, she'd been assessed and had an MRI.

I hope your daughter gets better, I absolutely understand your struggle.