abdominal migraine

28 October 2013

6 Key Stomach/Gut Terms related to Migraine

James Information 1

Abdominal Migraine Common in children, but also seen in adults. A type of migraine that could include stomach pain and nausea, and may not include headache.
Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) Particularly in children, this could be related to migraine or could actually be a type of migraine.
Gastric Stasis A common condition in migraine patients – a delayed emptying of the stomach – which can keep medications from working properly.
Gut-Brain Connection The enteric nervous system or “second brain” in the gut may explain why diet and treatment of stomach issues are closely connected to migraine.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) A common disorder comorbid with migraine.
Nausea One of the most common symptoms of migraine (including vomiting).

25 February 2013

Does my Child have Migraine?

James Information, Tips 0

Child Migraine – catch it early to get the best treatment!

5%+ have an attack before age 15 (1/3 of those before age 5)!
Having 1 or more parent with migraine increases risk.

Possible symptoms to watch for:

Changes in temperament (temper, sadness, attention problems)
Nausea/vomiting/cyclical vomiting
Abdominal pain (typically 2 hours or longer)
Head pain (sometimes)
Car sickness
Flushed or pale
Shadows under the eyes
Visual aura (a small percentage of cases)
Sensitivity to light

A new/different headache, or change in frequency? Time to see a doctor!

For more:

24 May 2011

Mommy, I have a Tummy Ache!

James News 1

Stomach aches are legendary in children. As are those mysterious illnesses where the child is vomiting ("Probably something they ate"). Is it just part of growing up?

In recent years researchers have been warning – don’t just assume that those aches and pains are simply a part of childhood that they’ll grow out of. We know a lot more today about various illnesses than we did when the parents were children. For example, now we know that some of those "tummy aches" are actually a result of migraine.

Yes, that’s right. Abdominal migraine is a very common form of migraine in children, and it’s wise to catch it early.

The March edition of the journal Headache featured a study of children who had been referred to an academic pediatric gastroenterology practice complaining of recurring abdominal pain. Based on the available information, the study found that 15% of the qualifying patients had abdominal migraine or probably abdominal migraine.

For various reasons it’s hard to draw solid statistics from the study, but it does seem like a significant number of children with recurring abdominal pain have abdominal migraine, and are rarely diagnosed correctly. In fact, the study found that none of these children received a diagnosis of abdominal migraine!

That’s right – 0.

Today we know that it’s important to treat migraine early. We also now have many good treatments for migraine in children, that were unknown many years ago. It’s time to break the mold and help these children.

Does your child frequently have little appetite? Do they suffer from cyclic vomiting, or frequent stomach pain? If they show these or other symptoms of abdominal migraine, Consider having them checked by a migraine specialist.

Find out more about abdominal migraine here.

15 June 2010

Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, Migraine, and CoQ10

James Discoveries & Stats, Treatments 0

Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) in children has been closely related to migraine. In fact, the symptoms are common in migraine, and recent studies suggest that CVS may actually be a type of migraine. Abdominal migraine is common in children, and stomach pain and vomiting are common (more on abdominal migraine symptoms).

Various treatments have been used for abdominal migraine and CVS – many familiar to migraineurs in general, such as biofeedback, beta-blockers, and triptans. Another common treatment is amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant with brand names such as Endep and Elavil.

Coenzyme Q10 is increasingly popular as a migraine preventative, in part because of its few side effects. So, a study published in January (2010) set out to compare amitriptyline with co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) as a treatment for CVS. 162 patients took amitriptyline, and 22 took CoQ10.

Patients were watched for common aspects of a CVS attack – frequency, duration, number of times child throws up, nausea severity. 72% of the patients taking amitriptyline saw at least a 50% reduction in one of these things. 68% of patients taking coenzyme Q10 experienced at least a 50% reduction in one of these things.

So, amitriptyline is "better", right? Not so fast.

50% of patients reported side effects with the amitriptyline, and in fact 21% had to discontinue treatment!

Side effects with the coQ10? 0% of patients. None.

Not only is this an encouraging result for those thinking of trying CoQ10 for CVS, it’s also encouraging for (other) migraine patients who are thinking about it. CoQ10 continues to be a good option with very few side effects. It’s an up-and-coming preventative for children as well as adults.

For a more in-depth discussion of coenzyme Q10 and migraine, read this article.

12 September 2008

Symptoms of Abdominal Migraine

James Information 43

The symptoms of abdominal migraine regularly confuse doctors. It’s surprisingly common in children, so it’s equally surprising that so many people have never even heard of it!

The most recognizable symptom of abdominal migraine is the recurring abdominal pain. In between attacks, everything will be fine. But then the stomach pain returns, often lasting a whole 24 hours (anywhere from 1-72 hours).

As with many types of migraine, there is often no headache. The most common symptoms are:

Abdominal pain
No appetite (anorexia)
nausea/vomiting
pallor (going pale)

Aside from these, there may be headache, sensitivity to light, irritability, diarrhea, and dark shadows under the eyes. The symptoms of abdominal migraine are episodic – that is, they come in "attacks" with healthy periods in between, just like other types of migraine.

Sometimes these symptoms appear in adults, but normally they occur in children between the ages of 5 and 9. It can be very tricky to diagnose, and it’s important to rule out other possible issues (such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and peptic ulcer). Sometimes children are diagnosed with cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) – recent studies are suggesting that CVS may actually be abdominal migraine.

It’s also important to deal with abdominal migraine because it can lead to other kinds of migraine in adulthood. It’s a big help to get a proper diagnosis and proper treatment early on.

Side note: Why are these abdominal symptoms included in the category of migraine? There are two main reasons. First, there are symptoms similar to many types of migraine – it comes in episodes, nausea is often present, sensitivity to light, etc. Second, researchers discovered that people with abdominal migraine symptoms often had other family members with more familiar types of migraine.

Remember, migraine is not just another name for a headache!