I need your thoughts...

[tyandskyesmom]

Since we have such a wide range of people here I thought I could get some laymen and experienced opinions on this...let me know what you think.

Tyler, my 10 year old son, is extremely healthy. He plays baseball, football, swims, has a black belt in Tae-kwan-do, and essentially is a normal kid. For a few years now, every once in a while he gets a horrible headache. It is not often and it is so infrequent that it is basically un-trackable. But they come on with no notice and no causes that we have been able to track. When it happens it brings him to tears (and he is generally the kid I usually have to coax out of him that he does not feel well so for him to admit it on his own and be brought to tears really speaks volumes to the pain they cause!). Usually they are super intense until he vomits. Usually it is more than once. After he is done vomitting, he usually starts to feel better but generally is out of commission for the rest of the day and just wants to sleep...and normally if there is something better going on (and almost anything is better!) he does not voluntarily want to sleep. He also gets sweaty and pale when this is happening. But he says he does not have vision problems or sensitivity to light when it happens. He does not pass out or become unresponsive in any way. He has no other problems when it happens...just the intense headache and the vomitting.

Any ideas? I mentioned it to the doctor the last time he was there, which was a long time ago, and she just said as long as it is manageable and since it is so infrequent, it is probably nothing. But I have never known anyone else to have these issues. Some of it sounds like a migraine. IS that common for 10 year olds?

So let me know what you guys think...anyone ever been through this?

[MidnTPK]

Have you ruled out that he's not dehydrated or unusually hungry when this happens? I can track almost all of my most awful headaches to time when I only realized after the fact that I hadn't had enough to eat or drink. And I have sometimes vomited when I've been in exceptional pain (gall and kidney stones).

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

My daughter has similar headaches, sometimes i can associate it with pressure changes in the atmosphere. It is so intense she is in tears and it stays until she vomits then she sleeps the reast of the day (the next day she is better). We have taken her to the hospital while this is happening and they give her a shot. The doctor thinks it is migranes even though she does not have vision issues. She is now 26. And this may occur only once a year or less. She started very young as well, probably about the age of your son. We were told not to be concerned, the shot at the hospital does help, not sure if it just a shot for pain or for the vomiting as well. (in the butt).

Hope this helps, I know we were very worried as well, but it seems to get less as she got older.

[DVC2004]

It sounds like it could be a migrane.

[MarkC]

My 17 year old also gets an occasional bad headache, although not as bad as your son. I'm sure it's nothing, but I would probably take him to a different doctor just to be 100% certain. It would be worth your peace of mind to know for sure. Good luck. Mark

[Ian]

That's a textbook migrane.

[It'sWDW4me]

Does anyone else in your family suffer from migraine's? He, most unfortunately, may be growing into them. My DS used to get horrible headaches starting around 5 yrs old (!!). I had his vision and hearing checked - he even had a CAT scan. Very scary. Everything was fine. He still does get a migraine every now and then but I'm not surprised as my mom, my ex, and my ex's mom all suffer from them.

Every once in a while, especially when he's stressed, DS will wake up with a whopper. Light doesn't bother him too much (although it does bother my mom) and sometimes he gets all gray and tacky-sweaty. He's starting to get nauseous with them now and every once in a while my mom gets them bad enough to make her throw up.

My mom swears that, from the onset, she can tell if the oncoming headache is a regular one or a migraine. You may want to reinforce to your son that there is absolutely no possible way for you to know when his head is starting to hurt. He really needs to pay attention to his body and he must make sure to take something to thwart it off as early as possible. My DS13 is just starting to get this concept!

Good luck to you both.

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

I get these same types of headaches, and have for years. My doctor gave me a prescription (unfortunately $40 a pill!!). They have been unable to point at one thing that is causing them, but everybody here has hit on the many causes. the final result from my doctor was that there is a fine balance when dealing with migraines. When I do get one (very bad, and have missed work at least twice a year), warm compresses where the neck and base of the head meet work for me. There are so many things which can cause migraines..too much sun and heat, dehydration, too much or little caffeine, not enough food. DW monitors these for me very carefully, as I tend to blow them off sometimes. One thing that has worked is Tylenol Extra Strength rapid release capsules. I take 1000 mg with a gatorade and within a couple of hours it has digressed to a minor headache. Good luck..

[Jeff]

Sounds like my daughters migraine symptoms. Except she does get the vision cues and is sensative to light. Her doctor gave her a script for Imitrex (sp?) This has helped her manage much better.

Good luck!

[jenny1976]

As others have said, MIGRAINES...there are things you can do though. Have him keep a diary of the things he does, feels, goes through and ingests even the day prior to an onset. This will help you identify triggers, if there are any. He should be seen by a neurologist who can prescribe medication to abort the pain once it starts. Also, when the pain starts, try to give him small sips of fluids and keep him in a cool, well ventilated area, as well as lay him down. FInally, you might wanna make sure he has no blood pressure or allergy (specially food allergies) issues.
Hope it helps!

[Jeniflower]

I agree with the migraine theory and the diary idea sounds really good. when I was younger I used to get the same thing, but it was usually linked to when I was really excited about something or really worried. Kids worry about the funniest things. Maybe keep track of anything thats happening round the time of the migraine. Another thing is he might be mildly allergic to a colouring or additive in his food. My twin and I both can't have red food coluring E20 (Cochineal). It makes her sick straight away buT i can eat it for a while and then it builds up and I get a bad migraine and sickness. So you might not even realise a cerain food or drink is the cause

[tyandskyesmom]

Thanx guys...you are making me feel better.

I am leaning towards migraine too. No one in either of our families has had migraines that I am aware of (so obviously no one in our immediate families) so all I am going on is my medical experience. Luckily they are few and far between. Yesterday he had diving lessons in the morning and then bummed around for a few hours and then went to an open gym with my neices at their gymnastics gym. He said he ate before he left. It was supposedly warm in there. Lou picked them up and they were almost home (about 10 minutes) that he noticed Tyler was sweating (and it was only in the 60s yesterday here!) and saying he did not feel well...shortly after he had to pull over for him to vomit. He got home, changed and went to bed.

I think I will talk to our doctor about it again just to make sure. So far it has not interrupted any of his activities...has never happened at football or baseball, etc...

Thanx again...and if anyone else has any comments, please bring 'em on!

[SBETigg]

As others have suggested, keep a journal detailing as much as you can a) dates of headaches b) what he ate and drank previous to headache c) how he slept the night before d) what activities he was up to when headaches came on and e) what happened during headache (vomiting, need to lie down, seeing spots or light aura that migraine sufferers often see, etc).

Bring the information with you to the doctor, and this will give him a more detailed, specific report on the headache history for him to make a more significant diagnosis than just not to worry much about them. It could be that there's something more to the headaches or that you can find what triggers episodes to avoid it.

[Mousefever]

Sounds like my daughters migraine symptoms. Except she does get the vision cues and is sensative to light. Her doctor gave her a script for Imitrex (sp?) This has helped her manage much better.

Good luck!

By the way, there is now a generic pill for Imitrex. Sumatriptan Succinate

Amy

[Jeri Lynn]

It sounds like a migraine to me. It wouldn't hurt to talk to your family doctor about having a neurologist check his symptoms out. I just went to a neurologist for my migraines, the medicine my primary care physician had given me no longer worked and I was sick of dealing with them and wanted a "head" doctor. She was great!!

Good Luck to your son, his symptoms sound exactly like mine.

[DisneyDog]

I get occasional migraines. I don't know exactly what triggers them. Seems to be random. Could be humidity or strong perfume in the air, hunger, or chocolate. Depends. I have a prescription that I take as soon as I feel one coming on. I haven't suffered from a full-blown migraine since I got the prescription. Thank goodness!

[Magic Smiles]

My DS starting getting migraines around 12. He didn't vomit, but the left side of his face and arm would go numb. First time it happened we immediatly rushed him to the doctors. She said it was migraines. She did some tests and that is what it is. Apparently it is quite common for kids to get migraines. He still continues to get them, too frequently in my opinion, but takes Tylenol Ultra as soon as he feels one starting. Really helps most times. The trick for him is to get it right away. Many of his are triggered by the weather, just like mine. With my first migraine I lost my periphial vision......never did get a headache that first time, but sure do now.

[pink]

My DBF used to suffer from the same thing when he was about 12-16. He would get terrible migraines out of nowhere, throw up and then sleep the whole day. He had perfect vision to, so he thought but once he got glasses, the migraines never happened again. His perscription isn't strong but he says it does wonders. You might want to look in on this and get another doctors opinion.:mickey:

[chaodj9]

Since we have such a wide range of people here I thought I could get some laymen and experienced opinions on this...let me know what you think.

Tyler, my 10 year old son, is extremely healthy. He plays baseball, football, swims, has a black belt in Tae-kwan-do, and essentially is a normal kid. For a few years now, every once in a while he gets a horrible headache. It is not often and it is so infrequent that it is basically un-trackable. But they come on with no notice and no causes that we have been able to track. When it happens it brings him to tears (and he is generally the kid I usually have to coax out of him that he does not feel well so for him to admit it on his own and be brought to tears really speaks volumes to the pain they cause!). Usually they are super intense until he vomits. Usually it is more than once. After he is done vomitting, he usually starts to feel better but generally is out of commission for the rest of the day and just wants to sleep...and normally if there is something better going on (and almost anything is better!) he does not voluntarily want to sleep. He also gets sweaty and pale when this is happening. But he says he does not have vision problems or sensitivity to light when it happens. He does not pass out or become unresponsive in any way. He has no other problems when it happens...just the intense headache and the vomitting.

Any ideas? I mentioned it to the doctor the last time he was there, which was a long time ago, and she just said as long as it is manageable and since it is so infrequent, it is probably nothing. But I have never known anyone else to have these issues. Some of it sounds like a migraine. IS that common for 10 year olds?

So let me know what you guys think...anyone ever been through this?


I have a brother thats just like that since the age idk around 7 (now he's 11) and he has these killer migraines but my family knows its from malnuittrition have you looked into that?:mickey: