Have Your Children Been Diagnosed With Abdominal Migraine

Abdominal migraine affects children most commonly, between the ages of five and nine, mostly girls rather than boys. Less frequently, adults may also have this form of migraine. The difference is that there is usually no headache with abdominal migraine and it has a much earlier age of onset.

It has been established that children who have a family history of migraine will be more likely diagnosed with abdominal migraine and then develop migraines after puberty. Always get hold of your physician should you have questions about migraine headache. The key to a correct diagnosis of abdominal migraine is the family history, because the general symptoms do not give an accurate diagnosis on their own.

The main symptom of this type of migraine is abdominal pain. Abdominal migraine is not easy to diagnose because the abdominal symptoms could indicate a number of problems. Other symptoms that the child may have are dizziness, diarrhea, irritability, vomiting, nausea and pale skin. The child may have dark rings around the eyes and look flushed. The pain is usually in the mid region of the abdomen, lasts for one to two hours and may return several times in a one to three day time period. Some, or all, of the other symptoms may also be presnet at this time.

With the International Headache Society categorizing the condition, it’s criteria must be met before a diagnosis can be confirmed. The criteria, from A to E, state that certain symptoms and time frames must be met before a confirmed diagnosis can be made. Again your health practitioner will be particular person to get hold of if you experience any kind of hemiplegic migraines. All other possible cause of the presenting symptoms must first be investigated before abdominal migraine can be correctly diagnosed.

While abdominal migraine has only been officially recognized as a type of migraine since late in the 1990s, there were pediatricians who correctly made the link between these abdominal symptoms and migraines as early as the 1960s. Even then, there were children diagnosed with a form of children’s migraines, after repeated attacks of similar abdominal symptoms.

This form of migraine appears to be less common than others, perhaps because of the symptoms, which could be ascribed to a number of different problems. There is, therefore, no recommended pattern of treatment for the condition. the treatment is similar to that of other types of migraine, but a diagnosis must be reached first. Migraine medications may be too strong for the young children who suffer from abdominal migraine.

Rest is the best treatment for abdominal migraine, but sedatives and analgesics may also help. When the symptoms start, the child needs the same as most migraine sufferers – a quiet dark room in which to rest.

Children with abdominal migraine may be sensitive to known migraine triggers. Parents could set up a program of removing known food triggers from the child’s diet and guage the reaction, if any. The most common food triggers are citrus, chocolate, manufactured meats, preservatives, tomatoes, artificial flavors and colors and dairy foods. Other common migraine triggers include stress, over-tiredness and anxiety.

After reading this article, you will have a good understanding of this type of migraine and this might help you with the correct diagnosis for your child. You could try eliminating the top migraine triggers to see if that helps with the symptoms your child is experiencing.

Thank you for reading through our post to get more health related information consider early signs of cancer.

This article is not medical health advice speak to your medical professional for any difficulties.