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What Exactly Is An Abdomen Migraine Headache?
September 9, 2010
Abdominal migraine affects children most commonly, between the ages of five and nine, mostly girls rather than boys. It is possible for adults to have this migraine too also. Abdominal migraine differs from migraines in two ways; the age of onset and the fact that there is usually no headache.
Children with a family history will be more likely to have abdominal migraine, and that most of these children will later develop migraines. Normally speak to your physician should you have questions regarding migraine headache. An accurate diagnosis based only on the symptoms is not possible with abdominal migraine and the family history is the key to a correct diagnosis.
Abdominal pain is the most common symptom with this type of migraine. It can be difficult to correctly diagnose abdominal migraine because the symptoms may be caused by a variety of other conditions. Secondary symptoms include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to noise and light, pallor, irritability, diarrhea, dizziness and loss of appetite. The child may have dark circles around the eyes and lokk flushed. The abdominal pain settles around the belly button and lasts for an hour or two, returning several times over the following 24 to 72 hours. For this time, some other symptoms could also be present.
Several criteria have been set out by the International Headache Society which must be met before a proper diagnosis can be made. The criteria are in 5 parts, ranging from a child having five attacks with mid-section pain lasting for one to three days, to a child having a minimum of two other symptoms as well as the pain as well as a family history of migraine. Just as before your medical professional will be man or women to contact in the event you experience any abdominal migraines. The variety of other conditions that could be indicated by the symptoms must be eliminated before an abdominal migraine diagnosis can be made.
Although abdominal migraine was only officially recognized as a type of migraine in the late 1990s, as early as the 1960s, there were pediatricians who were correctly making the connection between these same abdominal symptoms and migraine. Even in those early days, children with repeated abdominal episodes were diagnosed as having a “childhood form of migraine”.
This migraine type is not as common as others, but his may be because it isn’t always diagnosed because the general symptoms could be put down to other conditions. This means that there is no recommended treatment for this condition. After it has been diagnosed, abdominal migraine is treated in much the same way as other types of migraine. Because most patients are young children, the usual migraine meds may be too strong.
The symptoms of abdominal migraines are best treated with rest, but sedatives, anti-nausea and pain killers may also help. As with traditional migraine sufferers, the child needs to lie down to rest in a quiet, dark room.
Some children with abdominal migraine may also be sensitive to know 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. Over-tiredness, anxiety and stress are also common migraine symptoms.
This information will help you get a diagnosis of abdominal migraine if that is what is causing your child’s symptoms. Try eliminating the major migraine triggers from the child’s diet to find out whether this will help alleviate the symptoms.
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This information is certainly not medical health advice get hold of your doctor for any concerns.