S/o teen headaches, does this sound like a migraine?

[Myira]

On Wednesday, got a call from DD’s school around 9 am nurse saying she is complaining of a headache and blurry peripheral vision or seeing lines out of the corner of both eyes. She administered Tylenol and then DD started to feel nauseous. I picked her up and headed to the ER(her pediatrician’s office told me to do so). On the way DD threw up, and once we got there she was complaining of unbearable headache above her left eye. It took forever to be finally seen after triaging 45 mins may be even more. In that time, she was lying down on the sofa in the waiting room. After that compulsory nap though, her headache had subsided and she felt a lot better.
The doctor did the usual neurological checkup and said everything looks fine. He said he would not call it a migraine since migraines typically lasts atleast 24 hours. He also said she is a bit on the younger side they apparently start at puberty in teens.
We came home around 1, she ate a hearty lunch, I made her rest but she read in bed and has been totally fine ever since.

So I thought I’d ask the BBB what you think given those symptoms.

Also should I just pass it off as a one off thing or try to follow up on this?

DD just turned 11 in October.



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[almostmom]

That definitely sounds like a migraine! I had bad migraines as a child (as did/does my DS, and his are exactly like mine). They were all mostly before the age of 20 - now I get them maybe once every 3-5 years. Our ped says they can get worse during puberty, and often end after that. But definitely kids get them! DS had them for sure all through elementary school, a few a year.

Never did a migraine for me or my son last 24 hours! Those are one type, but not ours. Ours come on quick, no visuals (though those are common), nausea and throwing up are always a part of it. They usually last about 2-3 hours until eventually he falls asleep (his are usually in the middle of the night - joy). And then he's fine when he wakes up.

To me, this sounds very much like a migraine. For us, without the warming of lights or vision issues, we can't usually catch them with medication before they come on. He sometimes takes advil at the beginning, but usually throws it up so it never takes effect. He does also get regular headaches for which he takes advil which always works if it's not a migraine.

Some people have triggers for migraines, so you could think if there was anything, but we've never been able to figure that out. Except sleepovers may have cauesed a few... (though not anymore).

[newnana]

I'm not a doctor, my daughter gets migraines and I've never heard a 24 hour rule. Sounds like one to me. DDs actually start off with dizziness and vision problems before anything. Took her a while to learn to correlate these with migraines since they didn't start with headaches. Thankfully one of her teachers started pointing it out to her when she started to look "off" in class. Thank goodness for good teachers!

DDs started at about age 9. Hormonal changes aren't limited to teens and our pediatrician says migraines are linked to puberty, not specifically teenage years. Her explanation included the other physical signs of puberty DD was starting to show and made sense to me at the time.

What did the ER discharge notes say to do? Follow up with Doc? I'd message her pediatrician through the patient portal stating what you told us, following up on the ER visit to see what they say. They should have the ER notes in their system.

From the American Migraine Foundation definitions:
One is said to have migraine if within his/her lifetime there have occurred 5 or more attacks of unprovoked headache lasting 4-72 hours, severe enough to markedly restrict or even prohibit routine daily activity and accompanied by nausea or light/ sound sensitivity. Note that the clinical definition of migraine does not require the headache to be pulsatile (“throbbing”) or lateralized to one side of the head: although such features are common in migraine, they are far from invariable. Nor does the diagnosis of migraine require the occurrence of aura symptoms, visual or otherwise; only 20-25% of migraineurs ever experience aura, and in that minority who do there are relatively few who experience aura with each and every attack. Finally, the headache of migraine need not be intense or disabling on every occasion; some migraine attacks may involve no headache whatsoever (aura without headache), and many attacks may involve headache that is mild in intensity and more reminiscent of tension type headache than what one typically associates with migraine.

HTH!

[Globetrotter]

Sounds like a migraine to me! DD got her first one in middle school, so she must have been around 12 and starting puberty. The first symptom was the visual changes, so it freaked us out initially. She was diagnosed with ocular migraines, but later on was told it was migraine with aura. Now that she knows what to do, if she takes her extra strength Tylenol immediately she’s usually able to avoid it. These were happening in high school, but she’s only had one in college, and I think for her a big trigger was stress. Another trigger is dehydration. Overall her college lifestyle is a lot Happier and healthier, despite a much heavier workload, And she makes it a point to stay well fed and hydrated.

Btw, They usually lasted a few hours, half a day at most.

[doberbrat]

I was young when I got my first migraine. 9 or 10 I think. I still remember it. I was fine then while in the grocery store I got a blinding headache and could not see in parts of my field of vision. I threw up in the store . Was awful but gone by the next morning.

It used to be rare that I had a migraine last 24h. Since having dd2 though 24-36h is pretty standard to be out of commission. I probably need to go back on preventative meds.

[Myira]

Thanks everyone, I spoke to our pediatrician yesterday and he also agreed that it could be a migraine.

On another note, DD as well as DS are awful about drinking water. Everyday their water bottles come back full from school. We’ve tried explaining, threatening, bribing and nothing seems to work at all. If you have any tips on how to get kids to drink water I’d love to hear.


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[calebsmama03]

Definitely sounds like migraine. DS is 8 and his are almost exactly as Liz describes. Sometimes he complains of funny vision but usually starts as a mild headache with nausea then he throws up and bam- migraine. His doc prescribed zofran mainly to help him keep down Advil long enough for it to help with the headache. He’s usually in tears when it happens and cries himself to sleep then when he wakes up he’s ok.

As for drinking water, have you tried letting them flavor it? Either with fruit or with those flavor drops? I’m really big on water Myself and it’s all we drink at our house (save for a glass of milk or two a day for DS ) so mine are usually pretty good about it because there really isn’t a choice. I’d just try to incorporate it into the routine as much as possible. After school snack? Grab a glass of water with that, etc.