Looking for other parents....
I have a 7 year old who has been suffering with headaches/migraines for about 3.5-4 years now which is so sad because she is just so young. I am looking for any other parents who also go through this. I personally have had random headaches through out my life but I've never had migraines and it breaks my heart as a mommy to see her deal with this and I can't even understand how she feels. I have family history (parent/sibling/aunt/uncles/grand parents)and my husband has had migraines occasionally through out his life but nothing severe or recurrent like our daughter. There are days, like today, where I just sit and cry because I don't know what to do for her. I can't sympathize with her because I don't understand, and become so frustrated because I just don't understand.
She see's a neurologist, has a daily medication regiment, has had MRI's to rule out anything severe, we've done diet jouurnaling to see if there are specific triggers, we've done journaling to see if there is any specific day/time/month etc that triggers it and we've come up with no specific answers.
I'm just trying to find support because no one around here has ever dealt with children with this issue.....
Hi jcsmgvng,
Thank you for reaching out, it's very difficult to see our children in pain, I've been there. I'm sure other parents will be along shortly to share their experiences with you.
Migraine is thought to be a genetic neurological disorder and it seems you have a fairly strong family history. Having daily migraine is exhausting and frustrating for both the patient and caregiver.
You mentioned you kept a migraine diary for your daughter, but may I ask how long you did it? Keeping a very detailed diary for three months should help narrow down triggers and any patterns our attacks have. When my son was younger, "we" kept a detailed diary for three months and I have to say it was not fun. But I'm so glad we did! We were able to determine his strong migraine triggers are dark chocolate, nitrates, dehydration, skipping meals, and irregular sleeping patterns. It is time consuming, but very worthwhile. Here is migraine diary information; https://migraine.com/blog/keeping-migraine-diary-basics/.
When you get a minute, take a look at our section on children and migraine here; https://migraine.com/migraines-in-children-and-teens/.
Nancy
Hello jcsmgvng:
I am sorry that your daughter isn't feeling well. It saddens me to know about her pain. I too am a parent of a child with frequent and severe migraines, and I'm sure we share many of the same feelings. My daughter is 12 and has been missing an average of 1 or 2 days of school a week for the past two years as a result of headaches. It is very sad to see her in pain, and just as sad to see her falling behind in school and having to miss so many activities that she enjoys. I worry about her future and live in fear because I'm always expecting a call from the school nurse to come and pick her up.
How do we remain hopeful? It is at times very difficult for me to cope. However, migraines can become less severe over time. I had bad migraines for about two years when I was in high school. They gradually became less and less frequent and now I have not had one in 30 years. Secondly, we never quit trying to find the best treatment. We never quit trying to find and meet with the best pediatric headache specialists, and if a medication doesn't work after giving it an honest try, then we stop using that one and try something else. Additionally, my daughter's headache specialist tells us that although we know little about migraine causes and treatments right now, the future is much brighter than the past because a great deal of research is going on. He tells me that we can expect major advances in treatment within the next two years.
I can tell you some things that have helped my daughter. She gets fewer headaches when she has a regular bed time and gets 9-10 hours of sleep. She also does much better when her diet consists almost exclusively of healthy foods, specifically vegetables that are raw or roasted in olive oil, and meats that have not been processed in any way. Fortunately, she likes these foods and appreciates when I take the time to prepare them. It helps me a little to focus on some things that I as a parent can control, and that are healthy lifestyle practices anyway.
I hope to one day hear that your daughter is doing better.
Tim
Hi there, how is your child doing? I'm so sorry that she has to suffer through migraines and I hope that she can get relief.
We've changed the daily medication again and added another for at the onset of them to hopefully help stop them sooner. It seems like whenever I think wow it's been a week or even more exciting it's been two weeks suddenly she has a pretty bad one. I really hope that we can get them under control and well managed. This is frustrating for sure.
