Dealing With Headaches

Although officially my first diagnosed migraine was when I was already at the venerable age of 24, I had excrutiating pains before then. I just never thought of them as migraines. Since I was never diagnosed as having migraines as a child (I had too many other problems that took up my pediatrician’s attention), it is possible that these head and eye pains were not migraines, but symptoms of other things.

But, sadly, children do get migraines (sometimes called adolescent migraines). Personally, I think I had my first one while still in the womb, but I’ve no proof that can actually happen.

Here’s what I can remember of my childhood migraines. (That would make a great title for a book of poetry now, wouldn’t it?)

Getting Drops In My Eyes

Mom has it written in my baby book that before I could walk, I attacked my first eye doctor by biting and punching him. Man, was I psychic, or what?

My first remembered really bad head pain was when I had to get drops to dialate the pupils of my eyes. This left me extrememly photophobic, dizzy and nauseated. And I had to get this crap twice a year when I was a kid, because my eyes were so bad and my eyeglasses prescription constantly needed changing. I’ve been reassured now that these drops are not used anymore, but I’ll be damned if I ever let a doctor dialate my pupils with drops again. If I ever have to get them dialated, I’ll dialate them by listening to Peter Gabriel.

Lack of Sleep

I was an insomniac as a kid. So, I had incredible headaches all of the time. I had so many, I thought it was normal. Now that I look back, I can see that I put up with a lot of needless suffering as a kid. It’s too bad Prozac (or ipuprofen) hadn’t yet been invented when I was a kid. I probably would’ve been better off just getting an IV of Prozac stuck in my veins as soon as I popped into the world.

Gym Class

People thought I was faking it, but I wasn’t. I can’t catch a ball to save my life. This is because I have monocular vision and can’t see in three dimensions. None of my gym teachers ever believed me. So, if any sport involves an object becoming airborne, sooner or later it connects with the side or top of my head. Usually, I’d have migraines even before gym class started just because of the stress involved of wondering when I was going to get beaned.

Now that I think about it, how in the heck did I ever survive childhood? And if any of my gym teachers are still alive, I’d like to smack you right upside the head for not believing me.

Ahh, that thought makes my head feel so much better!

Well, before Christmas, I posted about a product that might appeal to my Mom, who (like me and you) gets headsaches and migraines. A think I did a good promotion for the little bear, too. But now that the Christmas high has definately worn off, Mom and I have had a chance to try and actually use the Gelly Belly Grizzly Bear instead of just “ooooo” and “ahh” over it.

The Verdict

Either we did something very wrong or something wrong happened at Amazon.com. We could not fit the cold/hot pack into the back of the bear. That’s kind of the whole pint of the bear –to be a cute and tough applicator for cold packs or heating pads. The cold/hot pack that was included actually exploded while we were trying to insert it into the bear’s back pouch.

The insides of the pack looked like little tiny round ice balls, but weren’t cold. Ome to think of it, it kind of looked like 3-D confetti. Although it was definately entertaining to do a gross necropsy on the cold/heat pack, it still didn’t do much for my Mom’s actual pain, which needed a cold pack quickly.

So, I found one of those little blue cold packs that you put in picninc baskets or lunch boxes to help make a temporary mini-refrigerator. That fit easily inside the back of the bear.

However, after five minutes, Mom said, “I can’t feel the cold at all. This bear must be too thick.”

No, Mom, I think I was the one that was too thick when I bought the darn thing.

At least Mom likes Teddy bears, anyway. This one looks a lot differnt from the other Teddies she has. It now sits with the prize teddy bear from Build-A-Bear in a teddy capacity rather than in the medicine cabinet. In other words — I managed to buy a nice Teddy bear for my Mom’s Teddy bear when I was suppossed to get her something to ease her aches and pains. It sits there and stares at me, both haunting and taunting me.

Verdict : PPHHHTTTT!!!!! (Both for my Christmas shopping abilities and the Gelly Belly Grizzly Bear).

Pediatric migraines usually refers to migraines in children under the age of 19. You can get migraines at almost any age — I sware I had one in my crib — and the pain is arguably worse for the parents than for the children. Unfortunately, very small children can’t keep a headache journal to figure out the triggers for their migraines. To parents, pediatric migraine triggers are going to be a total mystery. Treating pediatric migranes usually cvoncentrates on pain relief. Here, alternative remedies can help ease the pain, alone or in combination with over the counter drugs.

Why Alternative Treatments?

Some parents are wary — and rightly so — about just giving any old pill to their kids to kill the pain. Some are worried that adult medications (and even children’s medications) are still too strong for their young child or there may be a bad side effect lurking in the shadows. Lots of clinical trials for medicines are geared toward adults or teens but not little children.

Also, if you can’t get to the doctor or pediatrician, your child still needs pain relief. Some alternative therapies help without the need for a perscription. Some are quite complicated, like acupuncture, and needs the cooperation of your pediatrician to help for long-term therapy.

In the Meantime (and it’s a Mean Time)

Here are some home remedies that can often help ease the pain in pediatric migraines. As each child is an individual, each will have individual reactions. These are very mild remedies, unlike some folk remedies.

• Get the child to lie down in a dark room. Sleeping through a pediatric migraine can often be the best medicine.
• Apply cold compresses to the head, especially if the child complains about pain in one or both eyes. Hot compresses have been reported to help with some children. My Mom used to have me take a warm bath in a completely dark bathroom. This helped me to relax and not panic.
• Some scents help children relax and breathe deeply. Lavender, chamomile, frankinscence or peppermint can help a child breathe deeper and relax. Don’t put any scent on the child unless it is therapuetic grade essential oils, with lavender being the safest. If your child is allergic to ragweed, then avoid chamomile. If the child starts complaining the smell is making things worse, then forget it, but at least you tried.
• For nausea, peppermint hard candy can help. Some kids prefer candied ginger or ginger snaps.
• Sticking your hands or feet in warm water at the first sign of migraine can often help lessen the intensity of the pain.
• Tell your child — whether you think they understand or not — that the pain will eventually go away. Try not to act too upset, or your child may wonder if there is anything you are not telling him or her.

Please don’t use this article in the place of a pediatrician’s advice. Hope this helps.

Abominal migraines are proof that the conventional medical profession really needs to start naming conditions more accurately. The word migraine implies head pain. This migraine is still in the head, not in the abdomen, but apparantly the pain is worse in the abdomen than in the head. These are really nasty experiences that you wouldwish on your worst enemies. Abdominal migraines are most common in children ages 5 - 9, but you never really outgrow them, do you, folks?

Where Is The Abdomen?

If you aren’t familiar with the word “abdomen”, don’t be embarrassed. Please never be afraid to ask any question of your health care professional or pharmacist. You need to understand what’s going on and where.

Anyway, the abdomen is a term meaning the entire belly area, pretty much from the bottom of your breasts to your pubic hair. This is a bit different from the abdomens in insects, but I do not know if insects can get abdominal migraines.

Symptoms

Your face turns a sickly pale (called “pallor”) often accompanied by dark shadows around the eyes. Some will not get pallor but will flush red, like when you have a fever. There’s not much pain in the head or eyes. The pain that’s taking up most of your attention is in your abdomen — your belly feels sore, you get very nauseated and usually vomit. Not suprisingly, you don’t have any appetite. This lasts from one hour to 72 hours.

Why Is This Linked With Migraines?

One of the reasons for the peculiar name is that is seems children with abdominal migraines grow up into adults with migraines (with or without auras). Treatments for migraine pain also seems to work on abdominal migraines, if the attacks are frequent.

There isn’t any one diagnostic test for abdominal migraine — your family medical history and other factors are taken into account. You might be tested for other consitions like irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcer, duodenal obstruction or Crohn’s Disease to rule them out, as the early signs for them feel much the same as abdominal migraines.

Although distressing, abdominal migraines usually aren’t dangerous. The sooner you can get a diagnosis, the sooner you can get treatment. Please don’t use this article in place of a doctor’s advice.

Hope this helps.

From the “why didn’t I think of that” department: One of the most effective ways for treating migraines or headaches is with cold compresses. Some hydrotherapists (and conventional doctors) recommend alternating hot and cold packs. When you have a bad headache, you need to move as little as possible. And the packs can be kinda ugly and slippery.

Well, now you can microwave a small teddy bear or stick in a cold pack to stick on your head. You could also drape it on your neck to relax tense muscles which can contribute to headache pain. This Gelly Belly Grizzly Bear is originally for kids, but why should they have all of the fun? At least it’s reuseable, cute and closes with Velcro. And, it can be used for other owies other than headaches or migraines to help you “bear” with the pain.

The packs, which can be microwaved or stuck in the freezer (you do have to remember to stick them in the freezer!) are insterted into the back of the bear and then you place bear on needed body part.

(Ducks for cover.)

Does It Come With Jelly Bellies?

Unfortunatley, no. Despite the name, the Gelly Belly Grizzy Bear has nothing to do with the delectable Jelly Belly jelly beans. Come to think of it, has anyone ever tried taking Jelly Belly jelly beans for a headache? They need to come out with an “Excedrin” flavor…ewww, on second thought, maybe not.

Interesting gift combo idea for a headache prone friend or family member with a sweet tooth — Gelly Belly Grizzly Bear and Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Am I Getting One?

Well, let’s just say that I now have one less headache about getting a family member a Christmas gift! Off to get the Visa card. Hey, I’m not slacking off by shopping on the computer during time I should be writing a longer blog post — I’m multitasking. Yeah, that’s the ticket…

Hope this helps. Have a pain free weekend.

Roughly 50% of those with migraines also are prone to crippling motion sickness. Some medical experts think that, because of the high incidents of migraineurs also having motion sickness, there is a definate link between these two miseries. One of the theories is that low brain serotonin – also a suspect for a cause of clinical depression – is the culprit. So, if you have all three and then have kids, you can pretty much bet the bank that they will at least inherit the motion sickness from you. (”Gee, thanks Mom. Thanks, Dad.”)

Motion Sickness Sucks

Motion sickness and migraine pain are incredibly similar and in me, they are nearly identical. I get extreme pain in one or both eyes, incredible nausea, sometimes shake and sweat and have been told I turn white as a ghost. I also loose focus in my vision and often get extremely sensitive to light, sound and smell. Motion sickness hits people on various levels and severity. Fortunately, there are many inexpensive things you can do to prevent or lessen the severity of motion sickness.

Many animals get motion sickness, too, which is one reason why they scream bloody murder when in a moving vehicle. Cats, horses and dogs seem to be the most affected. There are some anti-motion sickness medications for these animals available from your veterinarian. I personally think some gunea pigs can get motion sick, but I don’t know of any medicines for them that are avialable. Fortuantely, they have enough sense to keep still throughout a car trip if they aren’t feeling their best. Never transport animals in the trunk of your car!!!

• If you know you are prone to motion sickness, take over the counter medicines such as Dramamine (in America) before you start moving. Check the package directions. There are patches as well. The motion sickness medicine I took in England had to be swallowed two hours before the trip. (!) It worked, though!
• Don’t eat a big meal before you travel. Please.
• Peppermints or candied ginger (or ginger nuts) can help ease nausea. For some people, they only need to smell essential oil of peppermint rather than stick a sweet in their mouths. Essential oil of lavender has also been reported to be effective at easing headache and nausea in some people (but not me, sadly).
• Don’t read or watch videos. Doing this will make things much worse.
• Don’t keep turning your head around to look at all the pretty scenery. Pick a point on the horizon straight ahead and keep your head still as much as possible.
• Breathe deeply and get fresh air whenever possible (not recommended on airplanes, though!)
• If somebody complains about you not looking around at the pretty scenery or not “being any fun”, puke on them. (Okay, that was just a joke…)
• If you know you are prone to motion sickness, try to plan your trip so you have time for a rest immediately after you get out of the vehicle. I usually have to lay down in a dark room. I take Excedrin only ater my stomach calms down, otherwise I’d just toss them back up.

One thing about motion sickness that I’ve discovered — gradually your body gets used to longer and longer periods of being mobile before symptoms start. So, if you ride the bus an hour a day and get motion sick, over time (if you ride regularly) your body gets used to moving about for an hour.

Hope this helps!

On October 8, 2007, 18 year old college student Erica Oritz died in New York from bacterial menigitiscaught in the greater Boston area. Although menigitis is considered a disease affecting small children, it can happen at nearly any age. This is different from viral meningitis, which is the kind of meningitis usually talked about and normally is not lethal. One of the first signs is a killer headache very akin to migrain pain, but it comes with other signs such as a stiff neck, high fever, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and red or purple blotches on the skin, especially from the trunk of the body on down.

How Do You Get It?

You have to contract bacterial meningitis from someone else, say through contact with saliva through kissing or sharing food or drink from the same plate or cup.

Onset of symptoms develop very quickly. They can all come in a several hours or two days.

Another one of the symptoms is perhaps the most dangerous — disorientation. The victim probably will not think much of the condition. If you notice it in a loved one — 911 time! (999 in England). If not treated, the victim will eventually go into seizures which eventually kill them.

You don’t need to panic and check everybody’s bellies for splotches. (”But, I feel fine!” “Show the belly NOW!”) Bacterial meningitis is quite rare, but since there have been cases on the East Coast this month, it might spread. Since the symptoms minic a bad migraine, you need to know the difference between a “mere” migraine and the definately lethal onset of bacterial meningitis.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Is It Treatable?

The early stages of bacterial meningitis can be sucessfully treated with a round of antibiotics, no matter what your age when you get it. You also might have had a vaccination for it, for check your medical records. There are a couple of kinds of bacterial strains responsible for bacterial meningitis. For some more information about bacterial meningitis and about the vaccines, click here. Some colleges and universities require all of their students to have such vaccinations before they are allowed to attend. College and university students and health care workers are thought to be the groups at highest risk.

Hope this helps.

Yet another thing to blame your parents for. According to Health 24, if one of your parents has migraines, you have a 50% chance of getting them. If both your parents have migraines, then you have a 75% chance of getting them. You are probably getting them for the exact same reasons your parents got them. If your parents do get migraines, then ask them how they manage theirs or what their triggers are. This will save you a lot of time trying to figure out what triggers your migraines.

However, if your parents do not know why they get migraines, then you’re on your own.

WebMD reports that 4 out of 5 migraine sufferes are from families with a history of migraines. I guess the family that pains together stays together, eh?

But why does anyone get migraines in the first place? That is still unknown. One theory is that we inherit an abnormal brain from our parents. Gee, and all I wanted was a pony…

If you have migraines, really think carefully before having kids (if you can help it. Sometimes kids happen beyond the plans of mice and men). If you have kids, you have a HUGE chance of given them the same lifetime of suffering as yourself.

Which raises an interesting question — if all of the people who currently have migraines in the world stopped having kids, would migraines then become a bad dream?

I know, I know — it’s like asking how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop.

And then again, could the theoretical “brain abnormality” only be activated when in the presence of children or people who act childishly? Hmmm —

And science stumbles onward.

It’s hard enough being a kid in today’s world. From 12-17, your body is being subjected to all kinds of hormone surges, growth spurts and zit creams. And getting migraines on top of it just makes you want to scream. And apparantly, adolescents with migraines have done just that, spurring research into effective pain relief.

A popular migraine drug that shows promise for teens is zolmitriptan, found in the brand name nasal spray Zolmig, reports Reuters Health.

The 2007 study was done on 171 adolescents with migraines with a total of 275 migraine attacks spread between them. Some were treated with the nasal spray and some were not, given instead a placebo. Releif in the nasally treated began in 37% in 15 minutes after the spray was given.

The study was conducted by Eastern Virginia Medical School. So far, no side effects have been reported, aside from a lot of sniffing.

Zolmig, made by pharmecuetical giant Astra-Zeneca, is one of a relatively new family of medicines called triptans. It is unknown how Zomig would help anyone over 17. It is thought that because 12-17 year olds are going through such hormonal changes, that might be the cause of their migraines. Perhpas one of the causes of adult migraines are adolescents? (Just a joke, folks…) Zolmig has long been touted as the new migraine treatment, and nasal sprays are thought to be absorbed by the body faster than tablets. You can get Zolmig in tablet form, too.

Before taking any medication, see your doctor and tell him or her all of the medications, herbal treatments and any alternative therapies you may be on. And don’t share your medications. People, even adolescents, have different causes for their migraines, and can react bodly to medications that work just fine for you.

We’re currently going through a heat wave here in the Philadelphia area. Last night I treated myself to some ice cream straight from the freezer. Within a few minutes, I wish I hadn’t. I’d totally forgoten what an ice cream headache is like.

Ice cream headache, freezer head, or “brain freeze”, is a temporary but overpowering headache when you consume cold foods and drinks too fast. This is a stabbing pain in the forehead that nearly knocks you over and often makes you gasp. For most people, it lasts for less than two minutes. For me, it lasted nearly ten minutes.

The good news is that ice cream headache goes away. It is also completely preventable (don’t anything super cold), but what about when you are dying for a cold drink or popsicle on a sweltering day? Aren’t you saving yurself from dehydration by quickly downing a few slurps of Slushie or a huge bite of ice cream?

Not really. The cold is too much of a shock to the system. You have to somehow sip or nibble and then really dig in once your body has adjusted. The ice cream headache is actually a good headache — it keeps you from doing yourself a worse injury from internal cold burns. It is the body’s way of saying, “Knock it off, already!”

For a more technical explanation, it is thought that the extreme cold that hits the palate, upper teeth and tonguetriggers the trigeminal nerve which triggers the temporary but crippling headache in order to get the body temperature back into balance.

You usually do not have to see a doctor about ice cream headaches.

For The Migrane Prone

If you have been diagnosed with migraines or chronic headaches, you need to know that you are more suseptable to ice cream headache than other ice cream chompers. This doesn’t mean that you have to exile ice cream from your life. Just slow down even though you want to dive right in. If you can, hold the drink or ice cream at the bottom of your mouth and partly open your mouth, exhaling out the initial cold blast. Cover your mouth if you have to. You might look a little funny, but that’s a small price to pay for having your ice cream and not the headache, too. Bottoms up.

Hope this helps.