• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Headaches? Migraines?

I can't remember if I have every asked this before - so I'm asking now (again?)...

Do your kids get bad headaches? My son gets migraines on and off... Is it Crohn's related? Meds related? Sinus related?

Thanks...
 
We are having really high pollen right now - didn't even think about that...

Right now just peeved as I agreed to try a new med (Lialda) even though the other one (Pentasa) was working!! :ybatty: And we've switched back to his regular meds because he started getting tired, had some cramping and now headaches... I'm probably over reacting... But wish I wouldn't have agreed to the switch... stupid :ybatty: stupid :ybatty: stupid!!

Thanks MLP!
 
Liam get's migraines following exercise, they are accomanied by dizzyness and we can treat them with food & pediatric rehydration fluid - Pediatric GI says caused by insufficient nutrient absorbtion.

I personally suffer from 5 sorts of headaches which all have different triggers & treatments lol. It's important to be able to describe a headache well in order to get the right treatment for it.

Try to get a better description of the headache from him. Have him try to show you the focal point of the pain and the radiation pattern (where it extends out to) and get lists of adjectives for the nature of the pain. Do they all have the same pattern or do they vary? When do they occur? What side effects go with them? What helps with them (if you've found anything) Keeping a headache diary can be very useful.

This link has a very simple diagram showing four basic types of headaches (This is just a starting point to get an idea what I mean about radiation pattern as there are other sorts of headaches with different focal points it doesn't show eg: ear & jaw which it doesn't show.):
http://headaches.about.com/od/diagnosingheadaches/ig/Headache-Types.--1A/Visual-Description.--1C.htm
 
Location
Canada
My son gets headaches too. Definitely more since his diagnosis. There is a link between abdominal migraines in children and migraine headaches as they get older. High doses of vitamin B2 have been shown to help prevent migraine headaches. Might be worth asking about.

Know what you mean about agreeing to change up meds. We have tried reducing one of my son's meds and it has made him feel terrible, he hasn't made it to school at all this week. ARGH!!!!
 
Alex gets a lot of headaches. Before dx, I think it was the malnutrition, now it's allergies. My older son and husband get migraines, not fun. Follow up with the pediatrician and/or neurologist to rule out any complications. My older son gets sumatriptan when a migraine comes on to help kill it. For awhile, he was on cyproheptadine too for allergies to prevent them.
 
Yes, A gets headaches and they are correlated with her GI symptoms. Sometimes the headaches are minor and she can carry on with her day. Other times they are debilitating and she rolls on the floor screaming and moaning for hours. Tylenol never seems to make a difference with her headaches.
 
Devynn gets migraines. She is on a preventative right now which works amazingly! She has had them long before diagnosis and has been on the preventative for about 9 mos now. We are not sure exactly what causes hers, as they would come for little or no reason a lot of the time. But one thing I know that can trigger hers is being out in the hot sun for too long. She has always hated wearing a hat but if she is in the sun without one, she will get a migraine.
 
Twiggy I can totally relate to that.

I hate sunglasses (for me they trigger sinus pain) but on very sunny days I find I get migraines if I don't wear them for driving where I sometimes can't avoid having to stare into glaring sunlight.
 
Location
Canada
Yep, I've definitely had migraines triggered by driving without sunglasses, especially when the sun glares off the car in front and into my eyes. My migraines always start with a visual disturbance so I have, at times, had to pull over and stop driving. Luckily mine don't happen very often.
 
I'm exactly the same with migraines always starting with a visual disturbance, I've got better at picking them over the years and these days I generally find I have a deegree of blurriness or sight disruption for at least a couple of hours before my sight disappears entirely, which helps with avoiding ending up in dangerous situations. But I've got vivid memories of ending up stranded in strange locations with no vision when I ignored the warning signs of a migraine too long.
 
I'm the same way. The bright sun light makes my head want to explode. Everyone teases me because I wear sunglasses year round. But when its snowing, the glare off the snow is brutal.
 

DustyKat

Super Moderator
Sarah suffered with migraine type headaches frequently in the lead up to her diagnosis. which reduced significantly when she gained remission. By significantly I mean she had maybe one or two in the first couple of years post op and has now been migraine free for nigh on 5 years.

I hope they aren't related to any GI symptoms starting up but they are considered an EIM of IBD.

Dusty. xxx
 
Johnny gets headaches, more so before he was diagnosed. No migraines.

I have always associated them with dehydration. It usually helps to have him drink some Gatorade and lay down. This usually does the trick.
 
Top