Migraines anyone? My D just had her first one

[Annie123]

Hello,

My 14 y.o. daughter was just diagnosed with common mirgraine (no aura) -- her first. The doctors are holding off on a brain MRI and LP because the CT scan indicated sinus infection, which in itself can be a trigger; otherwise, if the CT scan had been unremarkable, more imaging would have been ordered. I've never had a migraine or any type of headache that Advil didn't handle.

She has Imitrex and Fiorinol with Coedine. If she has another and the pain gets too bad, her doctor will give her a shot of narcotics in the ER that will put her to sleep for three days (with Mom at her side the entire time).

Unfortunately pediatric neurologists are three hours away in either Boston or NYC. Fortunately, however, her pediatrician feels comfortable managing her case and will let us know when he believes she should travel for a referal (we also can make this decision at any time, of course, too).

I know stress can trigger a migraine and since I cannot rid her of the stress associated with living with a PwMS, we need to try to minimize every other stress or trigger there is.

I'd like to know what triggers your migraines in the hopes of helping my D.

Thank you very, very much.

~Annie

['Lissa+]

Monosodium glutamate is a trigger for me. It's in lots of soup, chips, crackers, stuffings, and just about anything that comes in a box.

I recently found out that there are certain ingredients that have MSG as a component but the food label does not identify MSG at all. The trouble causing part of MSG may also be present in a wide variety of other additives, including hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, soy extracts, and "natural flavorings".
For this reason, FDA considers labels such as "No MSG" or "No Added MSG" to be misleading if the food contains ingredients that are sources of free glutamates, such as hydrolyzed protein.

So if you want to make sure your daughter doesn't consume any MSG, you'll have to look at labels pretty carefully to make sure what you're buying doesn't have any of these ingredients. I have found it pretty much eliminates food that comes in a can or a box.

Good luck in finding her triggers. I only have the Migraine without headache variant where I vomit and get auras. That is bad enough. I can't imagine having such horrible pain too.

[Annie123]

Thanks to 0357 ... I hope you don't mind that I copied this from the other thread, "New MS Symptom" by petpuppy (thank you, too, petpuppy) to here in the hopes that those who read this benefit from your information.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/sit...ebook_headache

Headache

From The MS Information Sourcebook, produced by the National MS Society.

Although headache is not a common symptom of MS, some reports suggest that people with MS have an increased incidence of certain types of headache.

One report noted that migraine headaches were more than twice as common in a group of MS patients than in a matched group of people without MS. Other investigators found a prior diagnosis of migraine in one-third of the MS group being studied. A third study found that 20% of a sample group of people with MS had a family history of migraine, compared to 10% of controls, suggesting that there may be a common predisposing factor to both MS and migraine. Vascular or migraine type headaches have even been reported as the first symptom of MS.

See also...

Sourcebook

* Symptoms
----
I've had headaches which turned to migraines before my MS became active. I went to a neuro who prescribed a medication specifically for migraines. During the time it was extremely active I had no headaches or migraines.

Now that my MS has settled down from having almost continual acute attacks for 4 years my headaches are back. I take generic Excedrin bought at Wal-Mart for them.

Take care.

[Annie123]

'Lissa,

Thank you sooooo much. I hadn't thought about connecting MSG, but I do remember years ago when the topic first made headlines, back when it was discovered that it made people sick.

Wow, that sure is a lot of foods affected by MSG... boxes and cans. Thanks so much for the tip to read labels, which I'll start doing immediately.

I'm definitely going to try to remove all MSG from her diet to try to determine if it is making her ill generally or in other ways as well as regarding migraine.

She had no vomiting, no nausea, and presented with excruciating right head, eye and neck pain with photophobia (very sensitive to light) and phonophobia (very sensitive to sound).

She also appears and is acting very hung over.

[sleepy1]

Annie,

My son gets migraines, he is 17 and has had them off and on for about 3 years. He did end up in the ER one time when it got really bad.

His doctor told him to watch his sugar intake. Kids don't always eat too healthy....sodas, fast food, ect. and to drink more water than stuff with sugar. He has now been able to connect most his migraines to those times he has had too much stuff with sugar.

The medications he uses for migraines.....Naproxen and for nausea, Promethazine. If the Naproxen isn't helping enough he can also add in Tylenol. His doctor does not want him on the medications for migraines at this point due to their side affects and his age.

Something else that can cause migraines (in girls) is hormonal changes.

[nuthatch]

Hormonal changes can cause migraines, and your daughter is most certainly at an age where she could be "hormonal". As if being fourteen isn't tough enough!
I had my first migraine when I was a couple months pregnant with my first child. I didn't know what was happening at the time, I thought I was having a stroke at 24 years old. I was told later by my gyno, that I had had a full blown migraine, and that pregnant women get them due to hormonal changes.

I continued to have migraines until a few years ago, (at 54 I'm not so hormonal now!) although never as bad as that first one.

I agree that MSG is a trigger, but even more of a trigger for me, is to get a glare in my eyes. Bright sunlight, flashbulbs, sun on the ocean, even a glare from the windshield of a car or a piece of chrome will cause a migraine for sure. I've learned to avoid these things as much as I can. Migraines are no fun!:(

[SalpalSally]

My Daughter had one horrendous migraine at the age of 14 and never had another. We figured, at the time it was hormonal. She wasDX with MS in her early 30s....Connection.:confused:

[Annie123]

sleepy1, sugar certainly is in a lot of what teens eat and drink, isn't it? Thanks for the heads-up on sugar; I hadn't thought of that. Only bottled water from now on, and lots of it, too. We were told to try to keep her well hydrated at all times, and this seems like a perfect opportunity to cut down on the calories from sugar, too. I think I once heard there are six to eight tablespoons of pure sugar in a can of soda -- yikes!

nuthatch, what can I do to stop a 14 y.o. girl from having hormonal changes??? Nothing, I know. But your post has me now thinking about ways in which any PMS can be reduced -- I am definitely going to look into this; I've just assumed through the past year that everything was going along fine for her. I'm going to pay much closer attention to her cycle from now on.

Sally, that is my biggest worry... that this is MS onset, a first exacerbation. I was torn between wanting and not wanting an MRI done right now, but the conservative approach is to wait it out... she's a smart girl, and I know this question is in the back of her mind, the poor thing... too early of an age to be worrying about MS!

Thank you all for your replies -- much, much appreciated

~Annie

[lady_express_44]

I wouldn't be TOO concerned about one headache, as I suspect that "hormonal headaches" are very common with young teenagers.

My daughter suffered from a few whoppers when she was about 12 yrs old. One caused complete numbness on one side of her face, and she was mostly incoherant from the pain. That was dx as a hormonal migraine.

On the other hand, my daughter has also had some other strange symptoms which may be indicative of MS; skin numbness, unexplained and extraordinary fatigue, buckling of the knee, muscle fatigue . . .

My suggestion would be "don't panic". Keep a close eye on her, and wait to see if anything else happens that raises concern.

Cherie

[Annie123]

Cherie, if you get a chance, please read the thread, "Super-early MS Treatment Best" posted by Joy. My confusion over what to do for her grows. May I ask how old your D is now? Does she have any residual neurologic troubles? I hope she's doing well now.

[lady_express_44]

Cherie, if you get a chance, please read the thread, "Super-early MS Treatment Best" posted by Joy. My confusion over what to do for her grows. May I ask how old your D is now? Does she have any residual neurologic troubles? I hope she's doing well now.

Hi Annie,

Yes, I read that thread. The recommendation (by some), and evidence to treat early is old news (although that particular "release" may not be).

Even if she did prove to have MS, I wouldn't put her on a CRAB. My first line of attack would be LDN.

My daughter is almost 15 now. Her MS-type problems started when she was 11, and the migraine/numbness was just another indication (and scare, of course) in my mind.

She is very athletic, and her knee does continue to buckle intermittently/unexpectantly. That happens to be MY first indication of problem too, when I was about 18 yrs old (30 yrs ago). When she gets a fever or sick, her torso burns, "feels like a sunburn". Her fatigue level has prompted me to take her to the doctor (to be tested for mono, thyroid, etc.) on several occasions. She also continues to get headaches, that defy standard medication options, and can last for 2 - 3 days sometimes.

MS is difficult to dx. Even if she did prove to have lesions earlier, they would need to see a clinical history of symptoms/attacks (I would NOT put her through a spinal tap! :eek: ) She is getting closer to having that "history", so with the next indication of a new symptom, I will be taking her in for an MRI.

Annie, it is common for young girls to get hormonal headaches, but this is defitely something that should be recorded by your doctor. We are probably hyper-sensitive to seeing MS-looking symptoms in our kids though, and as my doctor said, it's probably nothing. I hope so too.

Cherie

[venice*]

I have MS and I've had migraines since puberty. I didn't get any during pregnancy. I agree hormones is a big trigger/ for MS with me also.
My other big triggers were chocolate (which we tend to crave at the same hormonal times). Red Wine, irregular sleep patterns, cheese, onions among others things I'm not recalling I'm sure. You could probably google and find a lot more. Any triggers were are worse on an empty stomach.

IIRC from some recent publications I think it is best to prevent or treat migraines early as each attack leaves some scaring on the brain.

[Annie123]

Cherie, thank you for telling me about your daughter. When I was first diagnosed, I thought my world was ending, but that was nothing compared to the fear I have for my daughter... and I'm trying not to overreact or stress too much, but it's so hard to stop my imagination from running away with all sorts of negative scenarios. Your strength helps me. Thank you again.

And when the time comes, if your daughter tries LDN, I hope she has as good a benefit as you've had. She'll be in my prayers -- my daughter turns 15 in three months. Perhaps we'll be keeping each other posted on our daughters' condition through the years (I've been here almost ten years now, but under different names due to different reasons).

[Annie123]

Venice, thanks for your post. I hadn't thought about an empty stomach making things worse and being a possible trigger -- I think I'll pack some healthy snacks in my daughter's backpack -- thanks for this tip.

I never heard that migraines can cause scarring on the brain -- this sucks so much... as if the pain isn't enough for a person to deal with.

Oh when will they come up with a marker for this damned disease???

I hope you don't suffer anymore of them... brain scarring from MS is bad enough.

Best of luck and thanks again

[fahrmar]

I never had migraines, ice pick headaches or cluster headaches until two years ago. I have been experiencing MS symptoms for 12 years, so the headaches were late onset for me. Last year, and earlier this year in February, I had migraines 24/7 for a few weeks straight. Usually a 4 to 6 but one night, shortly before the Feb. episode ended, I experienced a 9 with terrible pain in my right eye. None since then, knock on wood. I have meds in reserve for migraines now, Relpax.

[venice*]

Venice, thanks for your post. I hadn't thought about an empty stomach making things worse and being a possible trigger -- I think I'll pack some healthy snacks in my daughter's backpack -- thanks for this tip.

I never heard that migraines can cause scarring on the brain -- this sucks so much... as if the pain isn't enough for a person to deal with.

Oh when will they come up with a marker for this damned disease???

I hope you don't suffer anymore of them... brain scarring from MS is bad enough.

Best of luck and thanks again

I don't know how much actual damage the scarring does. I just know my brain isn't that pretty with the lesions and the scarring (which apparently are different). But it did make me feel better about all the years of Immitrex that I took and stopping some attacks in their tracks (or at least before they got toooo intense.

I still get migraines but they are not as frequent or intense.
Probably in part due to some hormonal changes and additional meds I added for MS and Blood pressure that also help with migraines.

I wish you the best with your daughter. I am dealing with serious PMS issues with my 15yr old- darn fluctuating hormones.;)
V

PS. I forget if it was mentioned how important a dark quiet room is.

[Teddy]

Hi Annie, I really feel for your daughter! When I was about 11 I suffered from a series of weekly migraines with aura, vomiting and extremely intense pain for a period of about three months. They were horrific. For a couple of days afterwards I had problems with word-finding and my concentration (brain fog).

They were every Monday :confused:. The school even rang my mother to ask her if she realised I was having every Tuesday off school. I have no idea why it was a Monday - I loved school and had no problems with stress or Mondays that would have caused the migraines. I remember the first one I had came after I'd drunk a small carton of milk. Don't know whether that was a trigger but I've never been fond of drinking milk since.

I had CT scans which were normal (no MRI back when I was 11) and my mother was told my migraines were likely to be hormonal. I had a couple in my twenties but none for a very long time (I'm now 38).

A darkened room was vital to me too, then. Any light caused me to feel like someone was pounding my head with very large sledgehammer.

FYI, I was diagnosed with PPMS in Oct 2005 and undiagnosed in May 2006.

I hope your daughter finds relief from her medication. Migraines are a truly awful experience.

[Annie123]

Fahrmar, I'm so sorry you went that long with migraines 24/7 -- you poor thing, but thank God you've got the right meds on hand in case you have another one, BUT let's hope and pray another migraine never visits you.

Sounds like lots of my symptoms... they hit hard and intense the first exacerbation, then quieted a bit with the ocassional flare thrown in. Late-onset tells me I'm not out of the woods considering this symptom (SPMS with occasional flares still). I hope my D's migraine doesn't follow this path.

Venice, those 15-year-old hormones we're dealing with sure are a challenge! I can't do too much about those fluctuations, but I can and have clipped her wings a bit ... sometimes I wonder if teens today are under too much stress, and if that is partly why she had a migraine (stress as trigger). I'm happy for you that your migraines aren't as frequent or intense anymore -- sounds like what happens with lots of hits (see my post to Fahrmar above).

Teddy, what a terrible experience you went through as an 11 y.o. child -- I can't imagine how awful that must have been at so young an age. Thank goodness they've stopped, for over a decade, it sounds like -- I hope this symptom, whether or not it hails from MS, never comes back again, and I also hope you find out what is wrong if you're still looking for answers. Migraines are definitely neurological, so I hope you have a neuro you like.

Thank you all for your kindly replies -- I do appreciate your time so much, and I've learned from each of you.

Best of luck to each of you.

[dRaMa]

I just started suffering from occasional migraines. I also had my first migraine aura the other day and I thought I was having a relapse! I have no idea what triggers my migraines though. Yesterday I woke up with a severe migraine. I stayed in late from work and it lasted all day and even into today morning. My mom suffers from migraines too and she gave me a migraine pill (I forgot what its called) and it finally went away. The migraine with aura was a few weeks ago and I was just shopping at the grocery store when it started. I've been reading up on it and I haven't seen anywhere about what causes a migraine.

[venice*]

Turns out I had a whopper yesterday. Hormones and Thunderstorm.
The following is from http://www.webmd.com/solutions/stop-frequent-migraines/migraine-triggers

Common Migraine Triggers:

Emotional stress
Menstrual periods
Changes in normal sleep pattern
Extreme fatigue
Specific foods and beverages
Excess caffeine intake or withdrawal
Skipping meals; fasting
Changing weather conditions
Exercise
Smoking
Bright and flickering lights
Odors
Foods Additives and Chemicals That Can Trigger Migraines:

Natural chemicals in foods, food additives, and beverages can also trigger migraines.
These include:

Tyramine, a substance found naturally in aged cheeses, and also found in red wine, alcoholic drinks, and some processed meats.
Food additives/preservatives like nitrates and nitrites found in hot dogs, ham, sausage, and other processed or cured meats.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) in Chinese food.
Alcohol -- specifically the impurities in alcohol or by-products your body produces as it metabolizes alcohol.
Other Common Food or Beverage Triggers:

Aged cheeses: blue cheese, mozzarella, feta, cheddar, parmesan
Alcohol: red wine, beer, whiskey, champagne
Caffeine: coffee, chocolate, tea, colas, sodas
Pepperoni, hot dogs, luncheon meats
Bread and other baked goods
Dried fruits
Smoked or dried fish
Potato chips
Pizza, peanuts, chicken livers, and other specific foods

[Annie123]

Drama, I'm so sorry you have migraines and suffered a severe one yesterday, and I'm glad your mother's pill helped you... but I hope you let your doctor know about these recent migraines, most especially if this is such a new symptom that your doctor doesn't know about it yet, and have the migraines documented; your doctor might prescribe something different for you than what your mother takes.

I can't stress this enough: It is very important to have each migraine documented, keeping possible future benefits in mind (e.g. SSDI). Best of luck discovering what your triggers are (Venice's list below is a great start), and I hope you never, ever have another one!


Venice, I am so sorry you suffered a whopper of a migraine yesterday. Thank you so much for providing the link and information on triggers.

I had no idea aged cheeses (my H loves cooking with cheeses of all kinds) can be a trigger, but I have a feeling my daughter's biggest gripe will be if chocolate, potato chips or pizza turn out to be causes of her migraines. Thank you again for all your replies -- you've been such a big help to my D and me.

[bluesky63]

Many, many people get migraines, and the vast majority of them do *not* have MS. Everyone in my family gets migraines, and I am the only one who has MS. I can understand your worries; I am also concerned about my children every time they get certain symptoms. But really, migraines are not a prominent MS symptom.

Maybe it would reassure you to remember that you're talking to a forum of people who have MS -- if we also have migraines, it does not necessarily mean that migraines are a symptom of MS. It just means we have both, the same way that we might also have other issues along with the MS.

You could also ask a group of nurses about migraines and find out lots of them had experienced migraines . . . or a group of new moms . . . or a group of artists . . . and so on. They are unfortunately so very common.

Check out this link:

www.migraines.org

I feel for your daughter. The experience can be miserable. My middle daughter has been getting very bad migraines for years. Hers are worse with seasonal allergies and with dairy products, and now that puberty is happening, I see that playing a role as well. (Hormones *definitely* play a major role in my migraines.)

I hope your daughter can avoid getting very many headaches and that things go smoothly for all of you. Good luck.

Edited to add -- for some people with MS, of course, migraines are definitely a part of their MS picture; I just was hoping to reassure you that migraines are so common in the general population that I wouldn't be too quick to assume that this was the beginning of MS for your daughter. That's it . . . :-)

Edited again. :-) A PubMed article (boldface is mine):

1: Neurology. 2007 Jan 30;68(5):326-37.

Comment in Neurology. 2007 Jan 30;68(5):322-3.

How common are the "common" neurologic disorders?

Hirtz D, Thurman DJ, Gwinn-Hardy K, Mohamed M, Chaudhuri AR, Zalutsky R.

National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. hirtzd@ninds.nih.gov

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the current incidence and prevalence in the United States of 12 neurologic disorders.

METHODS: We summarize the strongest evidence available, using data from the United States or from other developed countries when US data were insufficient.

RESULTS: For some disorders, prevalence is a better descriptor of impact; for others, incidence is preferable.

Per 1,000 children, estimated prevalence was 5.8 for autism spectrum disorder and 2.4 for cerebral palsy; for Tourette syndrome, the data were insufficient.

In the general population, per 1,000, the 1-year prevalence for migraine was 121, 7.1 for epilepsy, and 0.9 for multiple sclerosis.

Among the elderly, the prevalence of Alzheimer disease was 67 and that of Parkinson disease was 9.5. For diseases best described by annual incidence per 100,000, the rate for stroke was 183, 101 for major traumatic brain injury, 4.5 for spinal cord injury, and 1.6 for ALS.

CONCLUSIONS: Using the best available data, our survey of a limited number of disorders shows that the burden of neurologic illness affects many millions of people in the United States.