Migraine

Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone had similar symptoms - my 5 year old son has been having mild to severe pain in his right eye for almost 7 months - every day and night.
We are being treated for a type of migraine and he's currently on endomethacin. (too early to tellif this is working)

In all my research, I've not come across anything that shows migraines specifically in one eye only. We've done all other tests to rule out anything to do with brain and eye.

Has anyone heard of a type of migaine that shows only in one eye? Only other symptoms are that he says the eye gets blurry when pain comes on and very occasionally there is some nausea.

Would greatly appreciate any help if you've heard of something similar.

First off, hello and welcome! Please take a few minutes to drop by our Start Here Folder, where we've got info on our policies and how to make the best of your forum experience.

I'm so sorry to hear your little guy is having to deal with severe pain. Kids shouldn't have to deal with things like that. Big hugs to him and to you, too.

As for the symptoms you describe, they're pretty common. Much of the time, migraine pain is prominent on one side, and pain is often felt around the eye, and sometimes behind it. One of the primary reasons for this is that the trigeminal nerve gets angry, and the pain is referred through all the little branches, some of which lie near the eye. If one part of the nerve system isn't happy, then probably none of is is happy. Here's a diagram that will give you an idea of this...

Pathways of Migraine

Not all of us deal with nausea regularly with migraine, either. I almost never get nausea, and on the very rare instances when I do, it's usually part of my aura, and only lasts for ten to fifteen minutes.

We've had folks mention blurring during a migraine, too. I get it from time to time, particularly if I'm tired.

I hope that helps a little. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away. We'll do our best to help you get them answered. We'll keep your son in our thoughts, too.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I am really sorry to hear that your son is suffering. It is hard to watch them in pain.

My son who is six has had a long history of severe migraine and gets bad eye pain in and around his left eye only. He also has frequent nausea and has blurred vision.

You mentioned that your son has had all the tests to see if he has an eye problem but were these eye tests carried out by an ophthamologist? (not an optometrist or neurologist).

The ophthalmologist my son saw picked up the problems that everyone else missed. I was reluctant to drag my son to yet another specialist as we had already seen an optometrist twice but the difference was chalk and cheese.

Does your son see a pediactric migraine specialist or a pediatric neurologist who specialises in headache managment? If not I would also recommend you take him to one. Again for us the difference in treatment and diagnosis was huge.

Children are not great at communicating the full extent of their symptoms or pain levels. This makes acurate diagnosis and treatment very difficult.

The other big issue is that children just get on with things and adapt to symptoms thinking that is normal. It has only been since our son has got better that we now have an understanding of how bad his symptoms and pain levels actually were.

I found the information on this website and the lovely people here have literally saved my sons sight and my families mental health.

Good on you for posting and I hope you find some answers soon.

Daisy

Hi Burts! I just wanted to stop by and welcome you and your son to the forum. I'm so sorry you have the need to be here. My heart goes out to you and your child. I'm going to recommend two more articles that you can take a look at:

Learning About Migraines – Where to Start

Types of Headaches and Migraines

Good luck and please keep us posted on your son.

I knew Daisy would find this thread and reply! Thanks, Daisy!

My daughter who is 5 years old as well has been suffering from sever eye pain to her right eye. The attacks usually bring nausea and vomiting with them as well. The pains started when she was only 3 years old and have since become more frequent and lasting longer. We have gone to a pediatrician in the city a number of times because of it and he has told us that "they are migraine headaches and that she'll grow out of them". Well, it's been two years now and they are getting worse so we have taken her to a new family doctor and right away he has booked her in for a CT scan for next Friday. I sure hope they are able to find out what is causing this. I can't bare to watch my daughter in so much pain. Are there parents out there know what types of medications are available for children who suffer from migraines? I live in a small community which most of the residents are elderly. The doctor that is treating my daughter is not sure what types of drugs are available for children who suffer from migraines.

Hi Jennie and welcome to you and your daughter! It's great to have you here! When you have a moment, please stop by the Start Here Folder for important information and guidelines about the forum. Also, a great article to take a look at is:

Learning About Migraines - Where to Start

I'm so very sorry to hear your daughter is getting Migraines at such a young age, my heart goes out to you! I'm so glad you decided to take her to a new family doctor and he's trying to help you. I'm not familiar with any specific medications that are prescribed for children at such a young age. However, if you read over the posts by Daisy, you'll see what they've been doing for her son, Ollie. Just keep in mind that they are in Australia.

Again, welcome to the forum! I look forward to seeing you around

Hi Jennie!

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you found us!

We can certainly give you a list of drugs currently being used for Migraine prevention - but that I know of, there are not many approved for children as young as your daughter.

Preventive, Abortive and Rescue Medications: What's the Difference?

and also

Migraine Preventive Medications: Too Many To Give Up!

I understand that you are in a small community - but you may want to see if you can find someone who deals with children and Migraines. They would be more up to date on treatments. We do have a list of specialists here on the site. Patient Recommended Migraine Specialists. There is a listing for Canada on there, as well as Pediatric Migraine Specialists.

As far as your daughter "growing out of Migraine", all I can say is some children do, some don't. Put myself in the "didn't grow out of them catagory" . I know that Teri Robert, our lead expert here, had Migraine come on at a very young age as well. She also has young grandchildren with Migraine. We have a few other memebers here with young children that suffer as well. You are not alone! I think that is one of the most important things to know.

Welcome again!!!! Hang out and bring your daughter along too!! We are family friendly here, so you never have to worry about what she may be reading/seeing.

Hi Jenny. I am so sorry to hear that your daughter is suffering.

My son Ollie who has just turned 7 has had a long history of migraine headache. There are lots of types of medications that can be prescribed to young children but we are in Australia and some of the approved drugs are different. They also have different names.

The best advice is to go to a Pediatric migraine specialist or if not a pediatric neurologist who specialises in headache management. Eileen has provided some starting details. I know your in the country and it would involve travel but the difference is life changing. We loved our GP and our sons Pediatrician but both were out of their depth and expertise in understanding migraine medication for children.

We were told for almost 2 years that there was very little you can do when the truth is that there are lots of different classes of migraine drugs to try. The right specialist will provide you with advice as to what is appropriate for your daughter and monitor her response to the medication. The specialist we saw made his living treating migraine for young children and had lots of experience.

There is also the issue of managing pain and nausea for little ones and we recently attended a pain managment clinic for children. After years of asking for appropriate pain medication we came away with a number of medications and a plan to manage the extreme pain and nausea.

We are thinking of you and your daughter. Keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

Cheers Daisy

Thank you all for all of the great suggestions and information. I will be taking my daughter Sydney to her GP tomorrow and I will be requesting a referral to a migraine specialist in the city.

Thanks again all
Jennie

Good luck with it Jennie.

We had to wait ages to get into see the neurologist but it was the start of big changes.

Let us know how you get on and all the best for your daughter.