Is the STRESS modern of life giving ever younger children migraines?
Sophie Doyle was terrified by the threat of migraines. First there was a tight pain across the head that often lasted for hours, then frightening seizures, legs that buckled — plus a total inability to tolerate screens or bright lights.
But these agonising symptoms weren’t affecting Sophie, rather her five-year-old son, Joshua. indeed, her little boy first experienced a migraine just before his third birthday.
As time went on, they increased in severity and as Joshua felt the headaches coming he would whimper and bang his fists against his forehead.
‘he was too young at first to explain it, but he’d say his brain hurt,’ says Sophie, 30, a stay-at-home mother who is married to electrician Sean, 33.
‘They started happening every ten days or so and could go on for four hours. he’d scream and throw himself round the room and have a red face and a temperature.’
Far from being an adult ailment, migraine — a recurrent headache often accompanied by seeing flashing lights or blind spots, known as aura — is the most common cause of headaches in children and can be as severe for them as in grown-ups.
According to The Migraine Trust, as many as 10 per cent of schoolchildren suffer from migraines, and doctors say the headaches can last anything from 30 minutes to 48 hours in the young.
Some are the result of genetics, others remain bafflingly unexplained. however, many experts blame the modern lifestyle: high on stress, low on fresh air and fun.
Dr Sushil Beri, a consultant paediatric neurologist at imperial College healthcare NhS Trust, london, says he’s seeing more children with migraines now than ever.
‘While children will have a genetic predisposition to migraines, lifestyle factors may be making it worse,’ he says. ‘The triggers can be anything: stress and anxiety due to school work or exams, not getting enough sleep or exercise, lack of hydration, even the food we eat.’
He ADDS: ‘young people are always hooked up to their phones and evidence is emerging that there is some physiological impact on our bodies. More screen time has to mean less time for exercise or outdoor play.’
What makes a child’s migraine more distressing is that they’re usually unable to communicate what’s happening — which Dr prab prabhakar, a consultant paediatric neurologist at Great ormond Street hospital, believes is partly why the severe headaches are under-diagnosed.
he says that one child in every primary school class will have a headache condition, but a recent study suggested that if a child is taken to a Gp with it, eight out of ten times it will be missed.
it was a situation that Sophie encountered. ‘As Joshua was so young no one believed he was having a migraine,’ she says. ‘They kept asking if he was drinking enough water.’
The pains affected the entire family. ‘We all got so stressed out,’ says Sophie, who is mother also to isabelle, eight, and 18-month-old elora.
‘Sean told me to leave Joshua alone so the migraine could work itself through, but i just fretted and Sean and i would argue.’
Sophie tried cutting down on Joshua’s screen and playtime and started to keep a food diary.
‘he liked to watch films, so we limited him to an hour a day instead of the whole movie. it’s hard to say if it’s helped.
‘We’d stop him from playing outside for long periods, too, as i didn’t want him to over-exert himself. he’s been desperate to play rugby for ages, but i wasn’t happy about it because of the head protection he had to wear. he cried to me about it, saying: “Why can’t you just take the pain away?” it was heartbreaking.’
eventually, after Joshua began vomiting, Sophie became convinced his symptoms were due to migraines. She joined a migraine support group and was encouraged to see a neurologist.
There is no cure. even an MRi scan didn’t assist Sophie in the hunt for definitive triggers — although it did reveal lesions on Joshua’s brain, most likely caused by the pressure of the blood rushing away from, then back to, the affected area.
Sophie was reassured they should not cause long-term harm. But, as young as he is, Joshua found himself taking strong doses of medication to try to halt the migraines.
Dr ellie Cannon, a Gp, says keeping a migraine diary can help to spot if lifestyle is the cause.
‘i ask parents to note every activity and explain when the headache occurred,’ she says. ‘Migraines occur more in children when they are stressed, so this is an important part of the diagnosis. only when i have more information can i know whether they need specialist paediatric help.’
in some cases, migraines can be genetic — as with nine-year-old isla Smith. her father, Andrew, 49, a leadership management executive, has suffered with them for years, but they began when he was an older teenager.
isla’s can last for an hour or more. She will writhe on her bed, her fists pummelling her temples to fend off the pain while her mother, Nicky, holds a cold compress on her head and waits for the vomiting that usually signals the end of each episode.
it is a traumatic sight Nicky has been witnessing monthly since isla was just four years old.
‘They tended to occur around lunchtime or in the afternoon when she was more tired,’ says Nicky, 47, a radio producer from high Wycombe. ‘if she was at school, they would put her in a quiet room, give her a cold compress and call me to collect her.
‘My Gp eventually referred me to a neurologist for an MRi scan. it came back clear, thankfully. But as she was so young, the neurologist could do very little.’
As well as missing around ten days of school each year, the family has had to cancel day trips or even delay holidays. ‘We can’t plan a thing,’ says Nicky. ‘it’s no way for isla to live.’
Another child who has found herself on medication is Sadie Weir, 11. last summer, she began to get a constant dull headache, interspersed with spikes of pain.
‘She felt dizzy, sick, lethargic and spent a lot of time cuddling me on the couch,’ says her mother, Jo, 42, a North london accounts manager.
‘i thought they might have been hormonal headaches or to do with the stress of returning to school, but it was getting to the point where i was giving her children’s paracetamol non-stop.’
eventually, after an MRi scan ruled out anything sinister, Jo sought the advice of a
neurologist, who put Sadie on a daily course of low-dose preventative migraine medication.
‘The constant headache has gone and she now has a slight, dull ache once or twice a day,’ says Jo. ‘The neurologist suggested cutting down on screen time and trying to make sure she gets enough sleep and eats well. And then we just have to hope it will go as quickly as it came.’
Aside from medication, the best advice Dr prabhakar has is common sense and consistency.
‘Keep to a routine. Make sure meals are at the same time and that they go to bed and wake at the same time,’ he says. ‘Make sure they take exercise every day, are well hydrated and eat a balanced, healthy diet.’
Then, it becomes about managing the symptoms, as Sophie and Joshua have found.
‘he’s getting older, so knows what to do when he can feel one coming on,’ she says. ‘he goes to his room to lie down, but he still cries to me and asks why can’t i help him. it breaks my heart.’