Migraine symptoms can include gastrointestinal effects such as stomach
pain and nausea. Abdominal migraine is more common in children than in
adults.
"Abdominal migraine is one of the variants of migraine headache. It is
also known by other terms including 'periodic syndrome'. This variant
most typically occurs in children. They usually have a family history
of migraine and go on to develop typical migraine later in their life.
The attacks are characterized by periodic bouts of abdominal pain
lasting for about two hours. Along with the abdominal pain they may
have other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, flushing or pallor.
Tests fail to reveal a cause for the pain. Occasionally there may be
EEG findings suggestive of epilepsy but this is rarely related to
seizures. Medications that are useful for treating migraine work to
control these attacks in most children."
National Headache Foundation
http://www.headaches.org/consumer/topicsheets/abdominal.html
"Criteria suggested for abdominal Migraine include the following: a
family history of Migraine; a history of Migraine with or without aura
in the patient; recurrent identical attacks of abdominal pain; no
abdominal symptoms between attacks; onset of attacks of abdominal pain
in early childhood or early adult life (before the age of 40), mainly
in females; episodes lasting from 1 to several hours; and pain usually
located in the upper abdomen. The episodes may be associated with
nausea and vomiting and pallor or flushing. The prevalence peaks at
ages 5 to 9 years."
National Headache Foundation
http://www.migraines.org/treatment/treatkid.htm
"Abdominal migraine is an idiopathic disorder seen mainly in children.
The symptoms are of recurrent episodes of midline abdominal pain with
attacks lasting 1-72 hours and complete normality between episodes.
The pain is of moderate to severe intensity and is felt in the midline
of the abdomen, usually around the umbilicus, or poorly localised. The
attacks of pain are usually accompanied by anorexia and nausea and
about half of the patients will vomit with at least some attacks.
Marked pallor is commonly noted during the attacks although some
patients may appear flushed. The pain is severe enough to interfere
with normal daily activities and many children describe their mood
during the attack as one of intense misery. The attacks are self
limiting and resolve spontaneously and patients are completely well
and symptom free between attacks."
Contact a Family
http://www.cafamily.org.uk/Direct/a13.html
"Several variations of migraine are unique to children and rarely if
ever occur in adults... Various recognized childhood syndromes assumed
to be pathophysiologically related to migraine include benign
paroxysmal vertigo of childhood, abdominal migraine, cyclic vomiting
of childhood, and acute confusional migraine (acute confusional
state)."
eMedicine
http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/byname/childhood-migraine-variants.htm
Here's an abstract of an interesting study which links migraine and
recurrent abdominal pain:
"A consecutive series of 31 children (median age 12 years) suffering
from migraine with (n = 21) or without (n = 10) aura underwent
endoscopic oesophageal, gastric and duodenal biopsy in order to
determine whether the complaints were of gastro-intestinal origin. Of
these 31 children, 13 (41.9%) showed oesophagitis, 16 (51.6%)
gastritis of corpus, 12 (38.7%) antral gastritis and 27 (87.1%)
duodenitis. Thus, 29 of the 31 children studied had an underlying
inflammatory lesion explaining their complaints. Helicobacter pylori
colonization was found in 7 of the children: one had H. pylori
associated antral and corporal gastritis and 6 H. pylori associated
antral gastritis only. Gastritis of corpus without H. pylori was
present in all these 6 children. Our data do not support that H.
pylori is a primary pathogen of inflammatory changes seen in children
studied, neither do they establish an association between H. pylori,
antral gastritis and migraine. However, our data strongly suggest that
there is a gastro-intestinal origin of these patients' complaints.
Conclusion: Our findings provide further evidence that recurrent
abdominal pain is an early expression of migraine and strongly support
a causal link between recurrent abdominal pain and migraine."
PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7641777&dopt=Abstract
An excerpt from another abstract about pediatric migraine:
"Migraine equivalents of infancy, childhood, and adolescence are
recognized periodic, paroxysmal syndromes without associated headache
that are thought to be migrainous in etiology. Five such equivalents
are presently recognized... The following distribution among migraine
equivalents was observed: benign paroxysmal torticollis 11 (10.2% of
patients with migraine equivalents), benign paroxysmal vertigo 41
(38%), abdominal migraine/cyclical vomiting 20 (18.5%), acephalgic
migraine 31 (28.7%), and acute confusional migraine 5 (4.6%). In each
type, with the exception of benign paroxysmal torticollis and acute
confusional migraine, females clearly predominated, and in all types a
strong positive family history of migraine was elicited (68%-100%).
There was variation in the age of onset of a particular equivalent
with considerable overlap observed. Coexisting more typical migraines
were observed in from 10% (benign paroxysmal torticollis) to 70%
(abdominal migraines/cyclical vomiting) of the cases."
PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12057796
I am not aware of an organization specifically supportive of patients
who suffer from abdominal migraine. However, there is a large, active
group called the Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Association. Cyclic vomiting
syndrome is a related condition:
"The relationship between migraine and CVS [cyclic vomiting syndrome]
is still unclear, but medical researchers believe that the two are
related. First, migraine headaches, which cause severe pain in the
head; abdominal migraine, which causes stomach pain; and CVS are all
marked by severe symptoms that start quickly and end abruptly,
followed by longer periods without pain or other symptoms."
CVSA Online
http://www.cvsaonline.org/aboutcvs.htm#CVS%20and%20Migraine
Here you'll find links to several good sources of information about migraine:
AllRefer Health
http://health.allrefer.com/health/migraine-resources-info.html
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "migraine" + "gastrointestinal"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=migraine+gastrointestinal
Google Web Search: "abdominal migraine"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22abdominal+migraine
Google Web Search: "pediatric" + "migraine" + "abdomen"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pediatric+migraine+abdomen
Google Web Search: "childhood migraine" + "abdominal"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22childhood+migraine%22+abdominal
I hope this helps. Please keep in mind that Google Answers is not a
source of authoritative medical advice. The material I've gathered for
you is for informational purposes, and should not be viewed as a
diagnosis, nor as a substitute for the services of a qualified medical
professional.
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Best regards,
pinkfreud |
