Scared for My Teenaged Son

My 14 yr old daughter has similiar condition. We have done ent, cat scans and mri's but they have still found nothing. The search goes on. If i learn more, I will pass it along.

Hi H.,

I'd schedule an appointment with a neurologist as well. From the way you describe it, it sounds like your son is getting migraine headaches with all the nasty side effects. I was about 17 when I started getting migraines on a regular basis and had all the same symptoms that your son is experiencing. It got to the point where OTC meds didn't touch my migraines or symptoms, so I went to my PCP and after several visits he finally referred me to a neurologist. Does your son have or has he had any problems with allergies or sinus infections? After starting to see an ENT last year, a CT scan revealed that I had chronic sinusitis in addition to migraines. Talk to your ENT about getting a scan done of his sinuses when they send him in for a scan of the rest of his head. It is tough, especially when it contributes to school absenses - I know all about that. I struggled through my Freshman and sophmore years of college due to this and decided to withdraw until this was under control. Definitely try to get a resolution to this ASAP, but understand that it could take years. It took me 7 years of trying every drug and alternative therapy out there and seeing several different specialists before I was able to find the right combination of treatments that helped keep things to the point where I wasn't in constant pain.

While you're waiting on doctors and tests though, there are a few supplements and herbal remedies that were recommended to me that you may want to try on your son. Flax Seed Oil - 2OOO MG a day will help if he's had any sinus problems or is experiencing sinus pressure. Also, avoiding white rice and pasta and eating as many whole grains as possible, and drinking water with lemon juice in it helps keep the sinuses so they are not constantly inflamed. Try to change around his diet - certain foods are triggers for migraines. It's different in everyone, so just play around with things. Some of the most common triggers like chocolate for instance actually help with my migraines. Ginger 1/4-1/2 tsp. 4-6 times daily can help with the nausea. Feverfew and white willow bark are herbal supplements that have been known to help reduce the number of migraines some people get (they didn't do anything for me, but it's worth a shot). Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - I think it's 200 MG twice a day that they recommend. Also, coenzyme Q-10 can help (it's very expensive though) and magnesium has also been shown to help.

As far as how to make him more comfortable, let him lie down in a dark quiet room. Get a cool compress (I use a flax seed or rice herbal pack with lavender in it that I keep in my freezer) and have him put it on his head. Do not let him take a hot shower - the hot water going over his head will feel nice at the moment, but chances are it will make the headache worse. A migraine is inflamation inside the head, and the absolute worse thing you can do it put heat on it. Also, a mixture of lavender and peppermint essential oils (just a drop of each) rubbed on the temples can help.

Sorry this is so long, but I have been there and I know how horrible this is. I just wanted to give you as much info as possible so you can make your son more comfortable and find the right people to see. If you want to talk about this more or need any more info, let me know. You can email me at ____@____.com luck and tell your son to hang in there.

I would suggest seeing a neurologist.I have been dealing with migrain head aches for at least 20 years, since i was about 6. That sounds like hes been getting really bad migrains.i would check that out-Jackie

Hi H., First, does your son wear glasses? That may be contributing to bringing on the migraine. Also you should know that a lot of people suffer from migraines. When I was in junior high one of my friends suffored from them so bad that she would leave school in the middle of the day all of the time. She had a special med that she took, and could not be in a room w/ light. She would also throw up. I def would see the specialist and rule anything and everything out, but I wanted you to know that everything you described are the symptoms of massive migraines. So try not to worry yourself sick, and see the specialist. Hope this helps. Let us know what happens.

Hi H.,
Is there a history of migraines in your family? My ex-husband's family has a big history of them. My daughter who is now 18 has had migraines since about the age of 10. My son who is 14 started experiencing them last year. They both have the light-sensitivity, pain, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. My daughter is on prescribed migraine meds. For now my son uses Excederine, it works well for him. If it stops working then he will go on prescribed meds. I think the best thing you can do is continue to seek medical advice. The MRI and ENG sound like a good plan as well. Another thing you can do is have your son keep a headache diary. He should write down when he gets the pain, what he was doing before it started, anything he ate shortly before it started (food can trigger migraines), and any sensations he experienced before the pain (some people get an "aura" before it starts), the length of the pain, any nausea or vomiting, and anything that helped make it better (pain meds, lying down, cold cloth etc.). This will be very helpful to the doctors, whether or not it is actually a migraine. I hope this helps. Take care and best wishes, C.

H.
Although I would still have the tests preformed, it does sound like he's having migraines. And as a couple of people have said, nausea and dizziness lasting for hours are normal migraine symptoms. I started having migraines at 12, and they can happen at any age. The good news, there are a couple medications now that are much more effect than any thing that was available when I first had them.
Good luck
D.

H.,
I don't have a 17yo but we are an entire family of migraine sufferers. Mine started at the age of 10yo, my husband's started at age 12yo, my 14yo son's started at the age of 5yo and my 11yo son's started at the age of 4yo.
Now, dizziness goes along with the migraine for a lot of people, just so you know.

What Í wanted to tell you was- go with your son to do the tests you scheduled and rule out any other problems there might be, and if there's nothing else, then it's just migraines and their symptoms (dizziness, nausea, changes in vision, sensitivity to sounds and light and there's more). if that's the case, what we do is- take Motrin migraine for the pain (advil is good too) and get into bed in a dark quiet room until it's better or over (in my case it just doesn't go away for days). if the Motrin/advil don't work- see a neurologist and get something stronger for it!
there are strong medications that are specifically for migraines and there are also meds that are given on a regular basis as a prevention measure (they don't always prevent migraines from coming, but they do help getting less of them and less painful ones from my experience).

By the way, known triggers to migraines for some people can be:
not enough sleep, chocolate, whine, cheese, very loud noise, straining the eyes too much in watching TV or reading for too long.

Why migraines can come?
Usually it's a hereditary condition.
here's a url that explain everything you need to know about migraines: http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/default.htm

Hope I helped some,
M.

H.,

I rep for a company that sells a liquid vitamin and mineral supplement. The reason I am contacting you is my boss in this company had migraines daily for over 5 years when she started this product. It took only six weeks before she was migraine free! She has been on the product now for over one year, and has not had a single migraine since they stopped. I cannot guarantee that your son will have the same success, but it may be worth a try. This product is a complete nutritional supplement and it is truly amazing. If you are interested, send me a message back and we can talk about getting the product to you. Also, if you would like to email my boss, I can get you that info also. Take care and good luck.
S.

Hi H.,
I experienced the same thing when I was 19. The dizziness and headaches were almost unbearable and my school work suffered as well. I had numerous tests, saw an ENT and had and MRI and CAT scan. Everything showed nothing wrong and my ped was the one to finally help me. It was basically attempts to "reset" my inner ear. I had to lay on the exam table with my head hanging off and he would move my head in different positions and hold it there for a few seconds. This was supposed to help the liquid and whatever else was in my inner ear get back into the correct positions. Now I wish I paid more attention to what he was doing. But it helped so much. 1 visit and I saw great improvement and most of my symptoms were gone after the 2nd treatment. It took under 5 minutes. It all felt very holistic, but I was desperate at that point and thrilled when it worked.

Here is an article I found on webmd.com. My doctor did the Liberatory maneuvers, but the article doesn't describe the exact movements needed.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/Benign-Paroxysmal-Positiona...

Oh! Here's one with more detail.

http://www.questdiagnostics.com/kbase/topic/detail/other/...

Good luck to you and your son.

K.

Hi H.. I had similar problem myself. I had dizziness(which lead to nausea) and frequent headaches and would have migraines often. I spoke to my dr and had all the tests and nothing came from it. I took some meds for the migraines but it did not help either. I talked mith my Aunt she owns a business and is a licensed massage, sweedish and reiki thearpist and she did some work on me and told me to go see chiropractor as well. I went 2X's a week for a month then every other week, then 1 a month. I have not had a migrain since. I go about 1 every other month and I also get a massage every other month.
Good luck to you and your son!

H.,

Sorry I don't have any advise, but I wanted to offer support and say Good Luck and I hope everything works out ok!

A.

I had similar problem myself. I'm almost 30 and from the time i was 18 had back problems i attributed to a couple of incidents and started seeing a chiropractor. The problems lessened but didnt go away even with regular treatment. I had x-rays done but only of my back. Two years ago i started experiencing dizziness and frequent headaches and would have migraines several times over the month. It got to the point where i was having migraines at least twice a week....causing me to be nauseas and light and sound were unbearable. I finally saw a specific chiropractor that specializes in the first 7 vertebrae in your neck and my back pain and migraines were triggered because of the first vertebrae being so far out of whack that it was at a negative degree angle. So if your other tests dont give you any answers that would be worth checking out. Good luck and I really hope its nothing serious!

Hi H., this may be a weak suggestion but have you tried web md? I looked up the symptoms and it gave me a list of possibles but it did ask me a few questions that I assume would help narrow them down that I obviously couldn't answer but it might be helpful to you. One of the suggestions was Carbon Monoxide poisoning, that one described the symptoms just as you had. Anyway, I wish you luck. L..

Hi H.,
I have two thoughts. First off, it sounds like he could be experiencing migraines. I'd have the docs check for that.

My next thought is to have his blood sugar checked. My twin sons, 17 yrs old, both have Type 1 diabetes, which was diagnosed when they were 10 and 11 respectively. The first one to be diagnosed had a signigicant headache with upset stomach prior to being diagnosed. It's a stretch, but it only takes a second to check his blood sugar and put your mind at ease. If you know of anyone with diabetes, they could actually check his blood sugar for you if you can't get in to see the doctor immediately. Of course, if his blood sugar is high, you should call your doctor immediately and have him seen.

Let me know how it turns out.
K. A.

I do not have a child that age, however, these symptoms sound similiar to somebody who may have Meniere's Disease. Maybe you could discuss that with his physician.

H. your son may be experiencing vertigo. It is a problem in the brain that makes you dizzy, headaches and have nausea. I started to experience it when I got pregnant with my second child. It took 3 different hospitals to find out what it was that was making me sick. This disease is also brought about on stress which can seem to make matters worse. The medication that I am on is called Mecelzine and it seems to work. If you have any more questions feel free to email me at ____@____.com
J.