This is the story of Vicki, mother of a young boy with migraine. Millions of children worldwide suffer from migraine. It impacts their daily life and the life of their families.
My second son was diagnosed with childhood Migraine when he was 2.5 years old. When he was around 14 months old, he started collapsing to the floor, falling asleep after severe crying episodes. He would want to sleep flat on the floor and after a few minutes of sleep, he would wake up and vomit. He hated touch, noise and light, so as a parent I couldn’t do much to help him. It was very frightening because we had no idea what was wrong with him. I started to feel like I was a whittling mother, going back and forth to doctors. I just wanted answers. That search for answers became constant internet searches and constant questioning. I knew something was wrong, but doctors didn’t seem to take it seriously. It became a very stressful time for the whole of our family. Finally, after I pushed for someone to listen, tests became arranged. Our toddler had months of blood tests, stomach studies, EEG’s and an MRI scan. All came back as normal, but back then I knew things were far from ‘Normal’.
In the months that followed, we questioned doctors on whether it could be Migraine, they fobbed us off and said our son was ‘too young’. To be honest I was reluctant to label it as ‘Migraine’ as it didn’t seem to like a big enough representation of what we were experiencing. In the end, we started videoing his episodes and that’s when a diagnosis of Migraine took shape. He was a toddler and was having to deal with this horrendous condition, and so were we.
My son is now 7 and he still has Migraines. It’s easier now that he is older and can vocalise his symptoms. As a mum of a child with migraine, I have found it tough having to watch my son go through horrendous pain, unable to help with the physical symptoms. The worst thing someone can say is ‘he has headaches. A Migraine is far from being just a ‘headache’. To watch your child scream in horrendous pain, vomit, lose his vision and go numb down one side is hard to witness and there is such a lack of empathy and understanding for the condition.
It’s also lifestyle change as we have to keep to routines and specific diets to make sure certain foods and lack of sleep don’t trigger a Migraine. I want him to lead a normal life, so we try to carry on doing things, but sometimes days out will be cut short or cancelled. I hope my story helps raise awareness of Paediatric migraine and the emotional effects it can have on a family.
At Happyr Health we aim to support the children and Vicki’s out there. We need your help to make this possible.
Share your story to help us show the world that action is needed.
