My 14-year-old son suffers from migraine headaches. Two weeks ago while having a migraine he passed out at school. The following week, although he didn’t have a migraine at the time, he passed out again. The teacher said he was unconscious for a few seconds, but he remained confused for a number of hours after the episodes. Our GP, who has arranged for him to see a neurologist for further tests, thinks it could be confusional migraine.
Typically the child with confusional migraine experiences a period of confusion and disorientation, with or without agitation, followed by nausea and vomiting, which is relieved by sleep. Headache may not be a prominent feature. Confusional migraine is more common in younger children, but can present in adults or adolescents. Occasionally, in a child whose episodes began before puberty, the episodes may continue into adolescence. In many cases, migraines in children present in the same way as they do in adults. Symptoms can include headaches (with or without an aura), nausea, vomiting, photophobia – a dislike of light – and relief with sleep.
Are there other types of migraine that affect children?
There are several variations of migraine, some of which are unique to children but only rarely occur in adults. In young children, migraine may present with prominent non-headache symptoms or the associated aura may be much more prominent than the headache itself. Childhood syndromes thought to be related to migraine include benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood, abdominal migraine and acute confusional migraine. Basilar migraine (particularly in adolescent girls) may present with dizziness and fainting with or without a subsequent headache. Hemiplegic migraine, where there is an associated weakness on one side of the body, may present in early childhood and may occasionally continue into adulthood. Ophthalmoplegic migraine, where the nerve that regulates eye movement is affected, may also occur in childhood.
What is meant by an aura?
Some people who suffer migraines also experience a variety of visual sensations that come on before or accompany the pain of a migraine.
This is known as migraine with aura. Migraine with aura is characterised by visual disturbances such as flashes of light, shimmering spots or stars, moving patterns or blind spots. The condition may also be accompanied by other non-visual symptoms such as numbness or tingling in parts of the body and speech problems.
