Have horrid headaches that I've passed on to children...

Question: Have horrid headaches that I've passed on to children...

Answer:

Full Question:

I am 26-years-old and I have had these headaches for my whole life. As a 22-month-old baby I had a febrile seizure and that is when they found that there was something wrong with me. They treated me for epilepsy since my EEG was not "normal" but no matter what medication I still had headaches. I was taken off of the antiepileptic after having my second child and being in the hospital for 3 days on the EEG machine which showed nothing wrong. My headaches usually happen when I am tired, congested, get upset, on the verge of crying or when I enter from the warm in the cold temperature. I get a sharp pain in the area of my temple and eye and it makes my eye water and it hurts so much that I thought labor with my 1st was a breeze compared to the pain of the headache. It is usually over in a minute and I am left weak. If it is bad one I don't feel the side of my face that the headache was on or feel tingling on it. My eye lids are swollen like I was crying for hours. Well I have 2 boys and they are both getting them now. I know because my 2 year old gets them when he is on the verge of crying for one reason or another and he says "MY head hurts" After the episode he is left tired and all he wants to do is be held. My younger son is 18 months and not as verbal as 2 1/2 year old and he screams "my eye" and holds on to his side of head. I am getting ready to take them to the doctor to figure this out since it just started happening in the last months and I didn't put 2+2 together till just few days ago. I never dreamed that they could inherit this from me. Please help me. I don't know anybody that has headaches like me. I would appreciate any kind of advice. Thank you, Alisa.

Answer:

Dear Alisa;

Your story is so intriguing and something I have heard from patients before. Migraine symptoms, including specific items of presentation, can be passed down to children, as you describe. Actually, as you may know many of the so-called anticonvulsants (I call them neuromodulators) have the ability to reduce migraine headaches. My suggestion is to find a pediatric headache specialist in your area, as they are likely to respond positively to what you have described. You can find recommended pediatric specialists on our directory of specialists. There's a link below.

Good luck,
Teri Robert and John Claude Krusz

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