NON-DRUG-TREATMENT APPROACHES
Our doctor says that my daughter’s headaches might be caused by stress. Can children really get stressed?
Anyone can get or feel stressed, and children are no exception. The causes of stress can be different in children, potentially more complex and sometimes difficult to identify or recognise. Life can affect different people in different ways. The effect or impact of life
events should never be ignored or underestimated. Finding out what might be causing stress is often quite difficult and challenging. The only way is to ask around, seeing what friends and family members think or feel about what is going on. Worry about exams, being bullied at school, getting homework finished on time or even the illness of friends or family members may all cause problems that are not readily identified by you or your child. We all react and cope differently to life events. We all cope with and talk about our feelings in different ways and sometimes not at all.
My daughter is keen to go to drama class and chess club. Do you think kids can do too many things after school?
Getting the balance right between things we want to do, need to do and have to do is always difficult. Homework and chores have to be done, eating, and sleeping need to be done, after-school clubs and hobbies are things we want to do. Doing too much of everything is not a good idea and may cause stress but doing enough of the good things helps relieve stress.
I am always reluctant to be dogmatic but if she is getting a lot of headaches already, she will need to reflect on how full her days are. It is all about balance. By all means let her try to go to drama and chess club but remember there will still be homework and chores to do.
My son, who is at primary school, often gets his migraines in the afternoon. I am not convinced he eats his lunch. Could that be a trigger?
Yes, it could. If he skips, misses, or delays lunch, this may drop his migraine threshold and increase the chance of a migraine developing later in the afternoon. It might be worth having a chat to the staff at the school to see whether he is eating his lunch. If he isn’t, you will need to try to find out why. Children can be notoriously faddy and difficult when it comes to food these days. It may be that he will do better with a packed lunch, with a mix of healthy options and the occasional treat.
How hard should I try to get my daughter to have breakfast every morning? Is it really worth the effort?
Changing patterns of behavior is always challenging but often worth the effort! Eating regularly and drinking enough of the right sort of fluids are important. Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day because it ends the overnight fast, and the right sort of breakfast will set her up for the morning. It is all about keeping her migraine threshold as high as possible. The higher the threshold, the less likely that a migraine attack will happen.
The specialist nurse has said that if my son stops drinking so much cola he will get fewer headaches. Will it make that much difference?
Cola contains caffeine and sugar or artificial sweeteners. Caffeine can cause headache in its own right, as can artificial sweeteners. Drinking lots of fizzy drinks, especially if they are his sole source of fluid, means that he is less likely to drink enough water and so he
could become dehydrated to some degree. Dehydration has the potential to lower his migraine threshold, so drinking plenty of water but little or no cola can raise his headache threshold and make it less likely that he’ll have an attack.
How do I get my son to stop drinking fizzy drinks and have water instead?
Your son will have to want to do that for himself. Motivation and ownership of an idea are the best way to encourage the change to happen. Your son must decide for himself that he needs to do whatever it takes to reduce the number of headaches he gets. You can, of course, support him in that process. Only if he makes that decision for himself, though, will he be able to find the motivation to make the change from fizzy drinks to water.
The nurse has said breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. That’s easy enough to say but how do you cut down on the junk food?
Changing diet and lifestyle is all about desire and motivation with a hefty dose of insight. Recognizing and accepting that avoiding junk food will make your headaches better is the first step to initiating change. Change comes from within and it is never easy to seem to be different. Peer pressure is a powerful force but if the desire for fewer headaches is strong enough, diet changes do happen. Once an improvement occurs, the change becomes the norm and accepted. Improvement will also encourage further changes in behavior.
My daughter has a part-time job after school, which means that she is up quite late sometimes doing her homework. Will all those late nights mean more migraines?
Too little sleep, as well as too much sleep, can lead to more migraines. Late nights along with early mornings can also lead to more migraines. A regular sleep pattern is the ideal, and a change in sleep patterns – for whatever reason – can cause a shift in the migraine threshold. Regular food and fluid intake may help but won’t completely prevent this, and anything that causes a fall in the migraine threshold has the potential to lead to more migraines.
Exams are coming up and I’m wondering what I can do to help my daughter get through without getting any migraines. Have you any suggestions?
Exams are a stressful time and there are a variety of approaches that may work for her. Stress in this situation can be both good and bad. It is about finding ways to spread the stress as much as possible, or use the stress in a positive and constructive way.
Try to plan regular breaks into the day and the revision. Encourage regular fluid intake and healthy snacks with regular meal breaks. Think about the range of potential triggers that come into play to push her migraine threshold down, and control the ones that can be modified so that the rest become less of an issue. Everyone is different and different triggers have differing effects at different times.
My son seems to spend most of his spare time in front of our PC playing games. Can computer games cause migraines?
Flickering lights can cause migraines and playing computer games in a dark room may trigger a migraine attack. Any computer screen, if used for significant periods in poor lighting conditions, could push the migraine threshold down and lead to a higher probability of a migraine developing. Posture may also be a factor in triggering headache symptoms in this situation.
Should I be discouraging my kids from playing computer games?
This is a difficult one, as things forbidden will often become much more desirable! A little bit of the things we enjoy doing is good for us, but too much of some things may not be quite such a good idea. As well as the lighting factor (see the previous answer), posture can have an effect in generating headache symptoms. So spending too much time crouched over a computer game could lead to headache symptoms. If there seems to be a direct cause and effect in any of your children, playing fewer computer games may be the answer. Triggers are rarely relevant in total isolation so think about other factors that may come into play at the same time, as these may need to be reviewed or modified as well. It is always difficult to know the best way to tackle things. All things in moderation are usually a sensible starting point. Banning something is rarely helpful, but restricting the amount of time spent is a reasonable compromise; also, not playing games in the 30 minutes before bedtime might help.
