Abdominal migraine is a common condition that causes repeated episodes of abdominal pain in otherwise healthy children who have no symptoms in between. The pain can be located in the middle or throughout the abdomen, can vary in severity, and lasts for at least 1 hour. Children generally have at least 2 other symptoms with the pain, such as lack or loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, headache, eye discomfort with bright light, or turning pale.

Abdominal migraine is most commonly diagnosed in children ages 2 to 10, but it can happen in people of all ages. As its name suggests, abdominal migraine is closely related to migraine headache. Most children with this condition have a family history of migraine headaches. And many children with outgrow abdominal migraines as they age and start having migraine headaches instead.

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What are the signs and symptoms of abdominal migraine?

Abdominal pain is the main symptom of abdominal migraine. Your child may also have:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Pale skin
  • Loss of appetite
  • Headache
  • Eye discomfort with bright lights

Please note there are many conditions that have similar symptoms. It’s important to see your child’s doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.

What causes abdominal migraine?

Experts are not sure what causes abdominal migraine. Like migraine headaches, abdominal migraines may be triggered by certain foods, lack of sleep, motion sickness, travel or missing meals.

How is abdominal migraine treated?

Treatment for abdominal migraine usually involves taking medicine to prevent or stop episodes from happening.

  • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anti-migraine or anti-nausea medicines help stop the episode once it has started.
  • Preventive medicines are drugs that your child takes every day to help prevent an episode. These may include a particular type of anti-histamine and other drugs.

Some children may also benefit from therapy or relaxation techniques to reduce stress. Avoiding known triggers can also help reduce or prevent attacks. Recognition of the clinical pattern is important to help guide how much of a medical evaluation may be necessary to exclude other causes of abdominal pain.