Abdominal migraine is one of the variants of migraine headache. This variant most typically occurs in children, and is common for them to had nausea and a “stomach ache” which is often relieved by a nap. They usually have a family history of migraine and go on to develop typical migraine later in their life.
The attacks are characterized by periodic bouts of moderate to severe midline abdominal pain lasting for 1-72 hours. Along with the abdominal pain they may have other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, flushing or pallor. Tests fail to reveal a gastro-intestinal cause for the pain. Medications that are useful for treating migraine work to control these attacks in most children including daily preventive medications and anti-nausea medications to take during the attack.
