MY KIDS GET MIGRAINES

I am sad to say that I have passed on the curse of migraines to all three of my kids. My oldest, Thomas, was the first to get a migraine. I think he was in 4th grade. Its sort of funny because when he told me he had a really bad headache, I suspected right away it was a migraine. He had told me many times before that he had a headache or didn't feel well but that time it was different. I guess maybe the suddenness of it. There was no lead up to it. He just suddenly had a really bad headache. Then I asked him if he had been seeing funny before he got the headache and he told me yes. He had been watching TV and it was hard to see part of the screen.

My youngest, Sarah, was the next to get a migraine. She was in 3rd grade. I went to pick her up from school and she came out complaining that she had suddenly gotten a really bad headache. Again, I just knew. I asked about her vision and she said yes, she had trouble seeing the music in orchestra.

My middle child, Erin, took awhile longer to get a migraine. She was in 8th grade when I got a call from the nurse. Erin knew it was a migraine because she also had the visual aura. She said she had all sorts of "pretty" and colorful lights. Pretty until they were followed by the pain!

I don't know if I would be able to tell if they were migraines if they hadn't gotten the visual aura. Thomas and Sarah will throw up with their migraines. Erin has only gotten two migraines and she felt nauseous with them but did not throw up. So far they only get them infrequently and it helps that we make sure that they get enough rest and eat well.

I feel very bad that I have passed this on to them and I often wonder if they will continue to follow in my footsteps. Will they end up in the same sort of nightmare as me later on in their life? If that happens to any of them, maybe they will be able to learn from my experience and it will help them in dealing with this disease.