Abdominal Migraine: A Migraine Equivalent

 

Migraine equivalents refer to symptoms of migraine which exhibit themselves in a form other than pain in the head.

A migraine equivalent can manifest itself in the form of visual symptoms like blind spots, partial vision or psychic disturbances without headaches. The most common form of migraine equivalent is ‘abdominal migraine’.

Abdominal migraine/periodic syndrome
Abdominal migraine, also known as periodic syndrome is quite common in children, particularly female children. This kind of migraine results in recurrent episodes of vomiting and abdominal pain without headache. The pain can last for hours together.

These children usually have a family history of migraine and go on to develop classical symptoms of migraine later in life. But nausea, vomiting, flushing, yawning, listlessness and drowsiness may be the symptoms displayed during the abdominal migraine attacks. Any tests conducted to confirm this, would usually not display any abnormality.

Migraine equivalents can be treated by using the same drugs as used for migraines.


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