When the doctor asked Aidan Lenski to identify an unattractive piece of fake broccoli, the 2-year-old would only say, “Ugly.”
Aidan was able to name carrots, rice and bread, though, helping doctors at Children’s Hospital in Aurora figure out why the little boy was getting so many headaches.
Adding more water, fruit shakes and cucumber salad to Aidan’s diet might have been the key to curing his pain. The frequency of his headaches — which used to strike almost weekly — sharply decreased a few months ago when he got a new, junk-food-hating nanny, said his mom, Elizabeth Lenski of Longmont.
From 4 to 10 percent of children — girls more often than boys — get migraines, some severe enough to keep them home from school and cause blurred vision, nausea and excessive sleepiness in the middle of the day.
Children often are misdiagnosed by their pediatricians — told they have poor vision, gastrointestinal problems or sinus trouble.
“A lot of people don’t realize children get migraines,” said Dr. Tonia Sabo, a neurologist who runs Children’s headache clinic. “Most patients are worried that their child has a brain tumor or something like that, which is extremely rare.”
Children’s sees up to 100 kids and teens with headaches each month. The most complicated cases — an average of 13 per month — end up at the headache clinic, where two-hour visits focus on nutrition, relaxation and learning how to recognize the early signs of a migraine. A cartoon about a nauseated tiger with a headache teaches kids to eat breakfast, cut caffeine and take it easy.
Children who come to the clinic have to keep a food diary and draw a picture of what their headache feels like. Some have scribbled lightning bolts or hammers pounding on their heads. One colored squiggles radiating out of a hand, meaning numbness.
In some drawings, the heads are cracked open, said pediatric nurse practitioner Mary Anne Maddox.
Sabo believes poor nutrition, along with sleep and exercise, is a big risk factor for migraines in children. She is in the middle of a three-year study to determine whether kids get fewer headaches when they have adequate magnesium, the vitamin CoQ10 and riboflavin, a type of B vitamin.
Foods rich in those nutrients don’t exactly top the list of kid favorites: squash seeds, spinach, sardines, raw broccoli, asparagus, okra, chard and cottage cheese.
Sabo’s interest in headaches is personal. Migraines have struck her sister and her 13-year-old daughter, who recently called from the school nurse’s office with a severe headache.
“She hadn’t eaten breakfast,” Sabo said, lamenting the teen’s unvaried diet. “She eats waffles and macaroni and cheese.”
Often, clinic staff can link changes in diet or lack of nutrition to head pain. When Sabo worked in Texas, she diagnosed “Big Gulp headaches” — the kind brought on when teenagers used to drinking giant iced teas all week didn’t get their caffeine fix on the weekend.
Technology to blame?
Sabo also believes intense use of computers, phones and iPods is giving children headaches. Some kids who visit the clinic say they text 10 hours a day.
“A lot of these kids sleep with their cellphones next to their pillow,” she said. “You need to get outside and get some fresh air.”
The study at Children’s is one of a few focused on preventing migraines in kids instead of alleviating pain after the throbbing starts. The research is more appealing to parents because it uses vitamin supplements — not antidepressants or blood-pressure medication, which have been used in other studies and can have serious side effects.
Dr. Marcy Yonker, a pediatric neurologist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, sees dozens of young headache patients each week. Many find their way to her clinic despite hearing from their pediatricians that “kids don’t get migraines,” she said. That’s because parents who have had migraines recognize the symptoms in their children.
Mia B.’s mom knew her daughter was having a migraine at 6 years old because she has had them since childhood. Mia, now 7, and a participant in the local study, has only had a couple, but they are intense: They make her dizzy and sleepy enough to take a nap amid a loud, busy house.
“She said, ‘Mom, I can’t see,’ ” recalled Ute B., who didn’t want her full name used because of the stigma she said is attached to migraines. “It was almost like the whole body shuts down.”
Mia’s migraines follow times of high stress and excitement — one was the night before her performance in “The Little Mermaid” and another just before a big family party.
Mia, wearing a jeweled shirt and a light-brown ponytail, balanced on one leg and pointed her finger to her nose. During 2-year-old Aidan’s appointment, the toddler chased a beam from a flashlight around the hallway.
For weeks, Aidan hasn’t woken up in the middle of the night or stopped playing because of a headache. “He would grab his head and say, ‘Mommy, my head hurts,’ ” his mom said. “In March, he hasn’t complained of a headache.”
Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com
How can I prevent my child’s headaches?
Make sure your child:
Drinks four to eight glasses of water or other noncaffeinated fluids per day.
Gets plenty of sleep at night, but not too much sleep. Most need eight to 10 hours.
Eats balanced meals at regular hours. Do not skip meals.
Avoids foods that seem to trigger headaches. Every kid is different, but common triggers include chocolate, aged cheeses and packaged lunch meat.
Is it a migraine? Common migraine symptoms include:
Nausea and vomiting.
Sensitivity to light and noise.
Seeing an aura.
Source: Denver Children’s Hospital headache clinic
