What a headache (update on Shawn)

Shawn and I had his appointment with the Pediatric Neurologist this afternoon. I only have a minute to update right now...but basically this is what I DO know:

1) It is NOT an allergy causing this.

2) Many people are under the misconception that migraines are merely bad headaches instead of a serious neurological disorder. Shawn has a neurological disorder. His specific diagnosis is "Migraine without Aura" (meaning without warning).

3) It is believed for some reason, his levels of serotonin (a naturally occurring body chemical) drops in his brain stem and causes these headaches to begin.

He gave me 2 websites with info. There are several kinds of migraines in kids...Shawn's is listed on this page.

http://www.headaches.org/educational_modules/completeguide/migraine2.html

Some kids have triggers, some do not. He is leaning towards Shawn NOT having one...which makes it even harder to figure out. He re-iterated that it's a disorder, and sometimes there isn't a "why" just an "it is" in those cases.

He is putting him on a preventative pill for now. Once in the evenings for a week, then adding the mornings too until we break this cycle (must go at least 3 weeks w/out a headache). The stomach pains he suffered were 99% most likely caused by the ulcer, which was caused by trying to treat the Migraine. If he gets a really bad one, then he has also prescribed Reglan (as an "abortive" medication...to stop the migraine). He'll take that and go rest in a dark, quiet room.

There IS a small possibility he will outgrow this at adolescence , there's also the likelihood that he will be a migraine sufferer for the rest of his life. The goal will be to make them less frequent and somehow manageable.

We are to chart everything for 7 weeks, hope to see a decrease in frequency due to this medication, and go from there.

:( My poor Shawny. :( I was hoping for a quick fix and easy answer. :(