When it comes to recurrent abdominal attacks during childhood, one should think of migraine. Patients suffering from this condition usually cannot be diagnosed with abdominal migraine since they do not necessarily experience headaches. However you can detect them from their history of infantile colic and gas. Also, it is possible that they were restless and having sleeping or constipation problems when they were infants.
There are some periodic conditions occurring during childhood under the title of migraine equivalents although the patient does not feel any headaches. These may reveal themselves as abdominal migraine and periodic stomachaches in children and periodic vomiting attacks in adults. These kids develop typical migraine in the advancing years.
Some common characteristics are remarkable in these cases: being periodic, having no explanatory reasons and causing the children not to want any action or stimulation around themselves. They find peaceful and dim environments comforting.
In these patients, the interference field is usually our first scar: the abdomen.
This condition shows itself as vomiting, crying, colic and excretion problems —even severe constipation— on the patients during their infantry and may be carried on to their adulthood. If the child was born prone to migraine (i.e. with a sensitive autonomic nervous system) unexplained periodic scenes with vomiting and abdominal pain may accompany. Most colic babies develop migraine later on. Some physicians consider colic as a migraine equivalent for that reason.