If we think back to our childhood, among the many experiences we are able to recall, there is certainly no shortage of at least one stomach ache: associated with classic indigestion, gastroenteritis, the intake of an expired food rather than a trip. An episode, in short, that left a memorable mark. Usually, in fact, stomach ache is an acute and mostly occasional event.
In some children, especially around school age, however, it becomes recurrent: pain attacks, in practice, recur with a fairly regular, indeed cyclical, cadence, usually monthly. Initially, one would come to think of the classic subterfuge that children resort to in order to evade their commitments and responsibilities. But what is surprising sooner or later is that these “seizures” appear regardless of school or other factors: perhaps before an outing, a party, or another pleasant moment, which the child will be forced to give up. If we then investigate further we find that in most of these cases there is familiarity with migraine. And perhaps kinetosis, i.e., motion sickness, seasickness, or similar transportation-related disorder, also emerges. What does all this mean then?
These recurrent bellyaches, which almost never miss an appointment, delineate what is known as the periodic syndrome or abdominal migraine: a curious manifestation that can last up to 72 hours accompanied by cramping in the center of the abdomen, vomiting, poor appetite, and often pallor, ringing in the ears, and visual changes. The designation of “migraine” is not coincidental considering that the gut has been aptly dubbed the “second brain” and shares with the central nervous system numerous mediators including in particular the serotonin: Indeed, it plays a decisive role in the periodic syndrome, the dynamics of which, moreover, are not entirely clear. Treatment must necessarily be individualized and, above all, must take into account any related symptoms, starting with those that may lead back to an initial and still nuanced form of migraine.
Of course, it is crucial to differentiate recurrent stomach pain from other types, for example, from that due to lactose intolerance. In fact, the latter can often take on a rather insidious character, resulting in abdominal pain, diarrhea, and sometimes vomiting not immediately after ingestion of this sugar but upon exceeding a certain threshold.
