I’m having a nighttime panic about my dd - anyone awake?

[havingamadmoment]

My dd is 10 so not a fragile newborn - she’s a Strong sturdy thing - does karate etc

The last few months she has been complaining of headaches on and off - she can’t seem to describe it well but she says it feels like poking in her forehead or the top of her head.

She has also been increasingly complaining of leg pains - which seem to be mostly knee area but sometimes she just says generally legs. A few times it’s been that her legs feel like jelly . She has also said that she feels lightheaded and headachey if it’s hot .

All these things haven’t been at once it’s one thing here one thing there. Also the intensity doesn’t seem too bad because she not crying in pain or anything it’s more just a mention of it and being a bit quiet. TBH I thought maybe it was growing pains and I’ve just let her get on. She doesn’t seem to bad.

Today she has been in tears over not much really, and I just looked at her and she seemed just not right. She’s a red head so always pale! But she seemed even paler than normal.

I suddenly had a rush of all these little things come together in my head and that they could be related and now I’m lying here in a panic thinking there is something actually wrong with her.

I am going to call gp in the morning - even though my husband says I’m over reacting

But really I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about this. I am too afraid to google it because I’ve made that mistake before!!

We have 5 other children so I feel like I have seen my fair share if aches and pains but I am just not feeling right about this.

Oh you poor thing. I'd say all of those things probably are unrelated and just growing pains etc but definitely chat to your GP for reassurance if nothing else. Probably too vague/disparate to point to any one thing but hopefully the GP will check her over and run a few blood tests to rule out anything it could be. You sound like a very caring mum. Things always feel more worrying at night. I'm sure she'll be fine but it's absolutely right to chat it through with GP. Try and get some sleep now.

TRust your gut. I’d be seeing the gp ASAP. TRY not to panic though as there’s lots of illnesses going round this time of the year.

If it helps, I was terrified my dd -same age, had something wrong as she had a bad back, it went on for over 18m And back pain is a red flag in kids, but she had lots of tests and mri and everything was fine, put down to growth pains.

madmoment , I think you are right to either call a GP out tomorrow or take her to the doctors for an emergency appointment. For the amount of children you have had and never seen these symptoms before in any of your other children I would be very concerned. I know i only have the one DS but I would be straight to the surgary. Hope everything is ok for you after the doctor has seen your dd.

Go with your gut and get a GP appointment (write down everything so you dont forget any of the individual things bothering her).

I have girls similar in age and some basic things I'd think about would be asking for iron levels and vitamin D to be checked along with the usual blood tests. Maybe an eye test for the headaches, check if she's drinking enough water and I'd be wondering if there are signs of puberty to consider too.

It sounds like she might start her periods soon to me.

I'm just another Mum, not a doctor.

Paleness, being sad and leg pain, could she be deficient in vitamin D? Apparently its on the rise due to people using high factor sun lotion, and with her being a red head it just occurred to me its worth checking. Either way, hopefully the GP will check her over and make sure its nothing major, but I'd be pushing for some blood tests, even though she probably won't want them (I've battled over the years trying to get any of mine to have blood taken!). Hope she's ok.

I was going to suggest vitamin d too.

Mrserica - thanks , yes it all seems so random but after today’s collapse into a tired mess it all just suddenly shot into my mind like a bad film montage probably just me overthinking things!

3girls - she does wear glasses and I took her in August when the headaches started for an eye test but they said her current glasses were fine. She wears them all the time though so perhaps I could ask for them to check again.

30to50 she would def kick up a fuss about a blood test! Especially at the moment being so clingy!

I have never had to take any of my children for a blood test - that would be a first for me? I can’t imagine how I would convince her it had to be done

I’ve just added something into my swirling head of worry - she ran down our road a few days ago and then started wheezing and complaining she had pain - I just gave her a hug and told her it was because of the cold, she was fine after 10 minutes but now of course my brain is replaying it on repeat.

I go back - really! I hope not ! My others have been 14 when they started I haven’t even done “the talk” yet. Although I’m pretty sure her older siblings have already given her a pretty good rub down 😂

Run ..., not rub

I say this not to scare you, but to give you the confidence and evidence base to go to the surgery tomorrow and demand a referral to a consultant; go and have a look at the Headsmart website.

Definitely try and get some sleep..I am definitely someone who worries at night!!! My children are always referring to me as Mummy drama lama!My children are 19 to 26 and my 24 year old has just landed in China for a wander...imagine the stress for his mother!!…! It sounds as if your daughter is growing physically and getting al the aches and pains associated with that . Take her to the doctor for peace of mind.X

Please take her to the GP, if my mum hadn't been adamant that something was seriously wrong with my sister she'd be dead by now- they said it was asthma but it was a very serious heart condition. Trust your gut xx

Do see the GP tomorrow for both your peace of mind. However my friends and I all went through the above at different points, the regular headaches and aching limbs sound familiar, though I can’t remember the location / sensation of the headache.

Definitely take her to see the GP when you can, just to put your mind at rest, or get tests done if necessary - it could be so many things.

I started my periods when I was 11 and got very tearful over nothing; I'm also milk bottle pale (dark haired rather than red haired but that fairly common Celtic colouring), slightly anaemic, and I had migraines that started about the same time (another long-term glasses wearer here too). Lots of my relatives on my mum's side have had what they used to call "growing pains" at around that age too. And apart from anything else, while it may not be related, this year's flu bug has been a bit of a doozy and certainly in this home has involved serious sinus headaches and wobbly legs.

If you need a way to convince her to have a blood test, if that's what the doc suggests, then what about saying it's to test for anaemia and/or vitamin D deficiency, both of which can be helped pretty easily these days? Living in our relatively sunless climate I'm amazed sometimes that vitamin D isn't given to us all automatically.

Hope all goes well with the doc, anyway.

I have never had to take any of my children for a blood test - that would be a first for me? I can’t imagine how I would convince her it had to be done blush

You just tell her - you’re the parent!

Some things are just non negotiable- like school, or brushing teeth etc

I thought vitamin D deficiency as well. Best top get things checked though.

How much water does she drink out of interest?

Grumpy- uh as far as I am aware she drinks a good amount but she does just get her own drinks now so I couldn’t really say.

So I made a doctors appointment for later on this morning but I’m already starting to feel like I’m over panicking about this - the light of morning has made me doubt myself!

She seems ok this morning but DH and I asked her about the headaches and leg pain and all she really said was that her head feels like someone is poking her. Not terrible painful but annoying and often.
And her legs sometimes is her knees other times what she called the bit between her ankle and knee. Sometimes both.

I’m am 99% sure the doctor will day growing pains but DH and I said that if it doesn’t go away we could at least go back and have it on record that we have been today as well if that makes any sense at all!

Aridane - obviously if it came to I would just tell her to do it BUT some things are just better with cooperation aren’t they!

For the blood test (if she needs one) ask for her to be numbed first with Elma - they use it on little kids and it works a treat. (Dd was recently in hospital and had to have a canula in - this was how we managed).
It’s probably nothing, but always get these things checked. I started with migraines younger than your DD and would describe the pains as a stabbing / poking pain.