What the heck just happened and is it normal!

[Walkingandtalking]

My 6 year old fell asleep on the couch this afternoon (she never normally sleeps in the day) she woke up fine but a little while later she suddenly started saying her head hurt and she was holding her screaming and crying and insisting on sitting in the dark. I managed to get some calpol in her and after about 20 minutes her headache eased and she is now lying in bed watching paw patrol. She seems a little flushed but otherwise ok at the moment since the calpol.

She has never had a headache before! And it started so suddenly! Is this normal for a childs headache? Should she be fine now? I was really worried when she was lying holding her head screaming!

A child suddenly holding their head and screaming is a 999 / Hospital job for me

I'd ring 111 to be safe.

The main symptom for me and my daughters when we had Covid was a splitting headache - but it didn't just instantly appear and then vanish again. It could be a migraine - I had my first migraine when I was 6.

It’s likely a migraine or similar but given these symptoms you really need to have meningitis excluded asap, its not something to muck around with and better safe than sorry.

I agree with the posters who are saying to do a covid test. This was the only thing my son complained about when he had it. If it’s negative then I’d be inclined to call 111 for advice.

Thumping migraine like headaches have always been a covid symptom. It's one of the main symptom my colleagues and I had back in October 2020.

More recently a few colleagues and myself had migraines in January this year. As previous posters have said symptomic illness now common in kids albeit those symptoms don't match the official ones anymore.

Do a lateral flow. Sounds like covid.
Symptoms can come on suddenly.

Not wanting to downplay, but children do tend to overreact (by our standards) the first time they have a new symptom because it's scary when something feels different in your body that never has before. DS2 tends to scream and cry a lot with a normal viral headache. Calms down immediately with calpol, even though calpol really takes 20 mins to start working! It's the comfort/placebo/reassurance effect that "mummy/daddy has done something".

If it was meningitis, surely the calpol wouldn't help or not for long? Only we'd be in A&E constantly if we went every time he had a nightmare or headache that was soothed by a cuddle!

I also would not be doing a covid test in the middle of the night, it's not that urgent, it can wait until morning.

I’m glad someone said this @BertieBotts hasn’t anyone else had a nap hangover? Where you wake up with a banging headache? If it’s the first time she’s had one it can be scary, but she’s fine with calpol (unless I’ve misunderstood).

Obviously keep an eye on it and if it doesn’t improve or she has other symptoms that might be an issue, but l thinking it’s meningitis seems a bit of a leap.

No update from OP. Hope he daughter is ok.

How is she today? I hope she's doing ok.

That was how my covid symptoms started on Friday evening. I actually thought it was a migraine but on Saturday morning I didn't have my usual migraine hangover so I did a test and it was positive.
I've since had a few people say the headache is agony at the start.

Mumsnet can't diagnose but 111 can.

Those symptoms would be A&E for me
Hope everything's ok xx

Really not trying to make you worry, but our first exposure to son’s epilepsy was this exact thing when he was 7. He was having seizures while sleeping. We thought we were hearing nightmares (they calmed fairly quickly). Not likely that it’s epilepsy, but it’s the right age for Benign Rolando epilepsy to be starting. Something to consider if there are any issues during your child’s sleep, particularly just as the fall asleep / wake up.

Migraine. Take her to gp and ask what she can have.

Chocolate can trigger :(

Ask her to look up at the ceiling then down to the floor. If she struggles with this movement, then this could suggest meningitis. Not saying it isn’t if she can, as I am not a medical professional.

Ps have her eyes tested too.