Talk sense to me - 7yo DS headaches and tiredness

[Prodol]

Hi all,

Posting in AIBU partly for traffic but also because I think I need a stern talking to.

I wouldn’t say I suffer with anxiety or health anxiety more than the next person so catastrophising (as I am now) is not something I usually do.

My DS is 7. He came home from school last Wednesday looking pale and complaining of a headache. He fell asleep on the sofa and later on vomited in bed during the night. He had a slightly raised temp, which he continued to have on and off until yesterday.

Since then, he’s been pretty constantly complaining of a headache. He’s been waking 2-3 times a night and crying because his head hurts so much. It seems a bit better from mid morning until mid afternoon and he plays with his sister, has something to eat etc. Then, he’s very pale again, in pain and, once given Calpol or Nurofen, has been sleeping for a couple of hours every afternoon and then back off to sleep as normal at bedtime.

I’m really trying to limit how much Calpol/ Nurofen he’s taking but every day so far has had the maximum 4 doses suggested on the bottle. At times, the headaches seem to make him very panicky. Before I’d got home on Friday, he’d got himself into a bit of a state when my parents were here and was almost hyperventilating when I got in.

He isn’t a child that easily cries but is clearly in a lot of pain and crying two or three times a day because his head hurts to much. I called 111 yesterday and took him, at their recommendation, to an out of hours GP. He checked DS over and said there is nothing obviously wrong.

I can’t send him to school tomorrow feeling like he is and after an afternoon of googling, I’m terrified that he’s got a brain tumour. The tiredness, the headache that is worse at night and in the early hours of the morning. He has no other symptoms so it’s so unlikely, isn’t it?

I don’t know what to do next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA.

That's a shame. In that case I'd think covid. I'd definitely take him to the GP and get him tested further, don't leave until they've tested. They can even test for flu and covid so they should really.

Totally understand your worries, I tend to panic when my son's ill too, especially if it's a bit mysterious like this.

Could it be a sinus infection maybe, I get v nasty pain with that, and I'm not always very obviously congested. It would make sense that it's bad at night when he lies down.

You could try steam inhalation (being v careful with hot water if course - maybe just some steamy baths or showers), an extra pillow or two in bed, and you can get saline nasal spray that's safe for children.

Good luck - I hope the GP is helpful & helpful feels better soon.

I'm sorry to hear he's so unwell. That sounds really upsetting for both of you.

Good idea to keep asking.

Poor chap he sounds out of sorts.

whilst it sounds like an infection, do keep an eye out for the signs of t1 diabetes (tired, thin, thirsty, toilet). You mentioned he is drinking more although possibly due to dehydration. Is he weeing more than usual too?

Hope you get some answers and he is soon on the mend.

@User67556 thanks - I’ll definitely ask them to test tomorrow.

I clicked on this thread because my DS and I have both had a headache on and off for a week or more and it's really annoying.

In our case I know that it's pollen outside, which sounds bonkers, but we're both getting hayfever. I don't know how that can happen in January but it is.

I have to wear a hepa nasal filter when I go out and my DS has had to start antihistamines.

Your DS doesn't sound like he has an allergic headache, but we've definifely got hayfever headaches here. We're also really dehydrated because of the very dry weather.

@GardensBooksTea I thought this too: he doesn’t have any associated face or forehead pain though. Would that be typical?

@TartanTrewses thank you - I appreciate it!

That sounds very similar to my 5yo last week.

After 2 days of headache, a lot of vomiting, and a fever hitting 103, we went to the out of hours doctor.

He was happy it seemed viral, and DS was better a couple of days later.

Plenty of rest, fluids, and calpol/nurofen.

At the moment, there's a lot of flu going around.

@Bimblesalong I don’t think he is weeing more than usual. I’ve been prompting him to go after noticing today that it had been a number of hours since he’d last been.

Which makes me think dehydration is very possible.

Thank you for your reply.

He's probably had a wee bug with his temp and vomiting and feeling rotten. I imagine if he's waking up multiple times a night he'll be really tired as well. Hope the GP can advise. I also find it helpful if the GP says they're not concerned to explain why they're not concerned as it helps me to rationalise things and not fall back to Dr Google again!

Oh, and DS also woke a few times crying from the headache.

He's done this before with an ear infection, and I wonder if his sinuses are involved as swimming can make things worse.

Meds didn't really help the headache, but thankfully it went after about 3 or 4 days.

@TartanTrewses that sounds rotten for you both.

My son did suffer with hayfever when he was younger so it could be linked to that. I’ll have a root around for the piriton.

It does sound viral and other posters have given sensible advice and GP sounds good but just to add when one of my DC had recurrent headaches recently a trip to the opticians indicated glasses were needed (when they haven’t been before with regular yearly check ups)

@Inthemidafternoongarden really good point: the night wakings can’t be helping.

I think you’re probably right and he’s feeling rotten because of whatever virus he’s picked up. I’ve had a dry, hacking cough for the past two weeks and my DD has a light cold so no doubt it’s all linked.

My kids headache's did turn out to be a BT (a treatable one thankfully), but whilst a fever seems to have kicked the headaches off, it was a one day fever but the headaches continued. Your son's sounds more like a bug that includes a headache TBH

But so you know what to look out for (and hopefully some reassurance) here are red flags for BT in kids. It might be of use to you or someone else.

Two more

@GloriousBlue poor thing! I hope he’s fully recovered now.

If this started last Wednesday it's almost definitely just a virus.

My daughter gets a bad headache whenever she comes down with a viral illness. If it's a really painful one, we know she'll get a fever a few hours later. For her, the immune response causes the headache.

Check your son's lymph nodes too. My daughter's are usually inflamed when she's going through a headache period.

Hope your son feels better soon!

@Somuchgoo I’m so sorry about your child. I can’t thank you enough for posting and the information you included.

My DS only really has the headache and tiredness so I think I’ve royally overreacted.

Thank you again.

I'm not sure it's typical according to the symptom lists online etc, but both my son and I tend to get more general headaches with it, rather than face pain. I guess it wouldn't do any harm to see if any sinus-unblocking tactics work - if it helps that's a bonus, and if not it's something to tell the Dr you've tried but hasn't made a difference.

@Fizzywizzy2 thank you! I’ll check his lymph nodes. My daughter had tonsillitis last year and they were like little ping pong balls!

Did he have a head bump at all?

@GardensBooksTea definitely! He’s seemed better after a bath the past couple of days and they tend to be quite steamy so that would help if it were a sinus issue.

Migraines, sinus infection? Also get his eyesight tested you just never know that can also cause severe headaches as can dehydration, tension headaches even some forms of vertigo can cause headaches