7 year old DD frequent headaches - worried!

[teacake89]

My Dd will be 7 next month and she has been complaining of a headache for the past few weeks. I've been giving her calpol which has been helping a bit. The headaches seem to be more frequent at night, and I'm worried about her incase it is anything serious. She is constantly saying her head is killing her.
She has had a bout of bad health this past month or so.
She was diagnosed with acid reflux last month and is on medication for that. She also had tonsolitis which she had to take antibiotics for. I had her at the doctors a few weeks ago as she was still complaining of feeling unwell and I was worried in case the tonsolitis had came back. He did the usual checks and said she was fine.
The headache is a pounding one, and more at the front of her head. If anybody could give advice I'd be extremely grateful as I'm worrying myself silly here! I even got her eyes tested in case she needed glasses! Thank you xx

Should also add that she has been known to exaggerate in the past as she enjoys a fuss being made

Has she had her eyes tested? as it's mostly at night it could be caused by straining to see all day at school.

I'd get her eyes checked first and if it's not that then take her to the gp.

I've had regular headaches since about the same age which are tension headaches and migraines, not fun but nothing serious. Many harmless things can cause headaches so try not to worry too much but get her seen by the optician and gp.

I agree. Get her eyes checked.

Eye test. And make sure you tell them about the headaches. I had both DC's eyes tested and they said they were both a bit long sighted but nothing to worry about. Fast forward 3 months, with DS complaining of headaches more days than not, I took him back at our GP's insistence. With the added symptom of headaches, they did a "proper" test (preceded by eye drops to relax his eyes, which freaked him out) and he was prescribed glasses for reading/working on a screen. They have made the world of difference to the headaches. It wasn't that he couldn't see stuff - just that his eyes were straining all day, giving him the headaches.

..of course, it's worth going to the GP as well - ours listened and took it seriously. We tried antihistamines first to reduce the general level of snot, and next on her list if eye test had come up with nothing was a scan.

OP says she's had her eyes tested already.

See your GP it's probably nothing but no point worrying. Is it migraine like do you think?

So it does. Sorry, OP. I assume you did mention the headaches to the optician (as per my post, they didn't do a full test on DS until we did...) ?

In that case, definitely go to the GP and keep going back until you find an answer. If she gets any stomach pains and/or visual disturbance with them then migraine could be a possibility?

I missed the part about the eye test in the op.

As pp have said though if you didn't mention the headaches at the opticians then its worth going back for a more thorough test. I could see okay at that age but had headaches caused by straining my eyes to compensate for the slight shortsightedness. Sometimes children can compensate for slight sight problems by squinting/straining their eyes which then causes headaches, they're not always aware that they're doing it either.

What medicines is she on? You mentioned reflux, I was prescribed omeprazole for similar and could not take it because of headaches.
Might be worth checking with a pharmacist.

Thanks for all the replies everyone, sorry I haven't been on sooner, been busy with Xmas and work. Border she is on ranitidine.
She is still having the headaches. I took her to the doctor who checked her over (briefly) and said she has spots of pus on her tonsils. He has prescribed her another course of antibiotics which she has almost finished. Unfortunately she doesn't seem much better :( think I will make her another appt on Mon as its not just the headaches, she has been complaining of a sore stomach, especially when eating, even though she is hungry, and I have noticed her getting very pale recently :( has anybody else experience d this with their lo? I keep thinking the worst :( :( x

There is a virus going round which causes headaches/dizzyness , dd(5) has had it so if they are suddenly worse it could be that? She is a bit prone to them generally and wears glasses already .....

and ranitidine is crap, i've had acid reflux for a couple of years (!) in the past. Omeprazole actually works.

Does she drink plenty? Sounds like dehydration.

With regard to the headache I mean . Good luck

Blood pressure? Anaemia?

If she has a bad throat it can cause problems with the stomach from swallowing crap.

She could just be a bit run down and so feeling horrible. Headaches could be due to congestion/sinus infection/allergy. Also could be due to spending a lot of time reading/using computer or tablet in poor/low light (eg at bed time). They could be due to an eye problem that would not show up on a regular eye test, like an eye tracking issue causing eye strain.

If you are worried the only thing to do is go back to the GP and optician and list all of her symptoms/your concerns and see what is said. However many children are prone to bouts of illness, especially at this time of year, so try not to stress yourself out imagining the (very rare) worst case scenarios.

By the way, the ranitidine can cause sore stomach as a side effect (along with dizziness and diarrhea) and the acid reflux itself could explain the headaches, sore stomach (especially after eating). So everything may be linked to what she is already being treated for.