Would you be worried?

[behappy1736]

I have huge health anxiety that has been under control lately as I've had therapy and cbt.
Over the last week DS 5.5 has said his 'head hurts' sporadically most days. He will say 'it hurts' then 5 minutes later I will say is it still hurting? And he will say no.
He woke up thismorning and came into my bed to watch tv was fine and then a short while later said 'my head hurts' and I freaked out because he'd not long woke up and I read headaches present when waking up are not a good sign. Although he didn't mention it until 30/40 mins until after waking and getting up.
I'm so anxious and I really don't want to go down that spiral again so I'm hoping Simone can talk me down and honestly tell me if they would be worried or not.

I had similar from my then 5 year old. She'd basically had a real headache, liked the sympathy and attention, so started faking it. After 2 weeks of worry she gave herself away by wailing that she had a real headache. So 2 real and about 10 fake. Hasn't had a spontaneous headache since. Both genuine times she was visibly upset, not ofhand mentions.
Hope it resolves for you soon, the worry they put us through is excruciating.

I think it's headaches severe enough to wake you up from sleep that are the problem, not just headaches in the morning. Even dd who woke up screaming in pain that her head hurt, it was just an ear infection.

There are no guarantees in life, but I really wouldn't worry about this given he doesn't seem bothered. If it's persistent I'd take him for an eye test though.

Eye test?

I would assume it’s just a virus causing a headache. If he hasn’t had an eye test then I would get that booked and double check he is drinking enough.

Firstly definitely keep an eye on fluid intake! Secondly, eye test if he hasn't already.. the only time my two older boys (7&9) tend to moan they have headache or a headache pain, is mainly because they took their glasses off and don't put them back on - out of pure laziness may I add.. or when they're not drinking enough water or have had a later night than usual on a school night resulting in being overly tired after school.
If the headaches were that severe and ongoing I think he would make a lot more fuss, especially if they weren't easing.
My 7 year old tries all the tricks in the book since he was 5/6 I.e head hurts, belly hurts.. when he has to do something he doesn't want to do, usually going to sleep, PE days at school, tidying up.. the usual 🤣😂 is there anything bothering him at the moment?
I wouldn't be overly concerned from what you've said x

Eye test. I would take to the GP too, when this happened with my DC they got referred on to the paediatrician for a full neurological work up and a brain scan, all fine thankfully, but diagnosed with migraines and that's now under regular review with GP

@behappy1736 I am exactly the same - I have terribly health anxiety when it comes to my DC. My GP referred my DD to a paediatrician as she kept having headaches (she started getting them when she was around 3yo and she's 7 now). The paed said she gets simple headaches and lots of kids do get them; it could be due to tiredness / too much screen time / not drinking enough / virus etc. My DD and DS both have coeliac disease so I think eating gluten will set off headaches.

The paed said to watch out for the main red flags;

• headaches that wake DC up
• headaches with associated nausea / sickness
• headaches that occur frequently and get worse
• dizziness / loss of balance

Try not to worry but I found keeping a pain diary helpful as I could see if there was a pattern to the headaches. For instance, DD usually gets headaches / head pains before she develops symptoms of a cold (i.e. stuffy nose). Her head pains are usually at the forehead / temple, but can be random places around her head too x