Daily headaches 9 year old girl

[SheffDad]

Hi just posting to see if anyone has been through anything similar and if anyone has tried any therapies with any success.

My daughter started with daily headches last April which seem to be getting worse and are now keeping her off school a few times a month.

She has had an MRI and blood tests all clear apart from a slight chairi malformation which the neurosurgeon didn't seem to think was related.

We have seen numerous gps and paedatric consultants which all seem to say monitor the situation.... none seem willing to try medication which obviously we wouldn't either butits now really starting to affect her life.

So far we have tried
Magnesium
Iron supplements
No chocolate/cheese
Less screen time
Eye tests

We are starting some accupunture this week so fingers crossed that makes a difference.

I have read of a condition called new daily persistent headache which may be related to a bad case of tonsillitis she had last year

Anyway if anyone has been through this let me know!

Thanks

I have been a lifelong migraine sufferer and from the ages of 7-10 they would be more or less daily.

Over the years I have got better at managing them so now 99% of the time I am able to stop them before they take hold so i don’t even register it as a problem any more.

Things that have helped:

staying really well hydrated. Waking up in the night to drink extra water, i drink 1-2 pints (yes pints!) a night.

a cup of coffee each morning. It’s a common misconception caffeine always causes migraines. With a significant number of people it can actually stop them taking hold. A GP suggested this when i was 8 or 9 and it made an immediate impact.

sleep regulation, always being in the same routine. Not sleeping too much or too little. Waking with an alarm rather than naturally (i have no idea why this helps but it does).

acupuncture, which i see you have booked.

also a lot of the time i just proactively take a nurofen with breakfast each day.

Thanks for getting back to me.

They do seem like migrane types headaches as she is also sensitive to noise with it although she has never actually been sick. We are trying her to drink more too. The caffeine is a good idea although not sure how she would take it I will ask the gp. We do try occasional calpol and ibuprofen but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Sorry to hear you've had them so long.

it’s ok they are under control so i don’t really register them any more as a problem. But i remember when I was little they took over my parents’ lives as i missed so much school.

With the coffee my dad used to make it with heaps of milk and sugar to make it paletable. You can even add a bit of hot chocolate powder to make a mocha.

My son is a similar age and also gets the odd migraine and i also give him coffee.

Great idea thanks I will give it a go. Yeah it's starting to be a real problem now and nobody seems to have any answers!

With apologies for suggesting something so very mundane, but how does she wear her hair? Tight braids or cornrows, a tight ponytail/bun, or a hairband can cause headaches.

A child was on a playdate here once, and she was wearing a metal (!) tiara-like hairband with flowers etc. on it, and it must have caught on something because I took it off her head, noticing that it was very tight indeed, and a while later she commented that she felt better. I mentioned it to her Mum when collecting, and she was horrified because her daughter had been complaining of headaches every day recently... ever since she got her favourite new hairband. They hadn't made the connection.

No all ideas welcome thankyou!. It's not normally up tight it's mainly down and loose

My DD suffered the same from that age and they ended up as excruciating migraines.

Stay hydrated (she needs to drink more than she thinks).
Keep to set bedtimes and wake ups, including weekends, so no lie ins.
Eat regularly to keep blood sugars/energy from spiking.
Reduce sugar/sweets.
Fresh air and exercise/walking (standard advice for anything).

She ended up having to take migraine painkillers as paracetamol didn't work, but these soon stopped being effective. Finally had to go on preventative medication which worked. Migraines went from three a week to one or two a month.

Interestingly her migraines have almost disappeared once she finished college and started work. She rarely gets one but she can usually pinpoint lack of sleep being the main factor. Hopefully your DD will grow out of them too.

Thanks for the reply. We will definitely try more water and set bedtimes I will get an alarm. We have another consultant appointment in 6 months so if they are still a problem we will really try and get some kind of medication to try

Also out if interest what were the medications your daughter was prescribed and did they have any side effects?

Cheers

She tried these instead of paracetamol:
Naproxen - didn't work
Propranolol - fainted, very unwell, lost her eyelashes within 2 months
Sumatriptan - only worked half the time

So the GP prescribed a daily preventative medication which was like a magic pill. She said she could feel a difference if she forgot to take it. Was on it for several years:
Pizotifen

That's great. The Pizotifen is the one I've read the most success stories with. Obviously we would prefer her to take nothing but we're getting to the stage where we would at least like to try. Unfortunately the gp seems very reluctant to perscribe anything at all

A few things to consider- could it be pre puberty migraines? Also might be worth having her teeth checked. When she gets a headache does she have issues with her stomach, as children can get abdominal migraines, which have some relation to those in the head. I'd ask for a referral to a migraine specialist. Might be worth checking out this organisation too. https://migrainetrust.org/

Yeah we had her teeth checked for possible TMJ issues but they said there are no problems there. She doesn't have any abdominal issues just the nausea,headaches and blurry vision occasionally. Thanks for the ideas though I'll take a look at the website see if there's anything we haven't tried.

You could think possible covid. Headaches quite common. Get her eyes checked and look at late night screen time. Could already have monthly cycle even if no period yet. Headaches part of that particularly if monthly cycle.

Unfortunately the gp seems very reluctant to perscribe anything at all
That's a real shame. My DD had been referred to someone at hospital (no idea of department, vaguely recall general children) but they just did the diary/cut out dairy and chocolate, drink more etc, so not much help and referred us back to GP, so it was the actual GP who decided to try medication in the end. I remember she ended up on the Pizotifen in her first year at secondary school - in case yours says she's too young for it, but she had to go through the others first.

Good call about checking for tmj, I assume you've done the opticians too.

Does she eat crisps? I can guarantee I'll have a migraine after eating crisps or Chinese food. Agree about the caffeine. First thing I turn to when I feel one coming on.

Also worth seeing an osteopath. Mine has been very helpful in the past. Touch wood I don't get one very often any more as I know the triggers and make sure to stay hydrated.

Don't think it's covid because it has been going on for so long but good idea. Could possibly be a monthly cycle thing but the headache is always there everyday

She doesn't eat crisps but we are trying to rule out food triggers one by one. She does eat a lot if pizza and I've read that can be a trigger so we are cutting that out now. We are trying the accupuncture first and then possibly an oesteopath because like you said I've heard that helps

Yeah we went to the general paedatric at the local hospital and they pretty much said the same cutting food and screen time which we have already done. We have taken her back to the gp that originally referred her but they said exactly the same. It's very frustrating as she is clearly in pain and it's really getting her down. I just want to try some medication just to see if it makes any difference at all. We will push for it if we have to go back again. She does wear glasses but we've had her eyes checked about 4 times in the last year to rule out an incorrect prescription

Agree. The tonsillitis is a red flag - v common post Covid (whether she knew she had Covid or not). Daily headaches are a Long Covid symptom.

My DD is 13 and has had daily headaches for a year now. The GP wasn't helpful. Kept saying to do a headache diary as there must be a trigger but we couldn't identify anything. She gets them every day for 3-6 hours and often has to miss school. No other symptoms except occasional dizziness when they're bad. Eye tests are normal. She drinks plenty.

We saw a paediatrician who did a MRI which was clear thankfully. He's given her topiramate as a prophylaxis and zolmitriptan as a painkiller. She's been on them for 4 weeks now and there doesn't seem to be any improvement. She's also on B2 but I've read that magnesium can be helpful so will ask the paediatrician about it next time we see him.

Have also booked an osteopath appointment for a few weeks time. She's also seen a physio who said her shoulders were tight and neck muscles weak and gave her some exercises. But these haven't made a difference either.

She does have low blood pressure so has been advised to eat lots of salt. I'm not sure this would cause migraines though?

It's so frustrating as she never has a single day without a headache but nothing seems to help. She hasn't started her periods yet so I'm hoping they might settle down when she does.

Would be grateful for any other suggestions. I'm not sure I could convince her to try acupuncture as she hates needles!

Hi OP another long time migraine sufferer here since around 4 - my son also gets them as well.

Triggers for me are foods high in potassium- bananas being the worst. Other high potassium foods are chocolate, cheese, red meat and coconut water.
Tiredness- doing too much especially combined with school made mine significantly worse.
I eventually also ended up on daily preventatives for a while around 13 and it made things a lot better.

As a adult I use bowen therapy very similar in the concept and pressure points/lymphatic system but no needles.

My DD started with regular migraines about the same age. Hospital initially put her on Sumatriptan to manage them but she found it quite hard to get the timing right of taking it. Tried Propanol and Pizotifen but didn't get on with either of them. Yr6 and 7 she seemed to just constantly be being sent home. The headaches settled slightly by the time she was about 13 and have continued to be regular but not daily. Eating and drinking regularly are absolutely key. She also finds bright lighting, noisy environments and tiredness trigger them. Caffeine and sugar sometimes helped too of taken early enough.

If she has a chiari malformation this can be linked to Ehlers Danlos and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia (POTS).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3547546/

I have POTS post-Covid and one of my symptoms early on was awful headaches which were made worse by standing (orthostatic headaches). I manage it by increasing my fluid and salt intake and wearing compression socks/tights.

"Approximately 30% of those with PoTS have orthostatic headaches, which means they occur as a result of being upright and may be caused by reduced blood supply to the brain. Many with PoTS also have migraine type headaches."

https://www.potsuk.org/about-pots/symptoms/

The test to see if it might be POTS is relatively easy lying and standing BP and heart rate recording and the NASA lean test are useful. In kids the heart rate increase of at least 40 beats per minute (bpm) or a maximum HR over 130 bpm for children aged 6–12 years going from lying to standing. They have to lie down for at least 5 minutes. Kids with potential POTS are sometimes referred for a tilt table testing and cardiology review.

https://thedysautonomiaproject.org/teens-and-pots-postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome/

Worth looking into just in case.

It sounds like you're in a very similar situation to us! Pretty much daily headache for a year now which is becoming really draining for her. I actually got so annoyed with the lack of help from the gp I took her to the local children's hospital two days ago.

Thankfully they seemed to care and gave her 15 mins oxygen which did seem to help. He also percribed sumatriptan as a painkiller which gave her horrible side effects tight throat, jaw pain and worse head. They have moved her next paedatric appointment sooner so hopefully we can get a preventive to try. I hear good things about pizotifen so going to push for that.

They also said try gluten free so we are on day two of that but she is picky with food so it's tough.

We had to miss the accupunture because of the sumatriptan side effects unfortunately but we have rebooked for this week. I will let you know if that has any effect.

It's really quite upsetting seeing your child in pain daily and not knowing why isn't it. I hope we both get some answers soon.