Panicking DD has a brain tumour

[LostittoBostik]

Yes I’m prone to health anxiety, but I’ve just googled myself into a state of despair. Please talk me down.

My DD who is 8 has occasional mornings where nausea wakes her and she retches and vomits, gets sweaty and wobbly and then it disappears within 15 mins. She’s not overall unwell, it’s not a bug - it’s just a flash of morning nausea.

She has had it about once every six weeks or so for six months or so. The first 2 times I thought it was a mild bug, then when I noticed a very occasional pattern I assumed low blood sugar and gave her a banana.

Now it’s happened twice in the last week (after about an 8 week gap, so I’d forgotten about it) and I’ve Googled (I know!) and seen it’s a symptom of a brain tumour and I feel so anxious.

She doesn’t have any other symptoms on the list but has had a squint since she was 14 months (wears glasses to correct) and also is dyspraxic so tbh she’s always slightly uncoordinated but I’ve not noticed any change. She hasn’t reported any headaches and is otherwise well and has lots of energy.

It doesn’t help that I’m finding it so hard to get a GP appt for her to discuss it in the first place. I feel so worried…

What could it be if not the worst thing? When it happens it’s really strong nausea that wakes her up about 6am, makes her vomit, then she’s 100 per cent fine.

i’m a HCP so my own assessment (and i have ND kids!) .It’s making sure the head and neck are well supported to maintain a neutral position in whatever position she sleeps (avoid tummy sleeping if at all possible). ND kids can sleep or rest in v.weird postures - both ADHD and ASD can have their idiosyncracies about posture issues. You have said she is possibly ASD , there is an overlap between those on the spectrum and hypermobility , again ligament laxity in the neck area can cause symptoms ( overlap between ASD and gut/digestive issues is another thread!) You have said a few things that make it definitely a good idea to have a paediatric physio assessment if you can get one but obv. GP first to check out all possibles.

@LostittoBostik please do also mention it to your OT - often they ,as well as physio, can advise on fun exercises that will help improve the spatial awareness/vestibular/proprioception systems to work better. I have had to do neck exercises myself as i have similar problems which contribute to neck pain and headaches .

I know a little a girl who was diagnosed with a (fortunately benign) tumour and her eyesight and memory seemed to deteriorate before the morning vomited started, but she was diagnosed very shortly after that. I would say that if it's been going on for some time and there are no other symptoms I wouldn't worry unduly but obviously get checked asap.

Not to trigger further health anxiety, but this isn't accurate. Although I do agree that, if it were a tumour, it is likely you would be seeing more symptoms by now. Definitely something to get checked out, as you are planning to do.

My son had cyclical vomiting syndrome. He would be sick every few weeks/months, always very early morning. For him though, he would be sick for several hours, fall back asleep then be fine again.

Thanks everyone. We had a GP consultation this morning who did some neurological checks and couldn't find any changes, and came to the conclusion that it's probably reflux related, but she's going to refer to the local paeds team for a review before she prescribes any medication for acid levels.