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Post viral headaches in 5yo

12 replies

ORL89 · 14/12/2025 19:59

Hello, my 5yo is usually pretty robust and is rarely ill. I’m just wondering if anyone else has had anything similar to the below.

10 days ago after school they started complaining of a headache and stomach ache and what followed seemed to be a pretty standard virus for 4 days (got a sore throat, intermittent high temp, viral rash etc).

They then got better and had 3 days being absolutely fine (back at school), to then be ill again (again - headache, stomachache but no fever this time) for seemingly 24 hours. They then were 100% fine for 3 more days.

This afternoon (10 days after they first became unwell) they seem a little weary and are again complaining of an intermittent headache.

Is this something that could be caused by a normal post viral thing? Our GP gave him a good check over when he became ill again a few days ago and she said she had no concerns. In the days between where he’s been fine, he’s been 100% fine too, and up to all sorts.

It sort of seems like he’s really exhausting himself every few days. If the initial illness had seemed intense or ongoing I’d have expected some intermittent recovery days afterward, but it really did feel like a run of the mill fairly mild virus.

OP posts:
OhMaria2 · 14/12/2025 20:30

Google post viral fatigue. Please let your child rest as much as they need, you dont want it lingering.

OhMaria2 · 14/12/2025 20:31

To add, if it doesn't go away have the blood test that checks for glandular fever.

ORL89 · 14/12/2025 21:16

OhMaria2 · 14/12/2025 20:30

Google post viral fatigue. Please let your child rest as much as they need, you dont want it lingering.

Thank you, yes I’m thinking/hoping this is what it could be, could it really hang around so long with what seemed like a fairly mild virus?

We’re very pro rest and sick days in this house and he had four days basically house bound to initially recover (inc 2 days off school), we don’t let normal life start again until he seems 100% better, but every time we do this he seems to go downhill again after a few days, but I can’t keep him off school much longer (he’s now had 3 days off in the last two weeks). I wish I could keep him off, I really do.

OP posts:
NeverBeAPart · 14/12/2025 22:39

My 11 year old has been a bit like this; he was ill with a standard “heavy cold” about 10 days ago, and seemed fine, but has been complaining about headaches for a couple of days. Seems a bit more tired than usual, though not completely exhausted. A dose of Calpol seems to be getting him back to normal for a good 10 hours or so, and then the headache comes back.

Ive also heard of a couple of people who’ve had the same cold thing and appeared to recover, only to go down with something very similar about a week later.

So I’m currently putting it down to a virus with unusual behaviour (I have no idea whether that’s even a thing, but it seems to be a pattern with it!)

ORL89 · 14/12/2025 23:57

NeverBeAPart · 14/12/2025 22:39

My 11 year old has been a bit like this; he was ill with a standard “heavy cold” about 10 days ago, and seemed fine, but has been complaining about headaches for a couple of days. Seems a bit more tired than usual, though not completely exhausted. A dose of Calpol seems to be getting him back to normal for a good 10 hours or so, and then the headache comes back.

Ive also heard of a couple of people who’ve had the same cold thing and appeared to recover, only to go down with something very similar about a week later.

So I’m currently putting it down to a virus with unusual behaviour (I have no idea whether that’s even a thing, but it seems to be a pattern with it!)

sorry to hear you’re going through similar too, it can be such a worry! the dr we saw last week said it could be several viruses piggy backing onto one another. we’re the same with the exhaustion too, he’s been mostly fine but when he goes into these lulls (so far two we’ve had since the initial virus), he goes quite pale and seems really quite tired.

How long did the initial head cold last and has he had anything like this before?

OP posts:
Freyer · 15/12/2025 09:28

@NeverBeAPart we have the same DS, by the sounds of it! My DS (also 11) had a horrible head cold, seemed to get better and then was hit by a horrid bout of D&V, which no one else in the family thankfully caught. He had a sore throat, terrible cough and snotty nose, and then started with headaches the following week on the Monday, before being hit with the tummy bug on the Thursday / Friday. Fingers crossed it's the end of it - there is so many cases of the super-bug where I live / work - 1/4 of my DD's school was off with it!

NeverBeAPart · 15/12/2025 09:37

ORL89 · 14/12/2025 23:57

sorry to hear you’re going through similar too, it can be such a worry! the dr we saw last week said it could be several viruses piggy backing onto one another. we’re the same with the exhaustion too, he’s been mostly fine but when he goes into these lulls (so far two we’ve had since the initial virus), he goes quite pale and seems really quite tired.

How long did the initial head cold last and has he had anything like this before?

The initial cold lasted for about 3-4 days. Was only really bad for 1 day; the rest is was manageable with Calpol. He tends to get a lingering cough after having a cold, but isn’t generally headache-y.

Fargio · 15/12/2025 12:02

It could be various viruses at the same time/one after the other. It could also be that he feels better, naturally gets back on with things, but really his body needs him to have a period of doing a fair bit less than he thinks he can do to aid recovery and reduce risk of reducing long term baseline of what he can do (common with some viruses such as covid).

ORL89 · 15/12/2025 19:57

Freyer · 15/12/2025 09:28

@NeverBeAPart we have the same DS, by the sounds of it! My DS (also 11) had a horrible head cold, seemed to get better and then was hit by a horrid bout of D&V, which no one else in the family thankfully caught. He had a sore throat, terrible cough and snotty nose, and then started with headaches the following week on the Monday, before being hit with the tummy bug on the Thursday / Friday. Fingers crossed it's the end of it - there is so many cases of the super-bug where I live / work - 1/4 of my DD's school was off with it!

Sorry to hear you’re going through it, I think we’ve had possibly two back to back viruses and that’s been bad enough. It’s just so awful watching your kids go through stuff like this and not really being able to do much about it.

OP posts:
ORL89 · 15/12/2025 19:59

NeverBeAPart · 15/12/2025 09:37

The initial cold lasted for about 3-4 days. Was only really bad for 1 day; the rest is was manageable with Calpol. He tends to get a lingering cough after having a cold, but isn’t generally headache-y.

That sounds similar to us but it was more of a general virus than a cold, 4 days unwell but I’d say maybe 1.5 days of being actually unwell. Not sure what it was but it definitely knocked him off his feet. Hoping your DS feels better soon x

OP posts:
ORL89 · 15/12/2025 20:01

Fargio · 15/12/2025 12:02

It could be various viruses at the same time/one after the other. It could also be that he feels better, naturally gets back on with things, but really his body needs him to have a period of doing a fair bit less than he thinks he can do to aid recovery and reduce risk of reducing long term baseline of what he can do (common with some viruses such as covid).

Yes I’m thinking/hoping that it is, he definitely had one virus and possibly another milder one too. Trying to encourage calm and quiet activities wherever possible but it’s easier said than done! Hoping we see some even just small improvements this week.

OP posts:
Freyer · 17/12/2025 08:50

Hi @ORL89, how is your son feeling now? Hope Hes much improved 💐

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