10yo complaining of headaches for 2 weeks.

[RealLifeClanger]

My daughter has had a headache since towards the end of the first week of school when she got a very mild cold. It doesn't seem to be stopping her from doing anything but she's still complaining about it at least once every day. Her nose is no longer blocked and the cold she did have only lasted a few days and didn't impact on anything really. She says the headache is worse when she exercises. She says it covers her whole head and sometimes around the nose and eyes but she struggles to describe it sometimes. She had an eye test not too long ago and had 20/20 vision so I don't think it's anything like that.

She really didn't want to go back to school and she is finding year 6 very demanding. She's on the pathway for ADHD diagnosis and has disrupted sleep most nights but always has. I'm not sure if it's worth booking an urgent gp appointment but at the same time I don't want her to wait 3 or 4 weeks for a routine appointment. Not entirely sure what it could be or what to do. Any ideas?

Sinusitis?

@Catapultaway her nose is not blocked or runny at all.

Could be migraines. I’ve had them since primary school.

Does it feel worse if she tips her head forward? It could still be a sinus infection even if the cold symptoms have subsided.

'fresher's flu' - well sort of. after dc return to school after holidays.
give her paracetamol/ibuprofen (whatever works best for her) to reduce symptoms. make sure she gets a good night's rest, even if sleep is disrupted.

When I have sinusitis (often!), my nose doesn’t sound or feel particularly blocked but the pressure is still there and it gives me headaches. It happens almost every time I have a cold. Hope she feels better soon!

When I had Covid, my main symptom was headache which worsened when bending over. Covid is still around, it could be that.

I would pop along to the GP and have them check her over, especially if it's been 2 weeks. More than likely it's sinusitis / related to the virus she has just had, but, if she were my DD, I would sleep better knowing she was checked over by a medical professional just to be sure.

Tried antihistamines this morning and trying to get her to use a saline decongestant spray but she is resisting! She can be distracted from it but if she's sat doing nothing it bothers her. Definitely worse on moving her head and she gets dizzy when standing. I'm thinking it's probably sinus issues but if it doesn't get any better or gets worse over the weekend we'll be heading to the gp.

How is your DD, @RealLifeClanger? Hope shes feeling better

@RecyclingSal thanks for checking in. Unfortunately she's now having what we think are probably palpitations as well. She struggles to describe the feeling. She's been struggling with fatigue, headaches, aches and pains for ages and now palpitations as well. Dr's say everything looks normal. We have an appointment with a different doctor soon so I will push for proper investigations.

Hi @RealLifeClanger oh bless her, it sounds miserable. My 10yo DD is now in the same boat with headaches after a mild cold illness which then seems to have fed into an earache with ongoing headaches. With the other symptoms you describe, I would look at coeliac disease; my DD is coeliac and experienced all the symptoms you have described pre-diagnosis.

I’d get her an eye test ASAP

See your GP.
Make sure drinks enough water.

To me, it sounds like this may be psychological rather than physical as you say she's finding year 6 difficult. My DD went through a stressful time at school at around the same age and kept getting headaches. She was fine again once the anxious time passed.

Hi, are the headaches waking her up at night? My son had similar and it turned out to be Cerebralitis which was caused by a common cold infection. I must stress that this is very rare but I would get a second opinion if I was you. We had to see a second doctor out of hours before we were taken seriously. Trust your instincts if you think something is seriously wrong.