Bit worried that something is going on with ds's health. Would appreciate some opinions.

[MrsMorgan]

I don't know if it just me being a bit ott or if something is up. I am going to get him a gp appointment this week anyway, but at the mo i think I will more than likely get fobbed off.

Have just sat and written out what has happenend and when, so will retype here if thats ok and then it would be great if you could say wether you think I am being neurotic or wether you would also be concerned.

Just before Easter - Ds sick three times during the night. No dioreah and no one else ill. Fine the next day.

Tues 20th April - Bad headache, clutching head and crying. Given calpol and fluids and rested and then ok, although quiet.

Fri 23rd April - Severe headache again, calpol given but vomitted straight back up. Fell asleep and was fine in morning.

Sat 1st May - Vomitted once during the night. Ok next day although off his food.

Mon/Tue 3&4th May - General upset stomach, slight dioreah and nausea. Other family members also felt a bit off.

Sat 8th May - Got upset at bedtime as felt sck and had funny feeling in chest. Calmed down and then slept ok.

Thurs May 14th - Ate breakfast but then complained of feeling sick. Vomitted twice. Lay quietly for an hour or so then started complaining of stomach pains. Vomitted again around 11am. Perked up alot and statred to watch tv. Suddenly became very restless and agitated and asked for tv off. Fell asleep for roughly 1 hour. Woke suddenly complaining of bad headache, very upset. Headache got worse and ds very agitated and also complaining of lower back pain. Ds then starts complaining of the light hurting his eyes so I take him to a&e.
Wait in a&e for roughly 40 min and ds is very upset, feels sick, head really hurting. Gets taken through to cubicles where he is given calpol. This makes him vomit again. After vomitting he makes a sudden recovery, headache goes, no feeling sick and absolutly fine. Urine checked and clear, blood sugar fine and a&e doc says it is just a gastro viral type of thing.
Take ds home, he eats two crackers and then falls asleep for about 3 hours. Wakes complaining of a headache again. I give him calpol and water and move him into my bed. He sleeps ok, although fidgetty and complaining of feeling hot (no temp). Wakes the next day absolutly fine.

Sat 15th May - Ds fine all day been eating as normal. Goes to bed at 9pm and wakes at 10 upset and disorientated saying his chest feels funny and he feels sick. I calm him down and he goes back to sleep. Sleeps fine for rest of the night.

Sun 16th May - Ds shoots out of bed and runs into bathroom saying he feels sick again. He isn't sick. Gets into bed with me and complains of funny feeling in chest again. Lies quietly for about an hour and is then fine.

And thats it so far. A couple of points. The severe headache, vomitting then sleep I have always assumed is migraines. He has had probably one/two a year since he was about 4, but then has had 3 in the last few weeks.

Also the feeling funny in his chest. I think this is him worrying about actually being sick. Have explained to him that if he is sick it is fine, I will clear it up, clear him up and it is nothing to worry about.

Other than that, I have no clue what is going on. I think a gp is going to think I am slightly nuts tbh, but surely this is not normal ?

Just spoken to my mum about it and she said she thinks the gp will just say to get his eyes tested.
He did have them done about 3 years ago and they were fine. Will get them done again though I think.

Oh sorry, he is 7.

I did think migraines too but now they seem to be changing. Sometimes he feels sick without having a headache, which is confusing.

I think I am going to see if I can get his eyes tested asap. Might be able to do that tomorrow. Then at least when I go the the gp I can say that I have had that done and what the result was.

ok. I am sorry to post this because it is going to make you panic, massively. I've really thought about whether to post this or not - but I can't not because this is your child.

I read an article in yesterday's (15th May) Times Magazine about child brain cancer, which talked in particular about one 11yo boy, as well as a couple of other cases. It made particular reference to headaches and vomiting as symptoms of brain tumours. It talked about how child brain cancer is not being picked up by medical professionals. There is a lot of work being done to push this up GPs' and hospitals' radars.

You and I know that the likelihood of this being something that your ds has is low. However I would say that headaches that are so severe they make him cry, along with vomiting and changes in behaviour (restless, disorientated, agitated) completely warrant an urgent trip to the GP and pressure to a) check him with basic tests (the article mentioned the finger test where you follow finger with your eyes, walking in a straight line, and looking into the eyes with a torch). and if there is any suspicion or doubt, b) push for a brain scan via a referral to a neurosurgeon or paediatric oncologist.

I am so aware that this is most likely is a huge over-reaction on my part, and the last thing I want to do is scaremonger or try and diagnose your son - I'm not a medical professional. But having read the article yesterday and then reading your post, I couldn't just leave this because of the similarities. It is really easy to be fobbed off by professionals (and no-one wants to look like they're being hysterical parents) but it would be a very simple thing for the GP to do those basic tests and give you a complete assurance that there is nothing like that wrong.

Annoyingly the article is not online, I would be happy to send you a copy if you can't get hold of one. I am sorry to post like this because I know that if it was me in your shoes I would now be hitting Google and worrying myself sick, all because a stranger at the end of a computer had taken it upon themselves to put the idea in my head.

All of what GoingPostal says is true, but I am going to reiterate, because I have been in a similar position before, that this is probably not a brain tumour. However, I would be making an urgent GP appointment and pushing for a brain scan, just to check.

Otherwise, I think what you are describing is a series of migraines or Cluster Headaches (do those symptoms ring any bells?).

I would still see the GP as a matter of urgency, though.

yy Sarah - please OP don't get scared or think that I somehow know anything. You can tell how worried I am about having posted the above in the first place.

It is obviously worth an urgent check-up and knowing what you want the GP to do and take it from there.

My young toddler had been ill since Christmas. Until mid-March the Dr insisted it was always viral ( he has had a gastric bug or 2 but not every fortnight).

You know as his mum it's not right - be firm and insist on a referral to the hospital. Don't leave the surgery until it's agreed. We have had an unnecessary battle and my toddler has been in agony. We've had our life on hold.

I haven't a clue what is going on with son but perhaps keep a food diary? If it is migraines it could be linked to diet e.g cheese, chocolate etc....

Lots of luck and let us know how you go.

As I was reading your post my first assumption was migraines... I've had them ever since i was a baby and at times i was having one a week whereas at other times i could go months without one.

My migraines are very much dependant on blood sugar levals and hydration, this means that if i get a bug and can't eat or lose too much fluid i automatically get a migraine... in fact this happened to me just this week. So it is possible tummy bugs could be leading to migraines iyswim?

That being said it's probably wise to get hm checked out anyway... my mother never did and knowing all the things that could have casued my symptoms in a young child i'm perpetually baffled as to why she never once thought to ask a doctor what was wrong with me

Thank you for the replies.

Goingpostal - Please do not worry that you have scared me. I had googled ds's symptoms last night and came up with a brain tumour aswell, hence why I want to go to the gp. I didn't mention that in my op because I wanted to see if anyone else drew the same conclusion.

Obviously as you said, the chances of it being a tumour are low, and it is much more likely to be migraines. The main reason I am worried is that the symptoms seem to have changed to how his migraines normally presented.

I am going to try and get him an opticans appointment for after school tomorrow. I know if I go to the gp first they will just say to get his eyes checked, so I might aswell be one step ahead.
Then I am going to see if I can make a gp appointment for tuesday.

Thank's for all of the advice, I will keep you updated.

Didn't know whether to post about the article in the Times yesterday but looks like others have - I wiouold take the list you have typed on here to the doctor and ask for some tests to take place.

If the doctor doesn't suggest a referal, who do I actually ask to be refered to ??

Ask to be referred to either a paediatric neurologist or a neurologist. They will be able to better assess his health, and what tests need to be run.

I would also ask for some basic blood tests from the GP in the meantime to rule basic things out whilst your waiting for the appointment, and also start keeping a food diary to rule out triggers for migraines.

Thank you

you can have migrainous episodes without having 'a headache/migraine'

sounds wierd but true. i had something that resembled a stroke a bout 10 yrs ago, but it was migrainous.

I'd go back to gp, and say you want to see a neurologist thankyou. then he can be checked with some scans.

My brothers gf had stroke type symptoms last year and after about a million tests they decided that it was migraines.

Ds has just ate 3 crackers and then complained of stomach pain. Seems to be ok now though.

I am generally rubbish at getting what I want out of a gp appointment so will have to be a bit firmer.

I wonder if it could be gastric or stomach migraine. I'm afraid I don't know anything about this other than bits that I have seen here on mn - you could search for references but I just found this after a quick Google.

Could the wierd feeling in chest be heartburn/reflux/indegestion. That would certainly make you feel sick?

That stomach migraine link is very interesting thank's. It does sound like ds's symptoms too.

I am not sure about the heartburn although it is another possibility.

I am getting more confused as it goes on tbh. He has had more bouts of stomach pain this afternoon and also kept complaining that dd1's music was too loud and hurting his ears, when imo it wasn't loud at all.

Fine again now though, running around the garden with his sisters.

Tonight ended in a bout of dioreah

I don't understand this, and ds is starting to look absolutly sick and tired of the whole thing.

Am thinking i might weigh him in the morning and make a note of it just so I can check it in the future if this carries on.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

I'm another one who instantly thought of the Times article as soon as I saw your OP - these were exactly the symptoms that they said could be something very serious (although of course they are almost certainly something else). Please really push for him to be seen by a neurologist so you can rule out anything really scary. Don't let yourself be fobbed off.

Those of you that read the Times article. Stomach pain and/or dioreah wasn't mentioned as a symptom was it ?? It isn't mentioned as a symptom elsewhere.

hi there. no there was no specific mention of stomach pain / diarrohea, much more emphasis on headaches and vomiting, as well as being listless and having behavioural changes.

one thing that did come up was about how children are not necessarily the best people to tell you about their symptoms - the 11yo boy who featured the most hadn't mentioned something which an adult would think quite key, and apparently only passed the walking in a straight line test because he concentrated with all his might on doing it right.

my point being that you are the advocate, you know something is not right and therefore you have to push for some sort of tests and for a better response than "a gasatro viral thing" (without of course convincing yourself that it is something utterly awful in the meantime...)

your poor ds, it sounds wretched. I hope you are able to get him to the docs tomorrow and get him sorted.

Thank you.

Dd1 has just rushed downtairs to say that ds just rushed out of his room and into the bathroom. She said he was bright red and sweating and burped (she said the burp smelt awful). She asked him what he was doing but he didn't answer he just turned round and got back into bed.

I went up and spoke to him, he was drenched in sweat and hot. He said he was alseep and then his eyes went funny. Then he suddenly shot out of bed again and into the bathroom and sat on the loo with dioreah.

I am going to take him to the gp tomorrow now, but I am confused about what I am asking them to do now because his symptoms now seem to be abdominal instead.

Could the whole thing be a bug ? Surely we would all have got it though and how come he is fine for days inbetween.

I'm wondering a food intolerance?

gluten allergy?

His stomach ache often starts after eating crackers?

cross posted.

What's he eaten today?

Don't worry about what you're asking them..just tell the doc all the symptoms and insist on some further investigation.