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Original poster

Daughter has had headache for a week painkillers NOT working

66 replies

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 05:03

My daughter has had a constant ( and I mean constant) headache for over a week now. She says It’s a dull headache but sometimes it fluctuates throughout the day. She complains about it more in the night and in the morning. She seems to be normally playing throughout the day but when I ask her how is her head she says it’s hurting. The worst part is I have given her painkillers 4 times so far but it is not affecting her one bit.

We went to pediatrician he said for her to get her eyes checked first for any swelling in the back of her eyes. We went to the optometrist and she says there is no swelling. But her eyesight is bad and she has now gotten a lenses prescription.

The problem is I am worried sick. My husband is saying for us to wait until glasses come in ( he believes that her vision is the cause for it) which will take 2 weeks to come plus one more week for her eyes to get adjusted. He doesn’t read anything off the internet and I do. He is saying he doesn’t want her to get mri and ct scans unnecessarily ( he believes it’s bad for her) I’m so worried.

Why aren’t the painkillers working? Has this happened to anyone’s child here? Please someone advice!

OP posts:

Im2022 · 02/04/2022 05:12

How old is she?
I had awful headaches aged 9 and they fixed when I got glasses. So it usually is eye sight problems causing them. Dd also had headaches and hers were caused by eyesight and sinus problems, which she was given steroids for and fixed as she grew older.

Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 05:25

She is 6 years old.

Had painkillers not worked for you and your DD?

OP posts:

WeAreTheHeroes · 02/04/2022 05:31

Go back to the doctor. A headache like that can be referred pain from something else and it needs checking out. What is her posture like and has she told you she's had a fall or anything like that? Is she anxious about anything?

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Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 05:36

Sorry can you elaborate on posture? And no she hasn’t fell anywhere for what she has told me.

OP posts:

Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 05:39

@WeAreTheHeroes

Sorry can you elaborate by meaning posture?

And no she hasn’t fell anywhere. She did bump her head on the back but this was days after her head ache pain had started.

Furthermore is it possible I need to continuously give her the doses ( at the correct time) for it to take affect. Or should one dose be doing it.

OP posts:

Fraaahnces · 02/04/2022 05:40

She needs a scan. Any lasting headache in a small child is not normal and I would take her to A&E.

Emelene · 02/04/2022 05:51

Am I correct in thinking you have only given 4 doses of painkillers? Can you not give paracetamol and then ibuprofen regularly?
It sounds like you’ve found a potential cause in her needing glasses. Is there anyway to speed up the glasses given that she’s in pain?
However you know your child best and if you are concerned you should ask for reassessment.

carefullycourageous · 02/04/2022 05:56

This is the NHS page on headaches www.nhs.uk/conditions/headaches/

There is no harm in calling the GP again.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 02/04/2022 06:02

If she needs glasses then that 100% explains it and painkillers won't solve the problem - you need to wait for her glasses to arrive and for her to get used to them.

WindyKnickers · 02/04/2022 06:12

My DD gets blocked sinuses which causes painful headaches for days. Often there's no other evidence of a cold but ibuprofen and steaming helps. Bowl of warm water with towel over her head job.

Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 06:15

@Emelene I have been giving her 3 doses of paracetamol and one of ibuprofen. But the ibuprofen has a non active ingredients which she is not allowed to consume. So I am sticking with the paracetamol for now.

I have asked them but they say they can’t which is extremely frustrating. I’ll call back again tomorrow and try again.

@carefullycourageous I will be calling the GP tomorrow and asking for next steps.

OP posts:

Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 06:17

@WindyKnickers yeah my daughter is not showing any signs of blocked sinuses either.

OP posts:

birdglasspen2 · 02/04/2022 06:17

Take her to A&E, has she had Covid or a vaccine recently? insist on a scan if she has.

TheTeenageYears · 02/04/2022 06:25

My teenage DD suffers with headache's which paracetamol did nothing for. She did some sessions with an osteopath which really made a difference (had them for weeks on end prior to that). In her case it seems to trigger from the classic between base of neck and shoulders. She now has a massage gun which she uses everyday from a preventative point of view plus if she starts to feel a headache coming. We did also go down the medical route with an MRI just to rule out anything really serious.

WeAreTheHeroes · 02/04/2022 08:33

Can she stand up straight? Are her shoulders down? There may be something that isn't painful itself that's causing her to do something that is triggering the headache. Go back to the GP. A constant headache the pain relief you are giving her doesn't touch isn't good enough. The GP may be able to prescribe something else.

2CatShapurr · 02/04/2022 10:59

Back in November, my nearly 6 year old was suffering from permanent headaches which were waking her at night. I took her to the GP who referred her to the Children's Outpatients dept at the hospital for tests. She seemed otherwise fine and responded normally to all their neurological tests but they recommended an MRI to rule out anything more serious. They told me if she starts vomiting then let them know and they would move the scan forward. A friend's 10 year old son had this and it turned out to be migraines. But for my daughter I worked out that it was the iron supplement she was on for tummy issues (Sytron) which had built up and was giving her symptoms of toxicity...I stopped giving it to her and within a few days the headaches stopped. It was such a stressful time though!

Hope you get to the bottom of this and your daughter is ok.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 02/04/2022 11:31

@WeAreTheHeroes

The reason the painkillers aren't working is because her daughter needs glasses and hasn't received them yet.

You can't cure short-sightedness with paracetamol - the only thing that will fix the issue is proper prescription glasses, which she's waiting for.

Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 17:26

Yes her posture is good. I called the GP today but he is not in today.

OP posts:

FacebookPhotos · 02/04/2022 17:48

What did the optometrist say to do? If they said the headaches are likely due to eye strain then I’d wait for the glasses.

Reading the internet isn’t always a good thing - it’s dead easy to get lost in a whole load of scary possibilities.

SheWoreYellow · 02/04/2022 17:54

I’d be tempted to go to boots and get a £10 pair of reading glasses for the meantime and see if that helps at all. Ask the optician about whether that is a good idea.

If her eyesight is so bad then perhaps an improvement will be better than nothing.

So is she shortsighted? Again can you ask for advice on what activities are more likely to cause the headaches? And try and avoid them for now.

Igotchills · 02/04/2022 17:59

I have been giving her 3 doses of paracetamol and one of ibuprofen
How many days? Op too many painkillers can cause headaches.

Medication overuse headaches or rebound headaches are caused by regular, long-term use of medication to treat headaches, such as migraines. Pain relievers offer relief for occasional headaches. But if you take them more than a couple of days a week, they may trigger medication overuse headaches

Bananaman123 · 02/04/2022 18:01

I suffered migraines as early as primary school but not properly diagnosed until mid teens so had to just put up with it, no painkillers help me at all, I need specific migraine tablets. I also get tension and sinus headaches and sometimes it a game of trial and error trying to treat myself.

Also had untreatable headache when I had covid. Although she is young, I’d ask the gp to perhaps explore migraine

Original poster

RoseyBumble · 02/04/2022 18:57

@FacebookPhotos she just mentioned it could be a possibility.

@SheWoreYellow Her eyesight is far sighted so I can’t even pick up anything from the store for that. She has been using the screen more often prior to getting the headaches. Because she is doing online schooling.

@Igotchills sorry I had mistyped. I meant I have only given her 4 doses so far. I have started giving it to her regularly after every 6 hours. But I don’t know if it’s safe it isn’t working.

@Bananaman123 She had Covid in January. And it’s completely different to how she is behaving now.

She is behaving normally. Screaming, playing and is energetic. But her pain is fluctuating. I have been asking her to grade her pain (1-10) to me throughout the day and she says it’s always fluctuating between in the lows 2-4. But her most prominent complaint is durning the night when she is lying down (scaling it at 6-7). And in the morning.

OP posts:

SheWoreYellow · 02/04/2022 19:10

Pain will seem worse at night as there’s nothing else going on, so that may not be reliable.

Can you get her off screens for a bit?

Pob13 · 02/04/2022 19:19

If she is screaming and playing normally, could she be faking?
I dont mean any offence by that, I faked illness a lot as a child to get out of school.

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