Help, 4-Year-old Has Headache for 2 Weeks Now.

have you consider swine flu??? my husband and I just had the flu, although they didn't test they said it was probably swine flu. We both had a headache and nausea.

Ksren
I do not know if you are interested in alternative ways but I have had good success with CranioSacral Therapy
Good Luck
C.

My daughter was about six when she started having headaches but it was because she needed glasses. I had an easier time diagnosing it because she was squinting when trying to read and write and also because headaches was how I too discovered my need for glasses. Maybe ask for a referral to an eye specialist.

Good Luck

Take him to a chiropractor... the tylenol could permanently damage his liver.

Being in the medical field I would take him to Children's ER. Mennigitis can cause these symptoms too. fatigue, headahes, vomiting, nauesa, no energy.
Headaches can be from lots of source if it was my child I would be going to the ER and making them find out what is wrong. I would strogly recommend a second opinion as not all doctors are correct in their diagnosis.
Go with your gut you know your child better than anyone else and what is norm and what is not.
When i was living in San Diego i had taken my daughter to the ER twice the second time i refused to leave and kept fightin with the doctor cuz he kept wanting to dismiss me. i refused i made them run every test under the sun. come to find she had a simple ear infection that was over looked the first time (and almost second time) i was there.
Just rememeber you are you the only voice your child has right now!!
Good luck I hope its nothing serious.
M.

This might sound odd, but my headaches (migraines actually) that I had for 8 years since I was young went away completely once I stopped using cell phones. Is your child exposed to cellular phones a lot? Do you have wireless towers near your home? Even wifi installed in your own home... I know it is not very likely, but children are a lot more susceptible to this than adults.

Of course it could be something totally different and more serious (I hope not!) and many moms gave you great advice. I would go to Children's in Boston. I was there with my newborn when nobody else could tell us what was up with her, they gave us their best guess and it turned out to be true. Don't waste your time in community hospitals, you need a hospital that specializes in children.

I would insist he be checked for other things and have blood work done but another thing to consider is allergies. This year I have not had the typical runny nose and sneezing but instead a massive sinus headache that when I get it it hurts so bad it makes me sick and I don't want to do anything but definately have him checked for all possibilities.

Have they done a tox screen? Is there anything he could have gotten into (medications, poisons, etc? Is there something in his environment that has changed? Some type of toy or plaything that he may have ingested?

Definitely see someone else right away if he is still not getting any better. I hope they find out what is wrong soon-I'll be thinking of you.

Good luck

Hi K.
My friend Deb had migraines since she was 2 years old.
At 51 she was completely debilitated. They had progressed to the point of being Seizure-like instead of headaches.
She took a nutritional shake from Reliv-and her 9 day migraine was gone. It has been 6 months now and she has been able to manage her headaches with the shakes. This is food-not drugs-and is safe for all ages.
J. h

I agree with the first post about the Lyme... Bring him back and get a blood test done before it becomes any worse. And be persistent!! Maybe i watched one too many episodes of Mystery Diagnosis, but you really need to get on these doctors cases to get to the bottom of things. Good luck and I hope your little one is feeling better soon!

I am sure your pediatrician has ruled this possibility out by now but this is the first thing that came to my mind when reading your post: Carbon Minoxide Poisoning. Even if re-exposure is not present in the patient's history, the patient can present with "delayed sequelae" which requires treatment. Click on the link for more info. http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=...

I would absolutely rule out this possibility before anything else.

I would also question chiropractic care on the developing and soft tissue of a pediatric patient: http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=37423

Good luck and best wishes for a healthy outcome!

I get severe headaches in the spring from allergies. Severe pain can cause nausea and vomiting. I take ibuprofin round the clock (lasts longer than tylenol) because the allergy medicine had so many side affects (one made me hallucinate!).
I agree with other posts to keep pushing with other docs. My husband had a kidney stone for a year before someone found it and another doctor did a hernia operation after about 6 mos. because that was his specialty. After the fact the kidney stone doctor could see the kidney stone on the x-ray from the hernia doctor, but that doc overlooked it. Keep pushing because each specialist's experience will try to make it fit his specialty. Good luck!

Hi K.,
This sounds exactally like my son. When he was 5 he started having terrriable headaches, we ended up in the ER twice. Tey asked us many questions and we couldnt figure it out. After lots of bloodwork it came to the conclusion that my son had Lymes Disease. He has never had a tick actually stuck onto him for more than an hour to my knowledge. He was put on an antibiotic for a month and he began to improve. The Lymes Disease antibodies will always be in his system and he still gets headaches every so often, but not so frequently anymore. I hope this helps, it probally worth the blood test to find out, if its left untreated it can get much worse. Email me is you have any questions.
S.

K.,
it sounds like a typical case of lyme disease! a friend of mine at work had a terrible headache for weeks that wouldn't go away and she had lots of the same tests done.....pregnancy, blood work, CAT scans, MRIs.....turned out to be the onset of lyme disease even though she never found a tick on her...no bullseye or anything. she was put on meds for a month and is doing great now! i would suggest asking the pedi to test for lyme ASAP! good luck and i hope you get to the bottom of it. nothing worse than seeing your kiddos sick!
-anne

Hi K.,

This is not normal. Even if the CT scan was normal, insist on a pediatric neurologist referral immediately. If you can not get a pediatric neurologist to see him today, go to the closest Children's Hospital ED. I would not try to self diaganose. Yes, migraines, sinuses and even Lyme disease can cause similar symptoms, but so can a whole host of other illnesses which can vary from benign to serious. Do not wait. Be persistent with the doctors, your son is suffering too much. It is unacceptable. Tylenol really won't help too much with true migraine or, what I would consider more likely, sinus infection. And, of course, Lyme disease and sinus infections both require antibiotics. Either way, as lay people, we only know a few of the the possible causes for these headaches. Leave the diagnosing to the professionals, but if you are not being taken seriously, be persistent and ask for another referral. Trust your gut.
J. L.

My daughter had a lot of migraines as a little kid but this is very weird. Have you thought of taking him to Boston to the Children's Emergency Room? I would be nervous that he was getting dehydrated and you don't want that. Does he have a fever or any other signs of the flu? Honestly if he isn't better today I would drive to Boston, if this was me.
Take care and I hope all works out.

Another possibility (although I agree with what most people said about Lyme's disease) is labryrinthitis, although that would be rare considering his age. It's a viral infection of the inner (not the typical middle) ear, which is responsible for your sense of balance. A common visible symptom you can check for yourself is called nystagmus, which is just a medical word for involuntary eye movements. If you put your finger or a pen in front of him and move it out to the side of his vision and tell him to follow it only with his eyes and without moving his head (a doctor has probably done this to you before, so hopefully you know what I'm talking about) you might see his pupils shaking or unable to follow the pen/finger. It is likely that this will only happen on one side. No matter what we all think it might be, you should absolutely have him checked out immediately. The symptoms you are describing are also common symptoms for head injuries.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

I agree with the other posters about the possibility of migraine. Glad to hear CT was done and was negative...very good sign. Consider stress? New baby...every child deals with the shift and balance of power in the household. This may be real HAs but manifested in physical ways. Of course, I would still continue exploring other options, but might be helpful to work in some relaxation techniques, distraction techniques, some one on one time with mom/dad if possible. Good luck, hope you solve this soon!

It could be a migraine, it could be allergies and the fact that your pediatrician is not worried is alarming. I would get a 2nd opinion. See a pediatric neurologist and request more tests!!!! And if you can't get in right away, go to the ER.

K.! This is really scary! Did they tell you whether or not it's a migraine?

My daughter had migraines when she was little. The only one that could help her was the chiropractor. I first took her there when she was only 2. She used to call him the crack crack doctor.

Good luck and keep us posted!

The tylenol is not curing anything, it's only masking the pain. So it's time to move on to something else. Insist on more tests or start looking at a nutritional imbalance. These symptoms could be many things so you need to get some answers or you need to boost his immune system so his body can fight off what's going on - or you can do both at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive. He is very young and if he's not eating you are looking at dehydration. And you haven't even addressed the problem. It could be so many things - I would demand more investigation. A CT scan is only one tool. If you want help with the nutritional part of it, I can connect you with other moms on that score. I don't know where you live, but Children's Hospital has a location in Framingham and I think one other place, so it's not just Boston. Good luck.

Hi -
have they done a chest xray for pneumonia? my 5 year old daughter had these same symptoms this winter for a couple of weeks and they told me 3 different things that i knew in my gut were wrong - finally they agreed to an xray (even though they said it was totally unlikely) and called me before i even got home from the hospital to tell me to go straight to the pharm. and start the meds. for bacterial pneumonia - within two days there was a huge difference. if they haven't done one, push for it. good luck :)
another thought - lyme disease?

K.,

I haven't dealt with it in a child but in myself. You are describing what happens to me when my neck is out of wack. I go to a chiropractor and it helps me with the headaches and that helps everything else.
However, I just wanted to tell you how all this started for me. It was a massive headache years ago that came on suddenly. At the hospital - because the headache came on suddenly - they did a spinal tap to make sure there wasn't blood in the spinal cord. I don't know if they can see if this would be an issue with the CT scan or not.
What I was told afterwards was that the headache is basically making me get sick. Fix the headache and you will fix the vomitting. My spinal wasn't alinged and that was the problem for me.

Good luck,
L. M

It sounds very serious to me! I think I would take him for a second opinion or maybe even to the ER.

Have you had his eyes checked? Visions problems can give headaches and if I get a bad enough headache I will get sick to my stomach too.

Hi K.,
I 2nd all the responders who say get a 2nd & 3rd opinion. I'm not sure what area you are in but if you are not satisfied with your doctor or hospital, get a referal to Dartmouth or Boston Children's Hospital.

I am 40 years old and have had Spinal Meningitis 3 times, very rare. I was a teen with my 1st bout and similar symptoms to your son, but maybe not exact. So, that's one avenue to look down. The other is the Lyme disease avenue.

The bottom line is, no matter what we say on the forum, your son needs to be at a medical facility with competent physicians who have experience with a vast array of illnesses and the means to find a diagnoses.

And Advocate, you are your childs best voice and protector.

I've never had this experience, but if I did, I would seek a second or third opinion until someone finds something.

It is good they did a CT scan to rule out things like a brain tumor or head injury or some other severe condition. If all the tests come back negative, then it is most likely a migraine. I have had some patients tell me that the first time they had a migraine that it lasted for weeks.If no more serious condition is found by the medical doctors, then doing a food elimination diet might help. What you are eliminating are foods that tend to trigger migraines. You need a nutritionist, or possibly a chiropractor who uses nutritional and wholistic care as part of their practice to help with the nutritional information and how to implement the diet. Also having your son's spine checked for problems by a chiropractor who regularly treats children may also be helpful.

Dr. E.