Son's headaches are back...Worried

Some of ya'll may remember my oldest son last summer started getting really bad headaches. And then after the headaches stopped his eye messed up real bad and in the end ended up having eye surgery.

Well last week he got a headaches bad enough to make him vomit. I called the doctor's office but it was after hours and all I got was the answering service that said if I thought it was bad take him to the ER. Well that headache went away and up until today did not have another one. He woke up this morning saying that his head hurt and that his eye felt funny. I asked him if it had ever felt this way before and he said no. The best he could tell me was that the muscle felt strange.

I am waiting on the doctor office to open to find out what I should do. I gave him some headache medicine but as of right now his head still hurts. I have no idea what will happen today other than I will probably be making a 2 hour trip alone with him to the doctors office.

I just wish I knew what was causing this problem. No one seems to have any idea.

oh my gosh, how scary.

That you guys can figure out what is the cause of these headaches quickly and that there is something that can be done about it.

I'm so sorry you have to make the trip alone, is there a friend that could go with you????

No not really they all have kids and I don't have the room in my car for that many people.

I am on the phone with them right now but all they seem to say is take him to his peds. but that doctor is not treating the eye problem they are. His peds doctor has never seen him for this problem. And looking at him now that eye looks slightly swollen under it.

Right now I am waiting on the doctor to call me back. He was not in the office yet.

Update I have to haev him up at the doctors office at 1pm. I am hoping against all hope my work-study payroll check comes in before 11am so I have the gas money to get there.

I just called and I can get it right at 11am not any sooner. Then get the other 2 boys, cash the check get gas and be on the road no later than 11:30am. This is gonna be very tight as far as timing goes.

Discuss migraines... Is he sensitive to the light and sound> Is the pain more in one side of the head than the other?
Nausea is very common in migraines, especially in children and adolescents - how old is he?

Here's a possibility- I would have to know exactly how his eye is feeling in order to tell you if this is a strong possibility or not.

I have a condition called Pseudotumor Cerebri (PTC) or Intracranial Idiopathic Hypertension (IIH). It causes unusually high cerebrospinal fluid pressure. In most cases, it causes eye problems. For some reason with me it didn't do too much to my eyes. But when my pressure is either too low or too high, my eyes feel funky. When it's too high it's like a pressure behind my eye, making it hurt when I move it. There are two ways to test for it- MRI or lumbar puncture. Definitely mention it to his doctor- if you haven't already. If this condition goes untreated, it could lead to blindness. If you google it, most articles about it say that it happens mostly in females. But it has been known to happen in a small percentage of males.

^That's what I was thinking of, too. Considering the actual eye problem leading to surgery it doesn't sound like just migraines. Hopefully whatever is going on it can be caught soon before anything more serious happens.


I hope you can swing the timing and make it! That the doctors listen or that you can find someone who will soon and can figure this out.

I just got back and boy what a day. My car started to act up while I was up there but it seems fine now.

Its his left eye that we are having the issue with. Its hard for him to explain what it feels like. The best he could tell me is it felt the same as it did right after he had surgery which was pain, hurt to open his eyes, sensitive to light etc. Other than that he really could not tell what exactly it felt like. That and he still has double vision and thats ben going on for about a year.

After doing a lot of research I think the reason why we have the eye problem is because the nerves in the eye was paralyzed after his first migraine.

He is 9 years old.

What the doctor said he has to wear an eye patch 4 hours a day--alternating eyes each day for 4-6 weeks. If the headaches continue with the patch his eyes are not causing the headaches. If the headaches stop it is the eyes. He will have to have surgery again, we will discuss when at the end of July.

That is pretty much where we stand right now.

Lot's of vibes coming your way that things turn out okay....It sounds like a very scary sistuation.

I am SO SORRY and am sending heaps of vibes to your son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so awful when children have to suffer like that.

VERY quick questions - is the headache on only the left side of his head? (The same as the eye problem?) Does he get congested with the headache? Does the eye tear and droop and/or swell up or closed? Does being quiet help the headache, or is it so bad he has to move around during the pain?

Laurie

LDG I will try and answer your questions...

Is the headache on only the left side of his head? he has never really specified but when I have asked him he said it was kind of all over. But he has a very hard time expressing how he feels on a good day much less when he is going through stuff like this.

Does he get congested with the headache? No

Does the eye tear and droop and/or swell up or closed? Does not tear or droop, but today for the first time I noticed it was a little swollen under the affected eye (left).

Does being quiet help the headache, or is it so bad he has to move around during the pain? Quiet across the bored, if he gets to moving around he will get sick. When it gets really bed its a dark quiet room for him.

We have done a MRI but it was months after the headaches stopped. I can not seem to get them to do a MRI during the headaches. I think if they would we would maybe get a better idea.

I don't have any advice or suggestions for you, but I do have and prayers that they figure out what's wrong with him soon, and for you and your family. That's a tough situation to have to deal with!

Do a google search on pseudotumor cerebri. It really does sound like a possibility. And mention this to his doctor, mention getting a lumbar puncture to check the pressure in his head. My eyes hurt really bad (sounds like mine feel like your son's eyes) when I get headaches. Do a google search on it too.

I hope your son feels better soon- it sucks when no one knows exactly what's wrong and exactly how to treat it.

Yes, a lumbar puncture is also called a spinal tap.

The answers to the questions ruled out the type of headache that sprang to my mind.

I'm still just so sorry! But it sure sounds like this needs to continue to be explored. When it comes to headaches, patients (or their parents) so often have to do research on their own and work hard to be their own advocates.

you will find answers and solutions.

Laurie

Sending hugs! I wonder if the season has something to do with it, since it happened both times in the Summer?

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Sending hugs!

I wonder if the season has something to do with it, since it happened both times in the Summer?

Click to expand...

I hope you will find the cause soon