Constant Headaches - Anyone suffer?
Discussion
Not me thankfully but my 16 year old son.
Quick back story - last May/June time he started complaining about headaches and had a few days of school with them. I can only I imagine liken them to debilitating migraines as I suffer from them now and then (usually when my glasses prescription needs changing!) and theres nothing I can do but lie in bed with my eyes closed.
Anyway, as time has gone on, they've got more frequent - we've seen the GP about 6 or 7 times and have a neurology referral in a couple of months. He had an MRI scan just before Christmas too - thankfully all clear.
We're pretty worried about him though - he's got GCSEs this year and has currently missed 3 of his mock exams in the last week (incl today) and he's stupidly bright so should be smashing them so its essential he gets them done but we're at a loss of what we could try next. He's just finished 4/5 weeks of visiting a chiropractor who reckoned it could be due to something in his neck and whilst that seemed to make him feel better for a bit, the headaches return the following day. He's now on some kind of medication suggested by the neurologist which I think lowers the blood pressure or something - only 3 days in but he's saying he feels worse. We're also been told about PPIs (like a stronger version of Gaviscon??) which weirdly may help. Also going to get some accupuncture booked in for him this week...
Not asking for a diagnosis but just idly wondering whether anyone has suffered or knows someone who has suffered from something similar and whether you found something that helped?
Quick back story - last May/June time he started complaining about headaches and had a few days of school with them. I can only I imagine liken them to debilitating migraines as I suffer from them now and then (usually when my glasses prescription needs changing!) and theres nothing I can do but lie in bed with my eyes closed.
Anyway, as time has gone on, they've got more frequent - we've seen the GP about 6 or 7 times and have a neurology referral in a couple of months. He had an MRI scan just before Christmas too - thankfully all clear.
We're pretty worried about him though - he's got GCSEs this year and has currently missed 3 of his mock exams in the last week (incl today) and he's stupidly bright so should be smashing them so its essential he gets them done but we're at a loss of what we could try next. He's just finished 4/5 weeks of visiting a chiropractor who reckoned it could be due to something in his neck and whilst that seemed to make him feel better for a bit, the headaches return the following day. He's now on some kind of medication suggested by the neurologist which I think lowers the blood pressure or something - only 3 days in but he's saying he feels worse. We're also been told about PPIs (like a stronger version of Gaviscon??) which weirdly may help. Also going to get some accupuncture booked in for him this week...
Not asking for a diagnosis but just idly wondering whether anyone has suffered or knows someone who has suffered from something similar and whether you found something that helped?
Sorry to hear about this.
Not sure if this helps at all but … I had debilitating migraines very frequently when I was 11 or 12 and we worked out that every one occurred after eating pork for Sunday dinner.
My parents took pork off the menu for a year and I never suffered again. I can eat it now so I wonder if it only affected me while I was growing.
Might be worth looking to see if there is any link to certain foods eaten before the headaches begin.
It’s horrible to suffer these types of headaches so I wish your son all the best.
Not sure if this helps at all but … I had debilitating migraines very frequently when I was 11 or 12 and we worked out that every one occurred after eating pork for Sunday dinner.
My parents took pork off the menu for a year and I never suffered again. I can eat it now so I wonder if it only affected me while I was growing.
Might be worth looking to see if there is any link to certain foods eaten before the headaches begin.
It’s horrible to suffer these types of headaches so I wish your son all the best.
Arrivalist said:
Sorry to hear about this.
Not sure if this helps at all but I had debilitating migraines very frequently when I was 11 or 12 and we worked out that every one occurred after eating pork for Sunday dinner.
My parents took pork off the menu for a year and I never suffered again. I can eat it now so I wonder if it only affected me while I was growing.
Might be worth looking to see if there is any link to certain foods eaten before the headaches begin.
It s horrible to suffer these types of headaches so I wish your son all the best.
Thanks for the response and weirdly, a GP friend of ours has suggested reducing his meat intake so thats something we'll try. Thanks!Not sure if this helps at all but I had debilitating migraines very frequently when I was 11 or 12 and we worked out that every one occurred after eating pork for Sunday dinner.
My parents took pork off the menu for a year and I never suffered again. I can eat it now so I wonder if it only affected me while I was growing.
Might be worth looking to see if there is any link to certain foods eaten before the headaches begin.
It s horrible to suffer these types of headaches so I wish your son all the best.
I’ve been though much the sane over the years with food triggered migraines, i just started eliminating and keeping a food diary, my wisdom teeth also exacerbated it.
For me food wise its a weird mix of triggers, no beef, beans, lentils or raw tomatoes. If i have any of the above I’m crippled for a day. Beans and raw tomatoes being the worst.
For me food wise its a weird mix of triggers, no beef, beans, lentils or raw tomatoes. If i have any of the above I’m crippled for a day. Beans and raw tomatoes being the worst.
Collectingbrass said:
When was his last eye test, what's his blood pressure and what is he doing to manage his stress levels?
Eye test done recently. Not sure about blood pressure but GPs check it everytime he sees them so assume all ok. I don't think he really "does" stress (he gets that from me!) although we were looking for triggers and he was doing exams around the time it started but the headaches continued after they stopped...The food thing is really interesting...
It sounds unlikely from what you've said, but a blood pressure monitor is under £20, so it might be worth buying one and monitoring that yourself to at least fully rule it out.
I had issues with headaches for years and had Doctor's take my blood pressure several times in that period without any issues being raised - if you've got a headache because you've picked up a virus then that might cause high blood pressure. Before Christmas I had a period of about 6 weeks where I was having migraines that lasted 3 days at a time that occurred every week and was prescribed migraine medication, they didn't even look at my blood pressure.
When I went to the Pharmacy to get the medication they took my blood pressure because I'm a bloke over 40, said it was high and put me on a 24 hour monitor. That resulted in me back at the Doctors for that, on medication for my blood pressure and no migraines since. They checked my eyes and concluded I'd had high BP for years and it had never been picked up.
Point is, if it's that you can rule it out quickly and cheaply and you can't always rely on the GP to check it properly when they can take so few readings and usually in sub-optimal conditions.
I had issues with headaches for years and had Doctor's take my blood pressure several times in that period without any issues being raised - if you've got a headache because you've picked up a virus then that might cause high blood pressure. Before Christmas I had a period of about 6 weeks where I was having migraines that lasted 3 days at a time that occurred every week and was prescribed migraine medication, they didn't even look at my blood pressure.
When I went to the Pharmacy to get the medication they took my blood pressure because I'm a bloke over 40, said it was high and put me on a 24 hour monitor. That resulted in me back at the Doctors for that, on medication for my blood pressure and no migraines since. They checked my eyes and concluded I'd had high BP for years and it had never been picked up.
Point is, if it's that you can rule it out quickly and cheaply and you can't always rely on the GP to check it properly when they can take so few readings and usually in sub-optimal conditions.
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