Any advice

Please help with any advice or words of wisdom you can give me. I really need it right now. My 2 y/o DS has been c/o of pain in his head. He says, "mama, boo boo hurts" and points to the middle of his forehead and states, "right there". For a year now, he's been squinting his eyes really tight and will start tearing some. It did occur seldomly the first year and he wasn't talking yet. I mentioned to his pediatrician at that time and she didn't appear alarmed.

Now that he's 2, he can verbalize a little. Just a few weeks ago, he actually told me for the first time that it hurts. I took him to his pediatrician and she stated that it could be a number of things and would need to do a ruling out process.

We just came home from seeing a pediatric opthalomologist and his eyes checked out fine. I even inquired about a disorder called, 'Tear Duct Disorder' and thought possibly that. However he said no and that everything was normal with his eyes.

It could be headaches or something worse and that latter quite scares me to pieces! It appears that the pain is temporary b/c once it happens, it only lasts a minute or two. And then he functions normally, i.e., laughing and playing, no strange behaviors or vomiting. I'm puzzled and scared. Any thoughts?

 

My niece was exactly like that when she was little and it progressively got worse... It turned out she was getting migranes, it started out small and random then it progresses to full blow no lights on, lay around migrane.

What else is your pedi doing to rule things out?

 

As Heather said it sounds like migraines. Migraines can cause sensitivity to light(squinting), nausea(vomiting), sensitivity to loud nose and sudden movements. I have stress induced migraines and they really hurt. I don't know how they would diagnose him or if their are any meds he can take at his age(I take meds for mine).

As Heather said it sounds like migraines. Migraines can cause sensitivity to light(squinting), nausea(vomiting), sensitivity to loud nose and sudden movements. I have stress induced migraines and they really hurt. I don't know how they would diagnose him or if their are any meds he can take at his age(I take meds for mine).

 

I would push for a full workup. Something isn't right as you can tell. Children can have migraines, and this sounds similar. But there isn't any way to know for sure without further tests. I would ask for a pediatric neurology consult (a neurologist deals with migraines and headaches). They should do a cat scan or MRI to rule out any abnormalities and do a full blood work panel to to make sure nothing is abnormal. I don't say this to make you worried at all, but with migraines the only way to be sure in children is to rule out all other possibilies. That's great that you saw an opthomologist, that would have been my first suggestion. Now you need to go to the next level. Oh by the way, I am a pediatric RN - so I do have a bit of knowledge in this area. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

I would ask for an MRI. My twin sister got horrible migraines as a child. I hope you figure it out soon!

 

Does he have any sinus/allergy issues?

I know that I can get an excruciating pain in between my eyes ~ so bad it's stopped me in my tracks...if my sinuses are acting up. Often a minute or so later, I'm fine. Typically worse first thing in the morning when I get up and the change in pressure from standing up. But if the sinus headache is bad enough, it'll lead to a migraine. Hopefully it will be something as simple as that, if I can take the right meds (BFing right now) I hardly ever got a headache any more. Zyrtec is a wonder drug

Also, are you keeping a log of when he tells you it hurts and what he's been involved in? That may also help to figure out if there are any triggers for the poor little guy and might help rule things in/out.

Good luck.

 

Thank you all for the replies!! My DS was vomitting this morning several times and c/o of eye pain which prompted me to take him to a pediatric ER. I didn't want to take the chance b/c of his history. They did a CAT scan and everything came back normal. And they were able to do it w/o sedation. I was sooo relieved! Therefore, that ruled out a brain tumor/cyst, bleeding in the brain, and hydrocephalus. Thank goodness. It might just be headaches and the vomitting might be unrelated due to a stomach bug. I will continue to keep a close eye on it and still schedule an appointment with a pediatric neurologist to follow-up with the headaches or migranes.

Thanks again for all the advice. I really appreciate it!!