What Causes Daily Headaches Along With Abdominal Pain And Night Sweats?

Posted on Mon, 9 Mar 2015

Question: My daughter has suffered with headaches since she was 5 year old (now 17). She usually takes ibuprofen for relief. Her headaches have recently become more frequent (almost every day). She is now having stomach pains & yesterday was complaining that her kidneys/back were hurting her. She has also sweats during the night regardless of the temperature (even when really cold in the house). She seems to be always tired (when she was younger was always extremely active & now seems to be very lazy- I assumed it was a teen thing) & has gained weight over the last year or so. She also says that her ears sometimes ring. I recently brought her to her pediatrician & ran blood work & X-ray of her sinuses...all came back normal. I am wondering if these symptoms may be a result of prolonged usage of ibuprofen. Please help!!

Answered by Dr. T Chandrakant (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
May be related to other things than Ibuprofen alone

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query and an elucidate history about your daughter.

To recapitulate : Female / 17 - headache since age of 5 years - 12 years - now more frequent almost daily - now stomach pains - kidney / back area hurting - night sweats - tired -gained weight - ear ringing sometimes - Blood work (details please) and X-ray sinuses normal - Ibuprofen for a long time > wondering if these symptoms are related to it....

All the above symptoms may not be related to Ibuprofen alone. Ibuprofen causes more problems like Gastritis, or related to Kidney.

I would like to advise the following in such a patient: Please get these things done if not yet done. You may also please post the reports attached to this query.
- Proper Physical examination particularly Blood Pressure (known to give headaches and other symptoms)
- Blood tests : Hormone profiles, Particularly Thyroid, Kidney function tests and liver function tests.
- Ultrasonography of the abdomen particularly for Ovaries / PCOS, Kidneys and urinary bladder. May be a reason for weight gain or so.
- An expert opinion of a Neurologist for Clinical and Physical examination, to see for vascular causes , which can also cause ringing in ears and headaches.

I would like to know if your daughter has any additional symptoms related to menstrual problems / any relation of the headache to menstrual cycle / anything related to abdominal pains

I hope this answer helps you, please feel free to ask for more and give the feedback so that we can discuss further if need be.

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar