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What Causes Severe Headache, Stomach Ache And Sore Throat With Tinnitus In A Child?
Question: I am concerned about my daughter hearing things. She is 8 years old. Here are the detail:
2013 or 2014
First happened she was groggy and tired from medication as she had a very bad cold. I remember her being quite sick. Not sure what doc gave her but she was lethargic and did not feel well. When she was sick and taking medication and drowsy she mentioned hearing screams in her head. It was still there off and on for a couple of days and then it she didn't mention it again.
2015
She was doing her homework and wanted to put music on because she could hear sounds in her head.
Mar 7, 2016
While lying in bed with her and we were talking all of a sudden she asked "did you hear that?" I didn't and she quickly responded "oh yeah you cannot hear those sounds in my head" She said it sounded like ""eeeeeeeeeeeee""". About 5 minutes later I asked her if it was still there and she said no.
Mar 25, 2016
She went to the doctor yesterday with headache, sore throat, stomach pain. He did a swab and she had strep throat. He gave her amoxicillian. The day before it started at school and her head hurt. I don't recall if she complain of loud noise but I think she did. Last night she was up because she had nightmare. She said something about my dad and there was yelling and loud noises. She had trouble sleeping because it scared her. She said she doesn't know what it was about but that it annoyed her. She says in the dream the room is small and white and there are the letter X everywhere and every time she sees the letter X it makes her barf. She got up and went to barf up just saliva because she said she saw the letter X. Today while drawing in daytime she complained of yelling.
Mar 27, 2016
In bed about to go to sleep. It was flashing lightning but no thunderstorm noise. She said she heard loud noise again in her head. After that less than 5 minutes later she was asleep. No complaints if anything they following day.
Mar 29, 2016
While driving to school she said the noise was coming back again. I assumed loud noises but she said voices. This is the first time she ever mentioned voices. She heard them say the f word. I asked her if the noise went away and she said yes. I asked if that is all it said and she said they also said more. I asked her what other word and she said it is not as bad as the f word. "bitch. fucken bitch". She said it wasn't said to anyone in particular. She said the noise goes away when she talks about it. I encouraged her always to tell me. The night before she was mad at her dad kicking and screaming and I made her apologize to MShe actually did which I was surprised I told her if she hits him one day he may get angry and hit back or he may leave. She also saw the trailer for Krampus the day before which was kind of scary. She wanted to see it an insisted it was not scary.
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What I do not understand is that she is a happy, active and smart kid. None of this has affected her school or social interaction with others. She is not moody or doing anything out of character except for this. And she does not have frequent nightmares. Just the one time recently when she was sick. Having said that she is an only child and I notice that she is sensitive to things being said about her by her peers or how they treat her.
For example, she would tell me she had a bad day at school because at recess her cousins would not let her play with them or they made fun or her or said something she considered mean. But these are the same cousins that she is very close with and play together. Other than that I don't think she is being bullied or abuse. You do not think it has anything to do with her being sick? My concern is that it went from hearing loud noises to sounds like eeeeeeeee to seeing letters like "x" to words, bad words and it seems like when she hears things it is escalating. I am afraid what if it escalates into something where the voice tells her to do something bad. However they are not frequent, and goes away almost immediately. I am going to talk to a behavioral pediatrician but what can I do in the meantime. And will something like this affect her long term? What can I do to minimize the effects.
2013 or 2014
First happened she was groggy and tired from medication as she had a very bad cold. I remember her being quite sick. Not sure what doc gave her but she was lethargic and did not feel well. When she was sick and taking medication and drowsy she mentioned hearing screams in her head. It was still there off and on for a couple of days and then it she didn't mention it again.
2015
She was doing her homework and wanted to put music on because she could hear sounds in her head.
Mar 7, 2016
While lying in bed with her and we were talking all of a sudden she asked "did you hear that?" I didn't and she quickly responded "oh yeah you cannot hear those sounds in my head" She said it sounded like ""eeeeeeeeeeeee""". About 5 minutes later I asked her if it was still there and she said no.
Mar 25, 2016
She went to the doctor yesterday with headache, sore throat, stomach pain. He did a swab and she had strep throat. He gave her amoxicillian. The day before it started at school and her head hurt. I don't recall if she complain of loud noise but I think she did. Last night she was up because she had nightmare. She said something about my dad and there was yelling and loud noises. She had trouble sleeping because it scared her. She said she doesn't know what it was about but that it annoyed her. She says in the dream the room is small and white and there are the letter X everywhere and every time she sees the letter X it makes her barf. She got up and went to barf up just saliva because she said she saw the letter X. Today while drawing in daytime she complained of yelling.
Mar 27, 2016
In bed about to go to sleep. It was flashing lightning but no thunderstorm noise. She said she heard loud noise again in her head. After that less than 5 minutes later she was asleep. No complaints if anything they following day.
Mar 29, 2016
While driving to school she said the noise was coming back again. I assumed loud noises but she said voices. This is the first time she ever mentioned voices. She heard them say the f word. I asked her if the noise went away and she said yes. I asked if that is all it said and she said they also said more. I asked her what other word and she said it is not as bad as the f word. "bitch. fucken bitch". She said it wasn't said to anyone in particular. She said the noise goes away when she talks about it. I encouraged her always to tell me. The night before she was mad at her dad kicking and screaming and I made her apologize to MShe actually did which I was surprised I told her if she hits him one day he may get angry and hit back or he may leave. She also saw the trailer for Krampus the day before which was kind of scary. She wanted to see it an insisted it was not scary.
======================================
What I do not understand is that she is a happy, active and smart kid. None of this has affected her school or social interaction with others. She is not moody or doing anything out of character except for this. And she does not have frequent nightmares. Just the one time recently when she was sick. Having said that she is an only child and I notice that she is sensitive to things being said about her by her peers or how they treat her.
For example, she would tell me she had a bad day at school because at recess her cousins would not let her play with them or they made fun or her or said something she considered mean. But these are the same cousins that she is very close with and play together. Other than that I don't think she is being bullied or abuse. You do not think it has anything to do with her being sick? My concern is that it went from hearing loud noises to sounds like eeeeeeeee to seeing letters like "x" to words, bad words and it seems like when she hears things it is escalating. I am afraid what if it escalates into something where the voice tells her to do something bad. However they are not frequent, and goes away almost immediately. I am going to talk to a behavioral pediatrician but what can I do in the meantime. And will something like this affect her long term? What can I do to minimize the effects.
Brief Answer:
Teach her ignorance
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX Welcome to health care magic. Young children do have nightmares associated with infection related illness. Girl children haf3 such nightmaresmore. I don't see any association with some given medicines. Even though any medicines are involved, its effects will not carried for long. Some steroid drugs may cause nightmares. But effect should be momentary.
The voices your child hears started as shreak noices and almost always stayed like that. Just in the previous case, she heard voices. Asking her to explain about the voice again and again could trigger her cuiriosity as well as her fear towards voices. She may start expecting voices whenever she is tired or sitting idle. This could turn out to be obsession and obsession leads to more voices. Therefore, I suggest, please don't ask for details. Instead, judt be casually inquire, encourage her to ignore. If you don't be serious about it, seeming to be not at all, seriois, will encourage her to ignore. Presently the voices may not be related to scezoprenia, but are illusions.
Illusions are always treated with ignorance in the beginning.
1. Make sure your child gets sound sleep at night. Make sure she plays outdoor games and becomes physically tired before bedtime. Sound sleep means no dreams and no nightmares.
2. Encourage her with all sort of leisure gime activities and hobbies so thst she never is idle.
Please ensure both the above for at least one month. Also make sure, she in no condition is scared about the voices. This will be cured.
Take care.
Teach her ignorance
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX Welcome to health care magic. Young children do have nightmares associated with infection related illness. Girl children haf3 such nightmaresmore. I don't see any association with some given medicines. Even though any medicines are involved, its effects will not carried for long. Some steroid drugs may cause nightmares. But effect should be momentary.
The voices your child hears started as shreak noices and almost always stayed like that. Just in the previous case, she heard voices. Asking her to explain about the voice again and again could trigger her cuiriosity as well as her fear towards voices. She may start expecting voices whenever she is tired or sitting idle. This could turn out to be obsession and obsession leads to more voices. Therefore, I suggest, please don't ask for details. Instead, judt be casually inquire, encourage her to ignore. If you don't be serious about it, seeming to be not at all, seriois, will encourage her to ignore. Presently the voices may not be related to scezoprenia, but are illusions.
Illusions are always treated with ignorance in the beginning.
1. Make sure your child gets sound sleep at night. Make sure she plays outdoor games and becomes physically tired before bedtime. Sound sleep means no dreams and no nightmares.
2. Encourage her with all sort of leisure gime activities and hobbies so thst she never is idle.
Please ensure both the above for at least one month. Also make sure, she in no condition is scared about the voices. This will be cured.
Take care.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Thank you for you response.
I agree with you that this is not directly associated with medication even though twice it happened when she was ill. However, it usually occurs when she is tired, does not feel well or when she is idle by herself like doing something or sitting in a car. I also agree that ignoring the situation and not making a big deal out of it is essential. This is the reason why I refused to take her to the pediatrician even though talking to others, they say it might be a good idea. I did talk to the pediatrician by myself and he was comfortable that this was not serious but he also did not have any advice or explanation for the occurrences. I certainly do not want to alarm her or have her think that something is wrong with her. Even though I am so scared inside because I do not understand it and I worry about her I also know that these incidents have happened only 6 times in over 2 years and the majority of it just in the last couple of weeks when she was sick. Furthermore, other than this there are no other signs that would lead me to be concerned like changes in her mood or behavior and the noise goes away almost immediately and then she continues doing whatever it was that she was doing. She did mentioned once that she was annoyed by the noise but it was not bothersome to her. Plus the noises and voices are non specific and they are not directed at her even when she heard the bad words.
I am also wondering if she might be internalizing some fears. She told me the other day her friend told her to keep it a secret about this invisible world. Her friend made her the genie in this world and there is some bad leprechaun. She then said her friend told her it would come to her in a dream. She sounded scared when she told me about it even though she said "I know those things are not real Mom".
Whatever it is, can you tell me if these illusions are common in children her age? And why do they occur? And I will be ignoring it for now but are there any red flags that I should watch out for to tell me that it is more serious? I am just concerned because she went from hearing noise to now bad words. So naturally, I think to myself what is next. Will the voice tell her something bad about herself or do something bad? I would appreciate all your input as I am very worried and just want to know that I am doing the right thing.
thank you.
I agree with you that this is not directly associated with medication even though twice it happened when she was ill. However, it usually occurs when she is tired, does not feel well or when she is idle by herself like doing something or sitting in a car. I also agree that ignoring the situation and not making a big deal out of it is essential. This is the reason why I refused to take her to the pediatrician even though talking to others, they say it might be a good idea. I did talk to the pediatrician by myself and he was comfortable that this was not serious but he also did not have any advice or explanation for the occurrences. I certainly do not want to alarm her or have her think that something is wrong with her. Even though I am so scared inside because I do not understand it and I worry about her I also know that these incidents have happened only 6 times in over 2 years and the majority of it just in the last couple of weeks when she was sick. Furthermore, other than this there are no other signs that would lead me to be concerned like changes in her mood or behavior and the noise goes away almost immediately and then she continues doing whatever it was that she was doing. She did mentioned once that she was annoyed by the noise but it was not bothersome to her. Plus the noises and voices are non specific and they are not directed at her even when she heard the bad words.
I am also wondering if she might be internalizing some fears. She told me the other day her friend told her to keep it a secret about this invisible world. Her friend made her the genie in this world and there is some bad leprechaun. She then said her friend told her it would come to her in a dream. She sounded scared when she told me about it even though she said "I know those things are not real Mom".
Whatever it is, can you tell me if these illusions are common in children her age? And why do they occur? And I will be ignoring it for now but are there any red flags that I should watch out for to tell me that it is more serious? I am just concerned because she went from hearing noise to now bad words. So naturally, I think to myself what is next. Will the voice tell her something bad about herself or do something bad? I would appreciate all your input as I am very worried and just want to know that I am doing the right thing.
thank you.
Brief Answer:
Schizophrenia is not at all common in children.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Thianna, Thank you for the follow up question.
I really appreciate you for the efforts you are taking to keep the issue as safe as possible. I do understand your concerns about the issue. I will try to provide you some information which should clear your doubts about the issue.
First of all you should understand the difference between schizophrenia and illusions. 60% People with schizophrenia do hear voices but hearing voices is illusion not schizophrenia. Especially in young children. These kind of illusions are not so common among children. But we see many instances. These illusions occurs to one out of around 1000 children, especially between the age bracket of 6 and 10.
Many researches were conducted on the aspect of why children hear voices. Possible answers were trauma, bereavement etc. One interesting find was, children do hear voices of their imaginative friend. This aspect could be true to your child. In that case, create some bedtime stories which tells your child that genies and leprechaun can be good to people, especially children. Narrate such stories alternate days.
For many children voices disappear over time.
As long as the child is able not to worry about the voices and as long as she is not alarmed, you can be relaxed. Red flag areas are 1. when the child says the voices are somehow negative 2. When the child is obsessing with the voices 3. When the child shows some anxiety symptoms.
Though schizophrenia for children is pretty rare and the eventuality one in millions, when the above rd flag areas are found, you should consult a behavioral expert.
Please try not to think of it as a terrible disaster, but as a signal for something that is troubling your child and that can be resolved. On the other hand, if parents cannot accept that voice hearing in itself is normal, but believe the voices to be an illness and are afraid of the voices, then the child naturally picks up this feeling.
I also suggest, you should talk to your pediatrician yourself. Do not take your child. Write down what ever you want to ask the doctor. Clear all the doubts.
I will be happy to assist you further. Take care.
Schizophrenia is not at all common in children.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Thianna, Thank you for the follow up question.
I really appreciate you for the efforts you are taking to keep the issue as safe as possible. I do understand your concerns about the issue. I will try to provide you some information which should clear your doubts about the issue.
First of all you should understand the difference between schizophrenia and illusions. 60% People with schizophrenia do hear voices but hearing voices is illusion not schizophrenia. Especially in young children. These kind of illusions are not so common among children. But we see many instances. These illusions occurs to one out of around 1000 children, especially between the age bracket of 6 and 10.
Many researches were conducted on the aspect of why children hear voices. Possible answers were trauma, bereavement etc. One interesting find was, children do hear voices of their imaginative friend. This aspect could be true to your child. In that case, create some bedtime stories which tells your child that genies and leprechaun can be good to people, especially children. Narrate such stories alternate days.
For many children voices disappear over time.
As long as the child is able not to worry about the voices and as long as she is not alarmed, you can be relaxed. Red flag areas are 1. when the child says the voices are somehow negative 2. When the child is obsessing with the voices 3. When the child shows some anxiety symptoms.
Though schizophrenia for children is pretty rare and the eventuality one in millions, when the above rd flag areas are found, you should consult a behavioral expert.
Please try not to think of it as a terrible disaster, but as a signal for something that is troubling your child and that can be resolved. On the other hand, if parents cannot accept that voice hearing in itself is normal, but believe the voices to be an illness and are afraid of the voices, then the child naturally picks up this feeling.
I also suggest, you should talk to your pediatrician yourself. Do not take your child. Write down what ever you want to ask the doctor. Clear all the doubts.
I will be happy to assist you further. Take care.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Deepak
Thank you so much once again for all your information. You have helped me to see that this is something that can be resolved or goes away on its own. I have been so tormented by this but my child is not aware of it. I can accept that hearing voices in itself is normal. I just did not know that it can be a normal thing. I thought hearing voices meant my happy, vibrant and healthy child was doomed to suffer. As a mother, I cannot bear to see her suffer especially being that she is my only child. I was thinking about the worse as I have no knowledge on this matter. I already went to see the pediatrician myself and he recommended I go and see a behavioural pediatrician by myself to ask questions. I plan to do this and hopefully she or he can lay to rest my fears also.
Thank you for giving me signs to look out for. I do not plan to alarm her or get my daughter involved unless these red flags come along. I will also do as you suggest which is to keep her busy.
When you say illusions, do you mean hallucinations. Are they the same thing?
Thank you for giving me signs to look out for. I do not plan to alarm her or get my daughter involved unless these red flags come along. I will also do as you suggest which is to keep her busy.
When you say illusions, do you mean hallucinations. Are they the same thing?
Brief Answer:
Good going
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for following up.
In the case of hearing voices, hallucinations and illusions are same. In subjective cases they are different. Mistaking shadow as ghost is illusion. Whereas seeing ghost out of nothing is hallucinations.
Do clear all your doubts when you meet a behavior pediatrician.
Take care
Good going
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for following up.
In the case of hearing voices, hallucinations and illusions are same. In subjective cases they are different. Mistaking shadow as ghost is illusion. Whereas seeing ghost out of nothing is hallucinations.
Do clear all your doubts when you meet a behavior pediatrician.
Take care
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
I would like to know what you make of this incident that happened today.
We were at a birthday party at a restaurant. My daughter and I went up to get food and she said something like her stomach feels weird. Then she said it feels like the way she did when she had that nightmare with the letter X. If you recall in that nightmare she got up to barf because she saw the letter X. She said she is not going to barf this time but just had that same feeling in her stomach like the nightmare. I asked her if she is OK and she said yes, got her food, ate and then it was like nothing happened for the rest of the time. She ate all her food, laughing, playing and running around with her cousins.
I should mention that this morning, she woke up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the bathroom and was in bed restless tossing and turning and finally she got out of bed at 7am. I was lying next to my daughter watching her and pretending to sleep to see if she had a nightmare or would say something but she didn't. When she got out of bed she rushed right down to play with her ipad. While eating she said her stomach hurt. I said let's just watch it and see and she ate all her food no problem. She went to school in the morning and was fine until the incident I mentioned above.
What do you make of all of this?
I appreciate your input on the matter.
thank you.
We were at a birthday party at a restaurant. My daughter and I went up to get food and she said something like her stomach feels weird. Then she said it feels like the way she did when she had that nightmare with the letter X. If you recall in that nightmare she got up to barf because she saw the letter X. She said she is not going to barf this time but just had that same feeling in her stomach like the nightmare. I asked her if she is OK and she said yes, got her food, ate and then it was like nothing happened for the rest of the time. She ate all her food, laughing, playing and running around with her cousins.
I should mention that this morning, she woke up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the bathroom and was in bed restless tossing and turning and finally she got out of bed at 7am. I was lying next to my daughter watching her and pretending to sleep to see if she had a nightmare or would say something but she didn't. When she got out of bed she rushed right down to play with her ipad. While eating she said her stomach hurt. I said let's just watch it and see and she ate all her food no problem. She went to school in the morning and was fine until the incident I mentioned above.
What do you make of all of this?
I appreciate your input on the matter.
thank you.
Brief Answer:
Relating experiences help adjustment
Detailed Answer:
Dear Thianna.
Thanks for the follow up query.
Is there anything to interpret in the given incident? I don't think so. You know your child better than me and naturally you must have come across so many instances as such.
Your child is already in the stage of self realization and soon attain sexual maturity. In their school, they learn many things about health. The more they know about diseases and their symptoms, they worry more. The more they know about inevitable diseases and death, they think deep about it. Usually their busy-ness with school and play activities along with their undeveloped intellectual mind prevent them from thinking too much about these aspects. But they think, for sure.
Second aspect - Children always try to relate one incident to another with which they have experience. You must have come across so many such instances. This attitude helps them understand the situation and teaches them to adjust with the situation.
In the given situation, your child already had a stomach cramp. She got up worried. But did not care about it because it did not last long. Went to birthday party. The stomach problem came again. As this could be related to some indigestion issue, the stomach fluttering sensation must have been experienced. Stomach fluttering is always a symptom when the person is anxious or scared. Your child felt bad about the fluttering and related it with the X incident. That is healthy because even when she is in distress she is trying to related experiences and adjust.
Moreover, I would say, she has a very good and caring and loving mother. She know there is nothing to worry about. Go ahead. God bless you. You are a gem.
Take care.
Relating experiences help adjustment
Detailed Answer:
Dear Thianna.
Thanks for the follow up query.
Is there anything to interpret in the given incident? I don't think so. You know your child better than me and naturally you must have come across so many instances as such.
Your child is already in the stage of self realization and soon attain sexual maturity. In their school, they learn many things about health. The more they know about diseases and their symptoms, they worry more. The more they know about inevitable diseases and death, they think deep about it. Usually their busy-ness with school and play activities along with their undeveloped intellectual mind prevent them from thinking too much about these aspects. But they think, for sure.
Second aspect - Children always try to relate one incident to another with which they have experience. You must have come across so many such instances. This attitude helps them understand the situation and teaches them to adjust with the situation.
In the given situation, your child already had a stomach cramp. She got up worried. But did not care about it because it did not last long. Went to birthday party. The stomach problem came again. As this could be related to some indigestion issue, the stomach fluttering sensation must have been experienced. Stomach fluttering is always a symptom when the person is anxious or scared. Your child felt bad about the fluttering and related it with the X incident. That is healthy because even when she is in distress she is trying to related experiences and adjust.
Moreover, I would say, she has a very good and caring and loving mother. She know there is nothing to worry about. Go ahead. God bless you. You are a gem.
Take care.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
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