9 Year Old Having Dizzy Spells and Migrains

no time to read all the other responses! My son was about 9 when his migraines began. His are tied directly to dehydration. Pump some water & see if that helps! My son is now 13 & has to monitor his water intake carefully.......

Migraines (I am a migraine sufferer as well) can be very strongly tied to hormonal changes, and some girls start going through hormonal changes early. Otherwise, I'm not sure why growth would cause migraines, I've never experienced or heard of that, not that I'm a doctor. What raises a red flag for me is if the doctor says he KNOWS what's causing her headaches. Headaches are hard to nail down right away for any doctor, escecially with no tests run and on a child. It often takes years to find what's causing them. It did with mine. And if the headaches came suddenly out of nowhere and were severe he should definitely have tests run to rule out anything major, however unlikely it is. I think you would be perfectly justified in asking for the referral now to see the neurologist, or otherwise fiding a second opinion.

Call another doctor! These kind of symptoms precede some very serious things.

i have had dizzy spells since i was a kid and recently found out it was do to low iron in my blood. have you had her iron checked? and also did you know if you are lactose intolerant, and you still eat dairy, it causes migraines? if these solutions dont help, take her to see a doctor

I would recommend more water, good nutrition cut out refined sugar give that a week if no improvement go for a cat scan. It could be any number of things could even be a form of seizure, could just be dehydration. Hope she gets feeling better soon.

Find yourself another doctor. Go with your gut feeling.

It sounds like some low blood sugar, which could be related to growing really fast. My midwife had advised me to eat some protein every two hours during pregnancy, and that might be what your daughter needs to keep her body fueled during rapid growth. If she has severe hypoglycemia, a low carb, high vegetable diet is the way to stay balanced and quit passing out. I'm sorry this is happening to her!!

I don't get what your doctor is waiting for, I would call back and tell them you want the referal because your gut says something is wrong because everybody grows and most of us don't see spots, faint, and have massive headaches because of it, and I have never known anyone to fall and wack their head because of growth. Go to the neurologist as soon as you can before she really hits her head hard and ends up in the emergency room.

When I was a teen, I had one fainting spell and that got me a referal...she should have one too!

M.

I'd go to a different doc.
Also, it almost sounds like she has something my niece has. It's not vertigo exactly, but something that really messes w/the equilibrium (sp?). Usually comes on very suddenly. I hope your daughter will be ok, and please let us know what you decided to do.

Sounds like migraines. Everything you explained are the result of migraines. Have you taken her to see an eye doctor? Maybe she is straining her eyes too much and needs glasses. I would not worry too much. I don't think it is a growth spurt, but you should first take her to an eye doctor to make sure of her vision. If that comes up fine, a trip to the neurologist would not hurt anything but rather assure you.

My daughter started having migraines and dizzy spells when she was 11. Have you brought her to an eye doctor to rule out eye problems? We had my daughters eyes checked first and then had her refered out to a specialist. Come to find out she was having "deep brain seizures". I have a wonderful pediatrician who took me seriously and refered us out right away! She started on a medication which helped. (can't remember the name). They thought it was due to the hormones in her body and thought it would end once she started her period. They were right! No more migraines, no seizures or dizzy spells and no more medication.

Only you know your baby!! If you think she needs to see another doctor, than insist on a referal. Why should your daughter suffer?

You should try a migraine doctor. I tried the migraine medicine and the side effects were worse than the headaces. I went to Dr Scott Chorny at The Permanent Headache Solution in Olathe, Kansas. He was great! I found my neck was bending the wrong way!! No doctor had ever even attempted to find the reasons for my migraines, they only wanted to medicate me. After a few treatments, I began to feel like myself. No side effects - No medication! I wish I would have known about him years ago.

My daughter had a similiar problem, she suffers from menstrual migraines... although yours is a bit young for this (my daughter was 11)... she would get significantly worse during season change and allergy season. She got to the point of fainting and our doctor sent her for a cat scan, which turned up a raging sinus infection that was putting pressure on her brain... she didn't have regular sinus symptoms, but the swelling was enough to cause the faintness, dizziness, and equilibrium problems. She finished a course of long term anti-biotics and recovered fully after about a month. The migraines still appear from time to time, but she takes a form of Triptan medicine called Zomig (in the imitrex family) for those which works great and can be taken during the migraine instead of prior to like the imitrex.

Patty could be right, nonetheless, I would eliminate all other possibilities as well, go to the neurologist, have all the scans all the tests, if only to ease your mind......then if all things are negative, move on to the nutritional options....

If you're in a PPO health network, I'd get in touch with a Pediatric Neurologist even without your pediatrician's consent. I'd not wait.

Yes, migraines are powerful, but the dizziness is not normal. Having been through serious health issues of my own (cancer), I don't take chances with my kids. Our pediatrician is very empathetic as my issues started right after the birth of our second child (who's now 2 years-old).

As her mother, I'd keep pressing until you have a concrete answer from an expert in the field. Pediatricians are wonderful, but any primary care providers are responsible for so much information, it's almost impossible for them to be experts in any one area. I'd hope they'd be more proactive in referring you to someone who can assess what's causing these symptoms and seek treatment before a more serious event happens.

Good luck! Hoping your daughter is OK.

Frankly I would run not walk to a neurolgist if I were you.

I don't see how this is normal and IMO better safe than sorry.

My daughter had frequent headaches for a while and she
was sent to a neurologist & he had a scan done on her to
be safe and she wasn't going through near what your
daugther is.

Please take her and I hope you get a clear scan!

L.

My daughter had something similar though not as extensive as yours sounds. It turned out she was slightly dehydrated. I am very watchful in how much she drinks, making sure she gets the right amounts of water/fluids every day. My daughter started having these headaches right around 9 yrs old and only gets occassionally now that she is 11. She usaully gets them first thing in the morning, or other times she is really tired.

sounds like migraines could cause all of this. Allergens may be contributing and certain foods. I am a Shaklee Independent Distributor and a firm believer in nutrition/vitamins helping with most if not all ailments. I would be happy to recommend a vitamin and I would want you to ask the doctor how much extra magnesium could we put your daughter on. Quite often low magnesium is the cause for migraines, yet doctors don't always know this. My sister suffered for years until she made this discovery and pretty much cured her migraines.

http://healinghappens.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sk...
http://healinghappens.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sk...
http://healinghappens.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sk...

oh I wouldn't be sitting and letting that go. Find another opinion and keep searching for answers. My friend had this going on for a few months and the doctors couldn't figure out what the problem was. Well she ended up having a bad stroke and now can't walk, barely talks, doesn't remember things that happened or remember people she has known for a long time, and tires easily. She kept having xrays and going to the doctor because she was falling all the time with dizzy spells. They thought she had vertigo but that usually doesn't last for months.

I don't think a growth spurt would cause this either.

Don't give up until you find out something.

I would definatley increase her water intake and make sure her diet is good. My #1 recommendation would be to take her to a chiropractor. Many time when a child is dizzy and getting headaches it is a malposition of the spinal vertebrae putting pressure on the spinal cord. This would cause other symptoms such as nausea. Chiropractic is also very safe and effective for children. Since they are younger there body is in better shape and they heal faster!

i am a migraine sufferer too. I have had fainting spells with my migraines. I would totally black out. This will happen when i would have a frontal lobe migraine. (pain in the front portion of my brain). when i get those frontal lobe migraines i know to be careful and try to do as little walking and moving as possible. ask her where her pain is when she gets dizzy.
I see a neurologist and we are still in the "begining stage". I was told that i have a "reverse cervial lordosis"... big words for my neck is completely straight instead of curving. (normal neck bones curve... mine dont). this was just recently found!
i wish you and your daughter luck.
i was diagnoised with migraines at the age of 12. unfortuanaly my parents didnt keep up with my health. now that i am an adult, i am doing all that needs to be done now.
dont wait! get her to a neurologist now instead of waiting and making her go through more pain.

I agree - please see a neurologist as soon as possible. Just the fact that she has fallen and hit her head twice should be enough. I've had migrains in the past and can't imagine a 9 year old having to go through that pain.

Call your physicians nurse and ask them to go ahead and make you that appt with the neurologist! As a child i also had migraines. My parents made that appt for me and scans were taken of my brain, etc. I came home with a medication that really helped! I still remember feeling so sick and the worse headaches ever. Sitting in my room w/ my parents trying to comfort me!!! It eventually got better and as an adult only have migraines upon occassion. I can't say I was ever dizzy to the point of hitting my head. I wouldn't let this go ! Seems like a dr should be addressing it and taking it more seriously!

In addition to all of the responses that you got - have her checked for vertigo. It can cause nausea, vomiting, black outs - don't know about the migraines but the other symtems are all signs of it. She could have an inner ear infections due to all of the pollen around.