Dr. thinks dd's headaches are due to anxiety-help?

[happyWImom]

Okay, dd's been suffering from headaches off & on for a while now, but this time she's had them almost daily for over a week. Then, last night, she also had a stomache ache. Still had it this morning. We went to her dr. (who knows her very well) and he thinks much of it is related to anxiety.

 

She is a very anxious girl :sad: who worries a lot, has many fears, etc... We have seen a counselor off & on for some of these issues; not sure if he's the best fit. Also, I've been having her listen to relaxation cd's at bedtime for the last week.

 

I'm relieved it's not (hopefully) anything serious, healthwise, but I'm also wanting to do whatever I can to help her. Does anyone else have any dc with these problems? What do you do? Also, has anyone done bio-feedback? I don't know much about it, but the dr. mentioned it.

 

Thanks.

[Wyndie]

We have done neurofeedback which is similar to biofeedback. We did it with my son who had such extreme anxiety that he couldn't function outside of the house, he couldn't speak to people at all when we were out. Now we have to reel him in b/c he won't stop talking to people. lol His anxiety completely cleared up very quickly with neurofeedback. Now we also do a plethora of natural and biomedical treatments with him but NFB was by far, the most obvious help for his anxiety.

 

If she has headaches and stomache aches caused by anxiety, I would definately seek out a good biofeedback of NFB person to help. It saved my son from being a hermit!

[newbie]

I havent done neurofeedback but I have done tapping, you can try it out on youtube videos. That makes a difference for some.

 

My big help for anxiety is hypnosis. That is the only thing that works, b/c I am wound so tight.

[Starr]

Bio feedback can be very helpful. I would give it a try.

[proudmamma]

Magnesium --specifically a product called Natural Calm...drink as a warm relaxing drink before bed. It helps me tremendously. Anxiety has been linked to magnesium deficiency.

 

HTH

[helena]

Magnesium --specifically a product called Natural Calm...drink as a warm relaxing drink before bed. It helps me tremendously. Anxiety has been linked to magnesium deficiency.

 

HTH

:iagree:

This, epsom baths, massage,proper sleep, and homeopathic meds have really helped my daughter with physical pain, and emotional draining times.

[tex-mex]

Anxiety hit me hard when I was a 10th grader. Stomach aches, headaches, etc. I would be exhausted staying up all night worrying. (I also suffer from OCD -- related to anxiety) What helped me as a teen/young adult was finding someone to talk to about it. I realized I wasn't alone. Many people suffer from this. What could be causing this? Is there a friend causing stress? Or a difficult coursework? Is she a perfectionist? Has she had an official assessment by a pediatrician? Stress will cause a relapse with anxiety.

 

She needs some cognitive behavior therapy to offset any bad habits/fears she may be doing when anxiety kicks in. For example, when I was learning to drive it was in a rural area and I did fine. Got my license. Went off to college and realized big city driving scared the #@!! outta me. LOL I'd be a weepy emotional mess driving in the fast lane while slowly trying not to panic. I avoided driving altogether as a result. Cognitive Behavior Therapy got me to take freeway driving in little chunks to get me out of my "fearful" (comfort/safety) spot and by repeatedly doing these tasks with the encouragement of a friend or counselor -- I was able to drive freeways. What kind of fears does she suffer from? You may need to find a pediatric counselor who specializes in CBT. Is she on any type of meds?

 

I do not watch horror movies or cruddy stuff as it will keep me up late at night -- with OCD/anxiety, I'd be checking that stupid doorlock a zillion times to make sure the boogeyman doesn't git in. lol I also do not read genres of books that will leave worrisome thoughts or create a new fear (murder mystery). At one point, I even had to stop reading the newspaper as a young adult. For me, listening to music or reading an enjoyable book at night while trying to fall asleep helped. Skipping sodas and coffee -- especially at night. And believe it or not, going outside when the sun is out (natural vitamin D) really helped a lot. B12 vitamins help too. Exercise (moderate) helped me very much as a kid to raise endorphin levels. HTH

Edited December 6, 2009 by tex-mex

[MJN]

I'll be following the replies. I know hers is stress related. We've definitely had enough stress to deal with the past 18 months. She's like me and tries to hold down the fort and carry the whole load for everybody. I'm trying to teach her that it doesn't work. I've had to learn the hard way, unfortunately.

[neveryoumindthere]

:iagree:

This, epsom baths, massage,proper sleep, and homeopathic meds have really helped my daughter with physical pain, and emotional draining times.

 

:iagree: This. And also look into EFT (emotional freedom technique). It'll get to the core issue of the anxiety and get rid of the negative emotional charge so things won't trigger the anxiety.

[alpidarkomama]

Just thought I'd throw this out there - some people are very sensitive to changes in blood sugar (low blood sugar = headaches or migraines). Is she getting good protein/carb/fat balanced meals/snacks on a fairly regular schedule? Might have nothing to do with her situation, but you never know! :) If my DH eats every 2-1/2 hours (and not a moment longer) he can stay headache/migraine-free.