Daughter's Headaches

[Donray]

Don't take her on a cruise. She does not want to go and gets a bad headaches when forced to go.

 

The solution is very simple.

[celebrity]

I have gotten sea sick on a few cruises and it never effects my stomach, just my head.

I wear the sea bands and they work fine for me. Just a thought.

[jamessemaj]

Could be psychosomatic, emotional or otherwise related psychologically. Just a thought, since the primary care dr. didn't get into physical issues. Maybe ask the dr. about it or more importantly, ask her about it and if she has a problem with cruising other than motion sickness, such as family dynamics on the cruise.

Edited July 23, 2014 by jamessemaj

[CaveDiving]

In my experience as a parent and a former child, when a child gets repeating headaches while doing a particular activity, it may well be that the child is trying to say "I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO TELL YOU THAT I DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS ACTIVITY."

 

Scott & Karen"

[2specialkidsforme]

For our son, he gets terrible headaches from car rides. Over time, we have found that this is how his body reacts to his feeling of motion sickness. Since he goes to school 27 miles from our house - he is in the car a minimum now of 75 minutes to get there and 75 minutes to get home. ( he attends a private therapeutic day school due to his special needs). After much trial and error and working with his neurologist and pediatrician, we now put the motion bands on him and for him they work. We have cruised twice with him but on the ship he has not needed them.

 

Perhaps when you talk again to her doctor you might see if he thinks these might be worthwhile.

 

Also - typically we eat different on a cruise than at home ( food available more hours, more dessert options, etc.). Does your daughter drink enough fluids when on a cruise? And is what she drinking similar to what she does at home? For instance, If at home she doesn't drink a lot of soda but on the cruise she does it could be the extra caffeine. Or at home does she drink more water but on ship more juice? Many people talk about how the food seems to have a higher salt content - perhaps she is getting slightly dehydrated and that causes the headaches?

 

Just some thoughts. Sure hope you can find what about the cruise is triggering the headaches so she can get relief and all if you can enjoy your upcoming cruise.

[NoobCruise]

Does her Dr know why cruises cause her to have headaches? Does she have them at other times? Could it be an undiagnosed allergy or sensitivity so something like monosodium glutamate?

 

I have pretty severe motion sickness and headache is not one of my symptoms. I know everyone has their own way of reacting, but I've not heard of headache alone. Also, perhaps she doesn't enjoy cruising and it is a stress headache. I agree with sail7seas, perhaps discuss it with her to find out the problem.

 

I get migraines all the time, as well as motion sickness. I'm not a dr, but I've had several neurologists at Stanford tell me there is a strong connection between migraines and motion sickness, so it is very possible that headaches are brought on by motion sickness, even without the other symptoms. Just google "migraine motion sickness" and you'll see lots of info on it.

 

Taking Imitrex while cruising helps me with motion sickness symptoms like nausea and dizziness.

Edited July 23, 2014 by NoobCruise

[mapsmith]

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. But the first thing that came to my mind is Caffeine. Either too much from Free Coffee on board, or the various "bubbles" plans. or more likely the lack of Caffeine if the child lives on Starbucks and Cola at home like many teenagers. Withdrawal from the Daily Caffeine high can cause headaches. (I get them on cruises because I need my Diet Coke fix and the cost on board makes it unrealistic to drink more than one can every couple of days)

 

Just my lay opinion.

[Slugsta]

Dehydration is also a big factor in causing headaches. Perhaps more likely in warmer weather and in situations where someone is too 'busy' to stop and get a drink.

 

Daft as it may sound, I often get mildly dehydrated on cruises. At home I always have a bottle of soft drink beside me and get through quite a lot. On cruises I tend to be busier, drink more alcohol ;) and don't realise I am a little under hydrated until the headache strikes.

 

Just one more thing to think about...

[sail7seas]

I'm another who agrees about being careful about hydration on (particularly Caribbean) cruises.

 

[Monalis]

The responses above have touched on a few of what I thought. Some reasons you may not have thought about are:

 

• Caffeine withdrawal or too much
  
• Dehydration
  
• MSG
  
• Sodium (raising her blood pressure)
  
• Stress
  
• Sleep (too much or not enough, crazy as it sounds both trigger migraines in me)
  

 

 

So for the most part look at her diet at home vs on the ship. It is amazing how much even a slight change in diet can effect your health.