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cristalcunningham · Sep 6, 2006, 08:36 PM

If my teenage girl is not getting enough sleep could it cause headaches? She only sleeps about 7 hours a night and sometimes less than that.

kp2171 · Sep 6, 2006, 09:01 PM

Sure. Stress also. Poor diet sometimes. Hormonal changes sometimes. Sometimes environmental. Hours of sleep can vary. My wife, like her father, cannot sleep for more than 7 hours, and often goes for less. Just her makeup.

Ours had headaches, and some stomach pains that were like an ulcer, but not. Most of it attrubuted to "nerves"... this in a A/B student who had a ton of friends and a strong family. She's an "old soul"... and just fretted about things she didn't need to. We actually needed to get her on some meds to control it, and then she went to a therapist for some of the stress issues. It worked well. Absolutely KILLED us to have her on anxiety meds as a junior in HS, but it really was the right thing to do... and the therapy really opened her mind to seeking help from others from time to time. Now at college, she's gone a few times to talk to someone when things seemed out of control. No longer on meds, thankfully.

What's going on? Just complaints about headaches? No other symptoms? Are these migranes or just frequent headaches?

Really, there are a lot of things, and especially at that age, many of the potential causes are present often.

J_9 · Sep 7, 2006, 05:47 AM

I have to agree with everything KP said. Especially the hormonal and stress issues.

Hormonal changes are going on right now that can even cause a physiological stress. This is a stress due to hormonal changes that she is not even aware of.

cristalcunningham · Sep 7, 2006, 06:02 AM

She does complain of stomach aches sometimes and she is a jr in high school. I never really thought it could be stress. We talk about her problems but I also have 2 other children so she could be getting lost in the shuffle. I will take to the dr and see if he will recommend a therapist for her. She also doesn't eat as healthy as she should. She always picks the junk food over healthy food every chance she gets, thank you for all your help

kp2171 · Sep 7, 2006, 06:08 AM

Kate was not necessarily happy about the therapist at first on principle, but after a few sessions (these were just her and the therapist) I think it allowed her to vent a little to an adult and get some feedback that wasn't labeled as parental nonsense or criticism. I think if she can see it as meeting with a "counselor" and not a "therapist" it helps.

And as I said, the ended up taking an antidepressant and a med for the stomach by the time it was all done. Just killed us about the antidepressant... her mother and I are people who take an advil 6 hours too late, after we've tried all day to shake it wout meds... but it did work in our case.

cristalcunningham · Sep 7, 2006, 06:29 AM

Thanks for all your advice

DrHanson · Mar 17, 2007, 03:01 PM

There are many causes of headaches. It would be beneficial for your daughter to have a complete physical exam.

Insufficient sleep can cause a person to become irritable (increase in adrenal hormones) which can affect the brain and might result in headaches.

Teenage girls with headaches frequently have headaches due to "dieting". Lack of sufficient calories (expending more calories than they take-in), not drinking enough fluids during the daytime, and poor elimination habits can all lead to dehydration, hypoglycemia, and hypotension which can cause headaches. Lack of oxygen in the brain because of insufficient blood pressure from dehydration or dieting can cause headaches in teenage girls. Teenage girls lose blood during menses which can cause them to become anemic. Anemia reduces iron which reduces hemoglobin in the blood and this can result in decreased oxygen saturation of the blood in the brain and cause symptoms e.g. headaches.

stopmefalling · Sep 17, 2008, 03:58 PM

I'm a 15 y/o girl, who has been experiencing headaches daily for a few weeks, went to the doctors, he believes them to be migraines, especially as accompanied with nausea. Its worth her seeing a doctor, may not be stress related, could be dietary. Chocolate, cheese and similar foods can trigger headaches, its worth cutting these out to see if it makes a difference.
On my second set of medication as the first lot [diclofenac sodium] didn't seem to help, on beta blockers [propanolol] now, which I'm hoping will make them less frequent at least. Hope this helps. X