Question: My daughter, XXXXXXX age 19, has been out of the country for the last 4 months. She was in Rwanda, Tanzania, XXXXXXX Israel and Dumagetti, Philippines. She returned to the states on April 20 and by May 8 started having headaches. This has ranged from excruciating pain, to dull pain behind the eyes, to feeling like her brain is surrounded by blowing air. She also has a still neck and severe lower back pain on the right side. She took malaria meds the entire time she was overseas and had no medical issues while there. She also has no preceding medical issues. We have seen a doctor 3 times and have had an MRI of the brain and of the back. Brain came back with no concerns, we have not heard on the back yet. Blood work came back clear, and they have now done West Nile and sedrate ( we don't have those results yet) At times the back pain is so excruciating that she is in tears. There is no position that makes it worse or better. She has not had any fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. She left this morning for a trip with her grandmother and girl cousins to NYC. She says the pain has now moved around to include her abdomen. I feel like the doctor has been very proactive and we have discussed a consult with infectious disease and/or a neurosurgeon. It seems that without a fever there would not be an infectious disease.

I sure would appreciate any advice you may have -

Thank you - XXXXXXX Rhodes

The headaches stay a dull ache most of the time. They periodically get horrible - about 3 times over the last 3 weeks they have been "the worst headache of her life" I had hormone related migraines when I was younger and so did my mother. Excedrin migraine does help with these. She has no visual disturbances or sinus issues. The back pain causes her the most difficulty. There is no position that makes it better or worse. It does not radiate and it does not hurt worse when it is pushed on. She has had no injury or strain to it and we did get MRI results back on the back and it was clear also. We do have an appt. with infectious disease doctor next week. Her sed rate came back normal and West Nile has not come back yet. She has only taken the painkillers since last Thursday. She was prescribed Tylenol 3 and she had some Hydrocodone 5 mg. Could either of those cause the severe abdomen pain? She said the abdomen pain started yesterday morning. She is traveling with my mother to NYC for a long weekend. My mother said she had never seen such pain on anyone's face in all of her 75 years. XXXXXXX (My daughter) said she truly felt like she was going to die on the plane. She has not had any head ache issues for 3 days except for the dull pain. IT is the back and now abdomen that is the horrible issue for her.
Could the severe abdominal pain be caused by either the Tylenol 3 or the hydrocodone? She took 2 tylenol 3 on Thursday evening. The back pain increased while on the plane yesterday ( Friday) morning and she took one hydrocodone. Shortly thereafter is when the severe abdominal pain started and she felt like she would die. After a couple of hours, the abdominal pain subsided and the pain in her back lingered. In the afternoon, she took 2 tylenol 3's. This morning she took 2 more tylenol 3's with her breakfast due to back pain. She said she is starting to feel some abdomen pain come back now.