15 Jan Reader's Mail: Post-Meningitis Headaches May Need Further Evaluation

Q. My daughter, who is 15 years old, had viral meningitis in August, and although the meningitis is gone, she continues to have daily headaches. The doctors continue to contribute these headaches to the meningitis and say it will take time. The pediatric neurologist just wants to continue medicating her, which is not really helping her. The doctor does not want her to take Advil or Tylenol due to the chance of rebound headaches. She is on Elavil, 37.5mg daily, and Fiorinal for pain. The narcotics make her sleep 12 hours but do nothing for pain. I do not know what else to do for her. We went to the emergency room two weeks ago with severe pain. The ER doctors put her on an IV of Toradol, Reglan and Benadryl, which after several hours did alleviate the pain. Is there any research regarding post-meningitis headaches and treatments, and is there anything else that can be causing these headaches, or is it truly a migraine?