Lost My Child Suddenly. Getting Headache, Tightness In Throat, Cough. Any Medication I Need?

Posted on Fri, 15 Mar 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 Answered on

Thu, 4 Apr 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : My 19 year old son died suddenly last July 2012 from a gas tank explosion. For 2 months after I was so numb that I could not remember that I even loved my new husband. The holidays were difficult and my husband left. I became numb again. Now I'm working toward picking up the pieces however I keep having bad dreams of the fire and the remembering of when I saw my son's blacken chard body. I have been allowing the process of grief to flow however physically I have painful headaches almost daily and a chronic tightness in my throat that makes me want to cough for weeks. I'm not on any medications I'm basically a healthy person.

Answered by Dr. Prasad Akole (20 minutes later)

Dear friend,

Welcome and thanks for entrusting your query here at XXXXXXX

I am Dr. Prasad Akole (Critical Care Expert- http://bit.ly/Dr-Prasad-Akole) and am glad to address to your query here.

I feel really sorry for the event.

I can see that you are going through a tough time.
That is the most likely reason of headaches and throat tightness.
Most likely the throat thing is psychological stress.

Do you have any difficulty swallowing, speaking?
Do you feel lonely?

Do not worry. Every cloud has a silver lining. Good times will come. Or rather you have to bring back the happiness.

Stop worrying and grieving and headaches will go away. Anyway, you are in good health.

You can take OTC paracetamol/ acetaminophen upto 4 grams /day in 3-4 divided doses (of 1 gm) for headaches.

Try a counselor’s service to help you psychologically. Talk to friends, relatives. Engage in a desirable hobby.

If throat still feels tight, please see an ENT specialist and a psychiatrist to help you cope up.

Waiting for your response,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T