Going to College with migraines

Hi Emily,

Thank you for your post. Congrats on graduating high school and beginning college! You must be very excited, however perhaps a bit trepidatious due to chronic migraine. I'm sorry to hear your Botox treatments are not working. I am thinking of you and hoping you find a more effective treatment. In the meantime I thought you would find these articles helpful - https://migraine.com/blog/a-list-call-for-creature-comforts/, https://migraine.com/blog/community-responses-what-are-your-go-to-techniques-that-bring-you-comfort/. They provide self care tips for managing your migraine attack symptoms. Also, the following link will connect with some information about managing school and chronic migraine - https://migraine.com/migraines-in-children-and-teens/migraines-school/. I do feel community members will better provide you a more personal account of how they have managed their migraine attacks while in college, however felt you would find the following forms helpful - https://migraine.com/migraines-in-children-and-teens/forms-for-children/, https://migraine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Migraine-Form-for-College-Professors.pdf,
https://migraine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Migraine-Form-for-Resident-Assistants.pdf. If you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to reach out. We will be thinking of you as you embark on your journey and head off to college. Really, a huge congratulations! Wishing you all the best today.

Warmly,

Meaghan (Migraine.com Team)

Hi Emily,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Your story uncannily reminds me of myself when I graduated high school! I was dealing with chronic migraine and was very nervous to change my environment (change has always been a huge trigger for me). I have also tried botox and I was also an engineering major my freshman year!!

Anyway, back to your question. It was definitely difficult adjusting to college- especially having a roommate. If you are interested in living alone, I would contact your school’s residence program to see what options you have. I know my 2nd year it was very difficult to get a single because of high demand. However, I was able to register with students for disabilities and they helped me tremendously as far as getting a single and authorizing certain amenities for me such as a humidifier and soft light lamp that were otherwise prohibited.

Living alone was ideal for me because I got to control the lights, noise (to an extent), temperature, smells and other things that help me manage my migraine. However, I also began using earplugs and an eye mask when I went to sleep to further eliminate some of the triggers that weren’t in my control.

As far as work and classes, I told my professors up front what I was dealing with. I think it is better to give them a heads up rather than wait for things to get really bad. Most, from my experience, were extremely understanding and even gave me extensions and/or make up exams in certain instances. You definitely need to find a balance of working hard on the days you feel better but not working too hard that it will trigger a migraine attack.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to express your concern to your neurologist and see if you can get prescriptions for different acute medications to see what works best for you. Perhaps s/he can also prescribe something stronger such as a steroid just in case you get a persistent migraine while at school and can’t get to the doctor’s office as conveniently.

The forms that Meaghan provided in her post are awesome resources. I am sure your school has similar forms and if not, definitely present these to them.

Please feel free to reach out with anymore questions or concerns.

Best,
Jillian (Migraine.com Team)