Aanya Patel's Experience With Post-Concussion Syndrome and Migraine

By Kerrie Smyres

5 min read

Falling on the stairs in her home when she was 13 changed Aanya Patel’s life in ways few teenagers could ever imagine. After developing post-concussion syndrome and migraine from the head injury, Aanya learned the value of telling the truth about her experience and how to advocate for herself with teachers and friends. That led her to start Calming My Storm, an unincorporated nonprofit dedicated to helping people with concussions and migraine thrive.

Aanya’s wisdom about life with migraine is far beyond her years. I know that is clichéd, but she impressed me with her willingness to be vulnerable and not hide her symptoms when I spoke with her. She has learned lessons that can help everyone with migraine live better with this disease.

Aanya’s injury and diagnosis

After a severe concussion three years ago, Aanya immediately had a constellation of symptoms, including light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, nausea, and balance issues. Although her symptoms continued to linger, health care professionals told her they would go away in time. After nine months of these symptoms, Aanya started having migraine attacks.

She still has frequent migraine but says they are much better thanks to the SpringTMS. She’s now has a couple of migraine attacks a week and still has constant head pain.

The value of lifestyle changes for managing migraine

In addition to using the SpringTMS, Aanya says that “the lifestyle changes are way more important than I ever realized. They have been the most significant part of me being able to recover.”

Although she was initially resistant to lifestyle changes, Aanya says, “I think a lot of people who suffer from migraines don't initially realize how significant [lifestyle changes] are. I remember sitting in neurologists’ offices and bawling my eyes and being like, ‘I don't understand why doing those lifestyle changes will matter.’ But I think for me, now I've really understood, like, wow, that really makes a difference.”

Missing school and playing catch-up

Aanya is currently 16 and a junior in high school. She was in eighth grade when she experienced her injury and missed six months of school. When she started high school, “I jumped in with a full schedule, like athletic activities, clubs, everything that you think a normal high schooler would do,” she said. “I was still having the symptoms, but everyone was like, ‘No, you should just resort back to normal.’ And then I started having horrible migraines. And as a result, I couldn't really keep up with my classes... My school was really good about my accommodations, but it was still really tricky. And hard to keep up. Especially because I was always playing catch-up.” She spent the summer after her first year of high school catching up. She got it done but said, “Oh my god, it was so much work.”

Managing migraine in a high school environment

High school is a particularly difficult environment for migraine, Aanya believes. “People all say the worst environment is in high school. And actually, when they go to college, it’s been better for a lot of people I've talked to because you're more in control of your schedule, and what time your classes are, and things like that. When you're in high school, you're in the building for it, what, six hours a day, and you are in these highly lit rooms. Everything's constantly moving. Everything's constantly loud. There's constantly a lot of kids, and it's just always moving. And you can't really escape it.”

High school friendships and migraine

Navigating friendships with migraine can be difficult no matter what age you are, but poses special challenges in high school. Aanya has found that explaining her limits has helped her be closer to her friends. When she has to cancel plans, she makes sure to tell them, “I'm not missing this because I don't want to go. It's actually because I am suffering from migraine. I think it really shows you who's really your friends and who's really understanding.”

She feels like once she explained her illness to her friends, they were accepting and understanding, not just of her experience, but what it means to have migraine. “A lot of my friends will see me have a migraine and will be like, ‘Yeah, this is not just a headache, this is a big deal.’”

Talking to teachers about symptoms

Aanya initially had trouble opening up to teachers about her symptoms. “It's really a hard thing to do is to be like, ‘Hey, I really suck at this. But I really want to make sure that you don't think of me as anything less, even though I'm telling you this crazy thing inhabits my brain, of all things.’”

Talking to her teachers gave Aanya insight into migraine stigma. “I think that how you reduce stigma is by being really honest and straightforward. And explaining things and letting them ask questions because I would always be like, ‘Do you have any questions because I know that you want to support me, you just don't fully understand’ This is honestly crazy if you haven't lived it.”

But being open wasn’t her first instinct. “I would always be the type of person who didn't want to share. But I think I realized that there was such a power in it. Like I did with one teacher once because I explained why I bombed a test. And then they just understood so much. I was like, ‘Why wouldn’t I do this with all my other teachers?’” Aanya realized, “[hiding it] doesn't make any sense; I should be sharing.”

Aanya’s advice for living with debilitating symptoms

Aanya’s first piece of advice was about recovering from her concussion, though her wisdom applies to many types of struggles. She advises working toward recovering from your symptoms but not putting all your energy into it. “Focus on other things that make you happy, focus on your hobbies, focus on other things, and find ways to compensate for it. Sometimes, when you get too focused on [your symptoms], it makes you feel worse… [F]inding other things that make you happy that don't cause you pain is really powerful.”

Learn more about Calming My Storm

Aanya also spoke with me about Calming My Storm, the unincorporated nonprofit she started. You can learn more about her and the organization on my blog, The Daily Headache: Calming My Storm: Aanya Patel copes with migraine & TBI by starting a nonprofit

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The Migraine.com team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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pigen51 Member
I have to say, I never experienced many migraines in high school, even though I had at least 5-6 concussions, with probably 3 of them what one would consider severe. I know that I would often get a concussion on a Friday night, at a football game, and would be in a sort of fog, for a good deal of the next several days, often until the next Wednesday or so. Then, come Friday night, it was another football game, with the hope that I was able to avoid another concussion. I only had back to back concussions once, in all four years of high school football. Neither one of those were of the severe type, but they did effect my ability to concentrate in class for a few weeks, if I remember correctly. By the time I was a Senior in high school, I had fulfilled nearly all of the graduation requirements, other than one class, Government, so my schedule was filled with 2 band classes, a teacher's aide, and a photography class, plus the Government class. So while it was during my last year of high school that I sustained the worst of my concussions, my schedule was such that I was able to get by ok. I do remember the one that I was knocked unconscious, I got up the next morning, with what I now know was a migraine, and grabbed some aspirin, thought I was going to vomit them back up, and went and stood in front of the toilet, then came too when my dad picked me up off of the floor. I had passed out, not knowing what had happened. It was at that point that I went to the hospital, not the night before. I was diagnosed with a concussion, a dislocated jaw, and several broken teeth, which I already knew about. The doctor pushed on my jaw, wondering if they would have to sedate me to put it back, and it just popped into place, with no pain, just a loud click. I am amazed that a girl this young was able to be cognizant enough to find the ability to not only learn how to deal with the many issues of migraines, but to also found a non profit, to help others in similar circumstances. So a big shoutout and well done to her, and wishing her continued success with her health, and her education. 
1. Cheryl Picerno Moderator
 @pigen51 thanks for sharing your story with us. It means a lot when others take the time to share their stories and experiences. If you are in the community for a while you'll get to see we have some pretty amazing people here! I'm glad you're here. Warmly, Cheryl <a href='http://migraine.com' target='_blank'>migraine.com</a> team
pigen51 Member
Thank you Cheryl, I have been around for awhile, but I don't often see others with migraines related to concussion syndrome, like I feel that I have, even though I also have a family history of migraines. And when I read this young girls story, I was just moved, because she is not really considering it as a disability, but instead as motivation to enjoy the days that she has that are good, and to start a support group of her own, to help people understand what migraine is, and what it is not. After over 40 years of migraines, I still have people who have known me for that long, who don't yet understand that, just because I am on disability and no longer go to work in a steel making factory, the migraines didn't stop. I simply could not continue to attempt to work in any type of environment that made me have to be there, on any real schedule. Plus, the jobs that were required of me, were demanding. Both physically and mentally. That kind of steel we made went into artificial hip sockets and knee joints, screws and pin for broken bones, etc. Also golf clubs, boat propellers, and melted under vacuum, jet engine parts. We had to deal with not only the heat, but also the mental ability to run the equipment that was involved in making the steel, using some basic algebraic mathematics. It was interesting, and I got my picture in trade magazines, a few times, since I was there from the beginning, at the age of 18, spending over 35 years doing it, so I helped develop some of the programs and the procedures that were written for each job, to ensure that everyone did things the same way, to avoid very costly mistakes. In my time there, there were 2 young children killed as well as a man I trained on his job, who on a different shift, had another person make a major mistake, and was struck by an explosion of about 4,000 pounds of 3,000 degree steel. If I had any other skills, I would have left at the first incident. It happened on thanksgiving day, 1987, and I will never forget it. Just one more thing that sometimes men have to live though and try to put aside, but it is not always easy.
1. Melissa Arnold Community Admin
 <inline-mention username="pigen51" user-id="3906478"/> Hey there! Good to see you. 😀 We've actually had quite a bit come up around here regarding concussions and other head injuries, especially TBI. I am running out of battery at the moment, but here's a link to a search I did that you can check out if you're interested: <a href='https://migraine.com/search?s=concussion' target='_blank'>https://migraine.com/search?s=concussion</a> Hope you're well and that this is interesting to you! -Melissa, <a href='http://migraine.com' target='_blank'>migraine.com</a> team
Melissa Arnold Community Admin
<inline-mention username="Kerrie Smyres" user-id="3788609"/> This is such a fabulous article. Thank you for sharing Aanya with us! Love her honesty. -Melissa, <a href='http://migraine.com' target='_blank'>migraine.com</a> team

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