Teen finds answers and much-needed relief from CHoR just in time to graduate.

Tension headaches, sinus headaches and even ice cream headaches can be a real pain, but none of them can compare to the agony experienced by those diagnosed with migraine. Unfortunately for most sufferers, migraine headaches can happen frequently and be detrimental to their quality of life.

That’s what happened to 17-year-old Jadyn Sutton. As a sophomore in high school, she started experiencing headaches, which quickly increased in severity and frequency. The headaches made it impossible to get out of bed, much less go to school. According to Jadyn’s mom they had no idea why this was happening.

“She would just start having massive headaches,” Tina Sutton remembered. “We could not explain why she was having them, could not pinpoint the source, could not identify if it was food, or if was related to hormones or what it was.”

While migraine has a strong genetic component, Jadyn’s mom had never experienced them and couldn’t fully comprehend what her daughter was going through. But Jadyn was really struggling.

“They first started just like headaches. And then I started getting them once a week,” she said.  “And then it became once every day and eventually they turned into migraine headaches. It would be on one side of my head, or I couldn’t see, and it got way worse.”

Once, Jadyn said, her migraine lasted two full days.

Desperate for answers about her migraine pain

To get help and answers, Jadyn went to her primary care doctor who thought it could be stress or too much screen time. That doctor recommended Jadyn make lifestyle changes, which she did, but said they didn’t help. Her mother took her to the gynecologist, thinking hormones could be the problem and that birth control pills could help regulate them, but that didn’t help either.

It got to the point where Jadyn was going through large bottles of over-the-counter pain relievers dangerously fast and was desperate for relief. Not only that, she was entering a crucial time in her life – the final semester of her senior year of high school – but having to stay home sick multiple days per week.

One billion people worldwide suffer from migraine. The disease affects 1 in 11 children and can impact every aspect of life. Symptoms include the commonly known throbbing or pounding headache, often on one side of the head, and sensitivity to light, but can also come in the form of nausea, vomiting and aversion to noise or smells. Others may see flashing lights, blind spots or feel pins and needle sensations.

A friend of Jadyn’s, familiar with migraine pain, told her about the treatment he received from Dr. Lauren Strauss at CHoR. Jadyn’s mom did some research and made an appointment.

Getting to the root of migraine pain

“Patients and families seeking care for headache are often at a crisis point where they are in the process of losing hope,” shared Dr. Strauss, chief of general neurology and headache at CHoR.

But getting to the root cause of migraine headaches isn’t a quick or easy process.

Dr. Strauss said, “This is challenging and an important part of our assessment in the Headache Clinic – trying to make sure we don’t miss a cause or contributor. The answer usually is multifactorial – a combination between genetic predisposition combined with environmental exposure.” She added, “There are several health conditions and exposures that likely modulate earlier age of presentation or how severe episodes are like hormones, infection, inflammation, other disease influence, head trauma, medications and health habits.”

“I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

The Suttons both shared they were very surprised how thorough their first visit with Dr. Strauss was, as she worked to figure out the cause of Jadyn’s headaches, and how the doctor took her time with them. 

“I’ve never experienced anything like it, to be completely honest with you,” Tina said. “She was extremely thorough and didn’t rush. She noticed everything, and when I say everything, she noticed everything.”

She also was grateful that Dr. Strauss shared her own personal experiences with Jadyn.

“She was extremely vulnerable, that was number one, but she became extremely empathetic,” Tina recalled. “She just really met her where she was, leaned into it and did not pass over any of it. She was there to connect with her patient, not her patient’s mom and that felt so good to me.”

Jadyn felt that connection too.

“When I first met her, we talked about everything.”

It was those conversations and some follow-up testing that led to Jadyn’s treatment plan, which included a combination of prescription medication, elimination of caffeine, an increase in vitamin D and a change in sleep habits. Within weeks, Jadyn had gone from waking up daily with migraine headaches to going three weeks to a month without any headaches at all. She was able to catch up on all of her schoolwork, graduate with honors and is heading to college in the fall.

But she won’t be starting her freshman year without a detailed plan of how to manage her migraine pain. Dr. Strauss helped her find the health services at her new school and develop an emergency plan just in case Jadyn experiences headaches when she’s hours away from home.

The transition from pediatric to adult care for migraine patients

The type of care Jadyn is receiving during this time of her life is not typical. Dr. Strauss recently published an article on the transition from pediatric to adult care for patients with recurrent headaches. Her research found only 18% of children have their headache issues resolved before adulthood, so facilitating that transition is important to maintain quality of life. She and a team of doctors from other teaching hospitals, developed a list of recommendations for physicians treating young adults who experienced pediatric headaches to lead to better health outcomes.

Jadyn is so grateful for the added support.

She said, “I didn’t realize how much [migraine pain] was holding me down and stopping me from doing things until I stopped having it, which is truly amazing.”

Learn more about how our team treats migraine and other headaches at CHoR's comprehensive neurosciences center.