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Teen at Glenbrook North High School creates blog, fundraises to increase awareness around migraines

A Glenbrook North High School senior who has suffered with migraine headaches for several years is using social media and other tools and partnerships to help raise aware for the condition that experts say can negatively impact young people’s quality of life.

When Ayla Kaufman was 13-years-old, a virus in her ear developed, which is what doctors believe triggered the migraines she experiences. Initially, Kaufman, now 17, said it felt like “really bad headaches and a lot of vertigo.”

She began to experience dizziness and eyesight problems as various doctors tried to help her, she said.

After five months, after that ear virus pediatric neurologist diagnosed Kaufman with vestibular migraine and chronic migraine with brainstem aura, which mimics symptoms of a stroke and seizures, she said.

“We didn’t really think that they were migraines, which is why it took us several months to figure that out, especially because there’s not a [cut and dry] diagnosis mechanism for migraines,” Kaufman said.

Now, she is raising awareness through blogging about how debilitating migraines can be, and working with government officials and fundraising.

She created the “Defeating Migraines Together” blog as a channel for teenagers to communicate and learn more about the disease, she explained. Further, she said, there are few migraine medications for children.

“Emotional issues and school performance are among the most common problems” with children who suffer from migraines, according to the nonprofit American Migraine Foundation website.

Over the years, Kaufman said she has taken a lot of different medication to help with her condition. Some worked better than others, but even the medicines that seemed to be effective would stop working after some time, she said.

Now, she takes a medication that was developed specifically for migraines, and said she feels the best she has since middle school.

Since she’s been dealing with the condition, Kaufman said she has had her fair share of people who say her migraines are “just headaches.”

“That’s just not true. Part of the fact that I do a lot of advocacy work is that, when people say things like that, I see it more as an opportunity to correct them and raise awareness around the issue,” the teen said.

According to the American Migraine Foundation website, “migraines are a real disorder—not just a variation of a regular headache.” The research and awareness organization states that migraines are different from headaches and require different treatments.

Because of her condition, Kaufman said she missed the majority of seventh and eighth grades and quit soccer because running made her dizzy and triggered the severe headache.

“It has definitely changed the way I learn because I don’t really do well in a classroom environment where somebody is lecturing at me,” she said.

During the first week of school, Kaufman said she meets with all her teachers to inform them about her migraines and her plan for how she will make up work if she misses school because of them.

Now a senior at Glenbrook North , Kaufman said the school has been “really helpful and has had my interest in mind” since she has started there.

When she goes to college next year, Kaufman said she wants to study global health to help people, especially adolescents, with chronic pain and illness.