Migraine Waiver with a couple more questions

eulavvalue

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Messages
2
Hello all. I wanted to explain my situation and see what people think and if anyone has experience with it, what kind of options do I have. I've been talking to my schools Army ROTC recruiter about joining ROTC through the LTC program they have. I have done the DoDMERBS medical exam and everything came up clean except my history of migraine headaches. I was very surprised that this was an issue because my doctor said they could not confirm that I had migraine headaches, and prescribed me Motrin just in case I wanted to take some because I had a lumbar puncture done to rule out all possible causes when I visited the doctor. After lumbar punctures you get severe headaches for about a week, and I may have taken a couple of the Motrin's when that was going on but haven't touched them since then (March 2010). On my DoDMERB form I said that I had them quarterly for 4-18 hours which I guess raised a red flag. Whenever I feel a headache coming on I simply don't do stressful activities until they go away. I would assume this is common practice for anyone who has a headache.

My DQ is:
D211.40
History of headaches disrupting normal activities or requiring prescription medications more than twice per year in the past 2 years

They don't disrupt my normal activites, and they don't require prescription medication to resolve the issue. I was simply prescribed them because of the lumbar puncture headaches. I never re-filled a prescription and I never visited the doctor since then for any headache related issue. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this, and what type of documentation should I try to receive in order to waive my disqualification.

Also, on my DoDMERB I admitted to using marijuana and alcohol once for both. 6 years back and 2 years back just to try them. My parents believe these are the real reasons I was disqualified. They kept on telling me I should have consulted them when filling out the forms, and that I should have put "No" in those areas because they should only be answered by current users and that I was dumb for not doing so. From what I understand experimentation does not disqualify from joining the military and I was not given any notification of being disqualified for prior drug experimentation, so I was wondering if that could come bite me in the rear end if I am able to get this migraine waiver cleared up.

Any and all help is appreciated. Thank you!
 
Hello all. I wanted to explain my situation and see what people think and if anyone has experience with it, what kind of options do I have. I've been talking to my schools Army ROTC recruiter about joining ROTC through the LTC program they have. I have done the DoDMERBS medical exam and everything came up clean except my history of migraine headaches. I was very surprised that this was an issue because my doctor said they could not confirm that I had migraine headaches, and prescribed me Motrin just in case I wanted to take some because I had a lumbar puncture done to rule out all possible causes when I visited the doctor. After lumbar punctures you get severe headaches for about a week, and I may have taken a couple of the Motrin's when that was going on but haven't touched them since then (March 2010). On my DoDMERB form I said that I had them quarterly for 4-18 hours which I guess raised a red flag. Whenever I feel a headache coming on I simply don't do stressful activities until they go away. I would assume this is common practice for anyone who has a headache.

My DQ is:
D211.40
History of headaches disrupting normal activities or requiring prescription medications more than twice per year in the past 2 years

They don't disrupt my normal activites, and they don't require prescription medication to resolve the issue. I was simply prescribed them because of the lumbar puncture headaches. I never re-filled a prescription and I never visited the doctor since then for any headache related issue. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this, and what type of documentation should I try to receive in order to waive my disqualification.

Also, on my DoDMERB I admitted to using marijuana and alcohol once for both. 6 years back and 2 years back just to try them. My parents believe these are the real reasons I was disqualified. They kept on telling me I should have consulted them when filling out the forms, and that I should have put "No" in those areas because they should only be answered by current users and that I was dumb for not doing so. From what I understand experimentation does not disqualify from joining the military and I was not given any notification of being disqualified for prior drug experimentation, so I was wondering if that could come bite me in the rear end if I am able to get this migraine waiver cleared up.

Any and all help is appreciated. Thank you!

I don't want to sound harsh, but your parents are wrong. All drug history should be reported. ALL of it. That was not the reason you were DQ'd. If it was, they would tell you. Good luck with your case.
 
I don't want to sound harsh, but your parents are wrong. All drug history should be reported. ALL of it. That was not the reason you were DQ'd. If it was, they would tell you. Good luck with your case.

Yeah that's what I thought. I really didn't want to put false information on the form, especially when it could come back and ruin my life later on. Anyone have insight on the migraine waiver? I have been searching the internet and it seems like these are not waived very often which is pretty disappointing. I am one month and 17 days away from the two year mark of not having any medication prescribed or visiting the doctor for anything headache related, so I am hoping that plays in my favor. My other option other than ROTC would have been to enlist, but if I can't get this waived then the chances of enlisting is pretty small, isn't it?
 
I am one month and 17 days away from the two year mark of not having any medication prescribed or visiting the doctor for anything headache related

My DS was dq'd last year for a medical issue where he too missed the timeframe -- he was 4 months from the 5 year mark for no meds relating to his issue. In his case, the academy did not seek a waiver...

Here we are, a year later, and he has reapplied. Keeping our fingers crossed for a BFE this time!

Also, you did the absolute right thing by answering the questions honestly. Good luck to you. Have a Plan B in place. And remember you can reapply next year.
 
Anyone have insight on the migraine waiver? I have been searching the internet and it seems like these are not waived very often which is pretty disappointing.

While I do not know a whole lot about the medical qualification process, I just know how my personal experience played out.

I too was disqualified for the same medical reason from USAFA, USNA, and USMA. Basically, they all told me they would try and seek and waiver.

Later on, USAFA came back and stated that I was not qualified enough to receive a waiver. This was a pretty major blow, as USAFA was my top option.

However, when one door closes, another opens, and USMA came back saying they wanted to give me a waiver, but needed more information. I had to send in basically my whole medical record, along with letters from my doctor stating his opinion.

I honestly did not believe this information would change USMA's mind at all, but after a short amount of waiting they came back with a waiver in hand for my migraines. Needless to say, I was quite excited, and now i have to put some serious thought into what I want to do next year. (USMA was previously my 2nd SA choice with USAFA being #1)

The bottom line: Migraine waivers are not an impossible item to obtain, and i firmly believe that it is completely on a case by case basis. Unfortunately, there is no definite answer....

Hope this Helps.
 
My son received a waiver for migraines this past year. He received an AROTC scholarship. In order to receive his waiver he had to provide documentation (medical records) of his migraines and also a letter from his neurologist about his condition. Luckily for him, he hadn't had a significant migraine for 2 years and had not taken any medication for it.

Good luck.
 
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