Question on DoDMERB Exam.

[Vaquero]

One of the questions on the online form asks about headaches in terms of whether the candidate has had severe, frequent, or migraine headaches.

Grandson had some headaches his freshman year of high school. They were not what we would characterize as frequent but he had perhaps 4 or 5 and while never diagnosed as "migraines" some would knock him down for a day.

The last two years, he will occasionally have a headache--perhaps twice a year. They can, but do not usually, knock him down for a day and seem to be correlated with dehydration.

The form does not provide any explanatory space.

We wish to be completely honest but are unsure as to how to answer the question as it is yes or no and we have read that migraines--which his have never been labeled--can result in a disqualification.

His exam is scheduled for the end of this month and we would like to know i) how the online question should be answered where there is no space for explanations/comments and ii) whether it is something that should be brought up during the exam.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

[fnatic fanatic]

and seem to be correlated with dehydration.

There's your answer. I suffer(ed) from the same thing. I had those awful headaches sometimes and they always seemed to be on days that I went working out for extended periods of time or was out and about for the majority of the day. It wasn't until a chief told me it's probably dehydration, drink a lot of water now and in the future stay hydrated that I realized that water was indeed the solution to these headaches. Any time now I feel the smallest bit of a headache coming on, I hydrate up and the headache will usually not develop.

I wouldn't mark it down.

 

[NavyHoops]

If he has never seen a doctor with a diagnosis of migraines then mark it as no. Self diagnosis shouldn't be used to answer the questions. None of us are DoDMERB experts or doctors, just our opinions on this stuff.

 

[AF6872]

Youngest Daughter got the same. She was told hydration was the cure. Working outside in a theme park and sports at college in the sun contributed. She has taken lots of fluid to work and has not had a major episode. I would say No.

 

[Cerberi]

If he has never seen a doctor with a diagnosis of migraines then mark it as no. Self diagnosis shouldn't be used to answer the questions. None of us are DoDMERB experts or doctors, just our opinions on this stuff.

What she said!!!

I certainly understand and appreciate the desire to be 100% honest in completing the application, but without a doctor's diagnosis you have nothing that DoDMERB will be concerned or interested. If you declare the headaches, the remedial will ask for medical records which you don't have and then you are off to a bureaucratic nightmare.

 

[falconchic88]

Agree 100% with NavyHoops!

As an aside, if he should have to mark yes to any of the questions, there is a blank page at the end of the survey to explain in detail any "yes" answers. For some reason when my son completed his, and marked yes for breaking a bone, the page never came up to fill out electronically, however when you print out the entire packet, the page is there, so he filled it in after printing it out. We only knew to look for this page because we have been through this process 3 times before, so just a heads up.

 

[coachkarl]

If he has never seen a doctor with a diagnosis of migraines then mark it as no. Self diagnosis shouldn't be used to answer the questions. None of us are DoDMERB experts or doctors, just our opinions on this stuff.

This, this, 100 times this. If there's no MEDICAL diagnosis, there is NOTHING to report.