What It’s Really Like To Live With Severe Migraines

The migraines I thought I’d left behind in my teens are back with a vengeance in my 50s.

m not alone. Migraines affect more than 38 million people in the United States, resulting in 113 million lost workdays a year, costing American employers $13 billion annually. The World Health Organization classifies it as the most disabling neurologic disease on the planet and it’s even worse for women. A study from the Women’s Health Initiative found that three times more women experience migraines than men.

Migraines affect more than 38 million Americans, resulting in 113 million lost workdays a year.

Many of the symptoms I experience are common to other sufferers. According to migraine expert Elizabeth Seng, Ph.D., research assistant professor at Einstein College of Medicine’s Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology, the pain of a migraine is usually pulsing or pounding and one-sided. It becomes worse when people try to engage in normal activities. Nausea and vomiting is typical, as is sensitivity to light and sound and visual disturbances, like seeing dark spots in your field of vision.

There are warning signs migraine sufferers may experience a couple of minutes to a couple of hours before the actual pain begins. “People might have difficulty concentrating or difficulty finding words,” Seng told me. “Sometimes people will start yawning or have diarrhea or constipation. Some of my patients have described sudden feelings of depression or suddenly getting irritable or feeling hyperactive — all of those could potentially be warning signs of migraine, and you want to be able to catch it before it starts. This why it’s such a challenge for people who are in the workplace to manage migraine. Because we’re busy focusing on what we’re doing and it can be difficult to notice these warning signs when they’re coming on.”