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Headache

Living with Migraine

Summary & Participants

Pain from migraines can be so debilitating that it affects a sufferer’s ability to carry on his or her daily activities and diminishes his or her quality of life.

Medically Reviewed On: July 17, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Over 28 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches. The pain from these migraines can be so debilitating that it affects the sufferer's ability to carry on his or her daily activities.

MARK W. GREEN, MD: If you have a headache that gets worse when you lean forward, it's kind of hard to function very much. If you're nauseated, it's hard to function. If you're light-sensitive, you can't tell everyone in the office to turn the lights out. If you're sleepy and tired and yawning, you're not very productive. So all these migraine symptoms have a big impact on quality of life both at home and at work.

ANNOUNCER: Seventy-five percent of patients report that they avoid social interactions, while 70 percent of migraine sufferers report that migraines interfere with their work.

MIGRAINE PATIENT 1: When I worked as a legal secretary it was very difficult. If I woke up with a migraine that day I would not go into work. I couldn't handle all the stress of working on that job and the concentration that it takes. It was just too much to hold on.

MIGRAINE PATIENT 2: I'm afraid to drive because I'm afraid I'll have another one, and I'll be on the highway and you lose your vision. And then unfortunately, it leads to fear of reoccurrence. If I get a flash in my eye or if I look at the sun and I think, "Oh God, here I go again." It's very emotional because you lose control of your life.

ANNOUNCER: Sufferers are also affected by migraines in the periods between their attacks.

ALEXANDER MAUSKOP, MD: Even when a patient does not experience an attack of migraine, they often live in the fear of a headache coming on. They're always cautious and anxious about having an attack, and they're worrying about all the possible triggers such as weather and what they eat, what they drink, how they sleep, and that actually impacts their quality of life even when they're not having an attack.

ANNOUNCER: There is help for those who suffer from migraines.

JULIA SAMTON, MD: I have people who come to me who are very debilitated and really had no idea how much they were suffering or how much relief they could obtain. And they come to me and through two or three visits, their life is dramatically changed, through fairly simple treatments and tolerable treatments. And it's a treatable condition, 99 percent of the time.