Living with Migraine: Challenges at Work, Home, and Beyond

As well as being a husband, father, and busy PR representative, Nachman Rosenberg is in a constant battle with chronic migraine. But though migraine often threatens to derail every area of his life – when he’s at work, home, or with friends - Nachman is a titan who always fights back.

A version of the following article first appeared on Life Effects Israel.

I've been suffering from migraines since I was 14. I'm in my 30s now, so it's been disrupting my life for over 15 years.

Migraine really worried me in the past. I feared it would spoil all my biggest milestones - my career, plans for marriage, and parenthood. Essentially, my entire life.

It's not easy coming to terms with a condition that has no cure. Of course, I can and do manage it with treatment and lifestyle changes, but the illness will need attention for the rest of my life.

Today, I'm older and wiser. I've beaten migraine every day since I was 14, as it hasn't yet beaten me. But it's been a long, hard fight, and it's a battle I could do without.

If anything happens in my lifetime, I hope someone finds a universal cure-all for migraine. Everyone who lives with it knows this, but migraine isn't just frequent headaches. It impairs my quality of life and forces me to live with constant limitations.

The day my pain was given a name

It started with the headaches.

When my mother noticed that I was getting headaches as often as once a week, she guessed the reason straight away. Two of my sisters also live with migraine, so she had some experience in recognizing the warning signs.

So, on one of the days when I was mercifully headache-free, she started asking me symptom-related questions. I answered as best I could: tingling in the back of my neck, sharp pain, feeling overwhelmed by all the sensory stimuli around me, and sensitivity to light (photophobia).

Mom understood at once. At least what was troubling me now had a name - migraine.

Migraine hasn't eased up for me over the years; rather, it's gotten worse. For the last decade, I've had at least one serious attack a week. There are underlying troubles the rest of the time, but I manage to cope.

I've tried all kinds of lifestyle changes to stop triggering these attacks. I tried to create a migraine-friendly diet by cutting back on salt, caffeine, sugar, and chocolate, but stripping back on foods didn't help. As well as addressing what I ate, I pushed myself to get full nights of sleep and regular exercise. But no matter what I did, migraine never seemed to get the "GO AWAY" memo.

3 key areas where migraine affects my life

1. At work

My migraine attacks don't follow a set template. Pain levels change from attack to attack, as does the pain's location. Sometimes, it may be nestled in a temple. Other times, the pain is in the middle, putting pressure behind my eyes. Or, in severe cases, it feels like my whole head is being attacked by a hammer.

But I usually get the same warning signal for oncoming attacks - tingling in the back of my neck.

The warning sign always comes early, and it's tempting to ignore it. I've tried to carry on with my daily routine without interruption- traveling to work from Jerusalem to Petah Tikva, juggling my many meetings with productive work, and then making my way home. Since traveling aggravates my migraines, driving can be a nightmare. There have been times when I've been behind the wheel and bent double in pain, leaving me no choice but to pull over.

Nowadays, I (mostly) listen to my body. When the tingling comes, that's a sign I need to take my prescribed medication and rest in a dark room. That said, 90% of the time, I'll just take the medication and continue to work. My migraine triggers include stress, intense work, prolonged periods of concentration, and traveling. Unfortunately, all those things are part of everyday life.

The world won't stop for me, even with migraine lurking in the background. I've had to learn to put up with my pain and other symptoms as I go about my day.

2. At home

One thing that migraine has ensured is that you'll never find me without my prescribed treatment. I have it in my car, my office, and at home.

I've learned to survive migraine and function day-to-day, but that doesn't mean I never complain. On the days when the situation is unbearable, I try to go home and sleep. I wake up when I'm over the worst, but my body feels broken. A migraine attack traumatizes the whole body, not just the head.

I have no doubt that my treatment helps, but I'd be so happy if I didn't have to depend on medication for the rest of my life.

See, treatment helps with the pain, but it doesn't reset me to "as good as new" in the face of an attack. Even with the pain at manageable levels, I can feel the migraine working in the background, stealing my energy and making it harder to function. Sometimes, a sharp stab of pain may creep through the protective barriers of the medication. I also struggle with sensory overload - bright lights are still a bother, every noise is amplified, smells become ten times worse, and food makes me feel awful.

It's as if, by rejecting the pain with treatment, migraine doubles down and forces me to reject everything else. I spend the day feeling nauseous, unable to speak to anybody.

I know that rest will help reduce my non-pain-related symptoms. Still, it's often not possible to drop everything and sleep.

3. At play

Migraine isn't only a constant battle with pain - it bleeds into and disrupts my entire life.

I've had many a happy occasion sabotaged by this illness. Looking back at photos of my son's wedding, you can see my too-strained smile as my suffering shines through - even though I tried to hide that I was having an attack. I've had to send apologies for not attending birthday parties, even my own. At most social gatherings, friends are prepared for me to leave at any moment.

Flying is also tricky. Before a flight, I eat a meal, take some of my treatment, and hope I sleep through the journey. A migraine during Shabbat (our day of rest) can ruin the day and spill over into spoiling the rest of the week. I get up early on Friday, do what needs to be done, and rest from noon if I can feel a migraine attack coming on.

The takeaway

For many people living with migraine, life is made up of making compromises, facing disappointments, and accepting limitations. I hope a solution is found in my lifetime, but until then, we are doomed to live with it.

The information presented is solely for educational purposes, not as specific advice for the evaluation, management, or treatment of any condition.

The individual(s) who have written and created the content and whose images appear in this article have been paid by Teva Pharmaceuticals for their contributions. This content represents the opinions of the contributor and does not necessarily reflect those of Teva Pharmaceuticals. Similarly, Teva Pharmaceuticals does not review, control, influence, or endorse any content related to the contributor's websites or social media networks. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes and should not be considered medical advice or recommendations. Consult a qualified medical professional for diagnosis and before beginning or changing any treatment regimen.

NPS-ALL-NP-01305 JUNE 2024