Migraine’s silver linings

This is another draft extract from the book based on my personal experience of migraine which I am currently writing and hope to publish in the next few months. I would like to include some short contributions from other people too, so if you have anything you would like to share in relation to this post or any other aspect of migraine, please leave a comment below or write to me through the contact page of my website jenniferbarraclough.com.

I am rather sceptical about claims that illness is a “gift” or a “lesson from the universe”. I think my life would have been much happier if I hadn’t had migraine. But no experience is entirely bad, so this post is my attempt to find some positive things to set against the hardships.

Having migraine provides a strong incentive to lead a “healthy lifestyle” – a nutritious diet, enough exercise, enough sleep, managing stress. For migraineurs it is especially important not to go too long without eating, not to over-indulge in food and drink, to avoid known triggers, and to maintain a reasonably regular daily routine. The self-discipline needed to stick to these guidelines can be tedious. But it will hopefully be rewarded not only by having fewer and less severe migraine attacks, but also by a reduced risk of many other medical disorders and of accidents, and an improvement in general wellbeing.

Activities which disrupt the daily routine too much are quite likely to bring on a migraine, spoiling the occasion for oneself and others, so it can be prudent to avoid them. Sometimes this is disappointing, for example when I decided not to accompany my husband on a trip to a beautiful island because it would involve an early morning start, a choppy sea voyage, and a strenuous walk before lunch. On the other hand migraine provides a good reason to be selective about how to use time and energy, rather than waste them on things which are neither enjoyable nor worthwhile. The temptation to cite migraine as an excuse to shirk unwelcome obligations should of course be resisted ….

While being less active in the outside world, there is more time to spend quietly at home, giving opportunities for rest and relaxation and creative activities. As discussed in another chapter of my forthcoming book, the migraine experience can inspire creativity, especially for painting but also in music, fiction and poetry. I haven’t made much use of my own migraine experience in my writing, except once in a short novel called Fatal Feverfew, which would seem quaintly old-fashioned today.

Over the years, outside of my career in orthodox medicine I’ve explored many systems of personal development, psychotherapy, natural healing, religion and philosophy. This has been mainly out of general interest but partly motivated, consciously or not, by the futile hope of finding “the answer” to my migraines. I’m not sure how much anything helped with the attacks themselves, but I have learned to cope with them better and to become more skilled in dealing with other people’s reactions. Hopefully all these studies have also made me a better-informed and more tolerant person. 

As a final comment it is reassuring to know that, except in very rare cases of stroke during an attack, migraine does not cause permanent brain damage or cognitive impairment. And although migraine carries a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, the risk of developing diabetes or cancer is reduced, and the overall death rate is not increased. Most migraineurs therefore have a normal life expectancy, and maybe the best thing that can be said about migraine is that after the age of 70 it often goes away.

If you have found any positive aspects in your own experience of migraine I would be interested to know about them.