![]() ![]() A common misunderstanding about migraines is that the sufferer can control them – by avoiding what triggers them. I know this has to be frustrating for my work colleagues, family and friends – but there’s genuinely nothing I can do about it. The most anyone gets from me in that moment is a one-line text or email: “Got a migraine, sorry, must rest.” How do migraines affect my work and life? A migraine can come on very rapidly, so whatever I have planned for that day – meetings, speeches, writing, meeting friends or family – must be cancelled. ![]() I emerge from a migraine feeling weak and 1 to 2kg lighter, as I will not have been able to keep food or water down. I take prescription medication, Triptans, which doesn’t stop the migraine but help to reduce the pain. For my colleagues, friends and family, seeing me in a migraine is scary, perhaps especially because there is nothing anyone can do to help. ![]() I have to go straight home, lie down in the dark for one or, in rare cases, two days. I have to wear sunglasses, can’t let anyone touch me, as it tingles intensely, can’t eat or drink anything, and when I try there’s severe vomiting. My own symptoms are a desperately intense headache – it feels like someone is banging my head in the same spot with a large hammer – nausea, aura (which means I literally see flashing lights), and sensitivity to light, sound, smell and touch. Migraines are medically referred to as ‘attacks’, as the pain quite literally attacks the head, and the rest of the body endures severe pain that can last from a few hours to a few days. If I’m at work it forces me to go home or, if already home, to stay at home. I suffer from debilitating migraines, on average once a month.I think the greatest quality in a leader is to invite challenge - and I will challenge you!.I have worked for governments, the United Nations and leading international think tanks – on the first day that I start a new role I tell my line manager two key things: Many people are not aware of how debilitating they can be or that there is still no medical cure for this awful condition. I have suffered from migraines since childhood. ![]()
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