Migraine and Headache Awareness Month

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Alive and Kicking with Clare McKenna 10 min 1 speaker 7 chapters transcribed 1 month ago

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Why is migraine considered one of the most disabling diseases worldwide?

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Alive

Clare McKenna 0:02

and kicking

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with Claire McKenna on Newstalk.

Clare McKenna 0:08

June is International Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. Migraine is a complex neurological condition which is classified by the WHO as the seventh most disabling disease in the world and the most common neurological condition affecting about 12 to 15% of people. Migraine affects roughly one in seven people here in Ireland and is three times more common in women than men, largely because of the way oestrogen rises and falls across the menstrual cycle in pregnancy and through perimenopause. Catherine Hearns has lived with chronic migraine for over 30 years and she joins me on the line now. Catherine, you're very welcome.

Catherine Hearns 0:45

Hiya Clare, thanks so much for having me on.

Clare McKenna 0:47

And Catherine, some of the facts and stats that I read out in that introduction, do you think people underestimate how disabling a migraine can be and what a debilitating condition it is?

Catherine Hearns 1:01

Absolutely. Worldwide, you're looking at a billion people. It is certainly more than a headache. And that's something that I've lived with for the last 28 years. And many people I have come across in, you know, during that time as well.

How did Catherine’s migraine symptoms first appear after her second childbirth?

Catherine Hearns 1:16

And it's a very frustrating experience. because there is a lack of education, not only in life itself with people that you meet on a day-to-day basis, but also in the workforce. It really is misunderstood. I spent 30 years in middle management and I hid my migraine because... I used to take days off. I used to take holidays in order to hide the fact that I had this disability. And it is a disability, which in Ireland, it's not deemed to be a disability, but in America it is. So, yeah, absolutely. It's very misunderstood.

Clare McKenna 2:02

And Catherine, take us back then to when migraines first started for you.

Catherine Hearns 2:07

I didn't have a headache until the age of 24. And that was two weeks after I gave birth to my second son, and he is now 28. So over the duration of six years, my migraine shifted quite a bit from classic migraine to what I was eventually diagnosed six years later with.

What does a severe sporadic hemiplegic migraine episode feel like?

Catherine Hearns 2:32

It can be a very lonely place. And Those six years were very frustrating, not only on me, but for my husband and trying to take care of two young boys as well. And I eventually got diagnosed with a rare subtype called sporadic hemiplegic migraine. which is a bit of a mouthful, but basically to describe it is that it mimics a stroke. So on very severe episodes, I would lose full power on my left side. I would have the full facial droop. I would lose my speech, my swallow. I would have all the other issues and symptoms that come along with migraine, such as nausea, light and sound sensitivity. It's an extremely debilitating condition. not just my one I mean I've when I do be chatting to other migraine sufferers and I mention my one and they're like oh god mine is like that you know I'm not as bad as you but we are we are all the very same and it comes with respecting the not just the word migraine but each and every individual that has it we are all individually different

Catherine Hearns 3:54

We all suffer differently, but generally at the end of the day, migraine is migraine. And yeah, so that was how I started.

How does chronic migraine affect daily life, work and family responsibilities?

Clare McKenna 4:06

And when an episode hits like that, Catherine, what do you have to do?

Catherine Hearns 4:11

I physically can't walk, so I would have to be linked to basically to my bed. And I'm like, as my husband to say, oh, she's down now for a few days. which basically means that I'm completely incapable of even trying to get to the bathroom on my own. It really is somewhat of a mystery, this particular one. I don't know why they call it migraine, to be honest. I have had it, as I've mentioned, for 28 years to the point where my full left side is completely um weakened and I suppose there's an element of disability there I don't like really using that word but I recently actually got diagnosed with low-grade scoliosis on my lower right back because um of my gait issues and because my right side um you know, when you're walking or whatever, when you're living your life, it was compensating for my left side.

Catherine Hearns 5:29

So it has done untold damage to me physically and not just to me, to my family.