More than Just a Headache: Dealing with Migraines

Learn some tips for navigating migraines.
A migraine can ruin you day... or possibly even your week.

Most people who start having migraines are afraid of four main things: brain tumor, stroke, heart attack and the possibility of passing the condition along to their children. Enlist the help of a migraine specialist to allay any fears.

Know the Signs

You can faintly detect a migraine is coming if you pay attention to the warning signs. Cognitive difficulty, yawning, blurred vision and irritability are common. You also may experience a taste of rust or blood. Many migraine sufferers smell non-existent cat urine, smoke or ammonia.

Migraines Away from Home

It’s easier to deal with a migraine at home. You have your comforts close, and you can control the environment.

Creating your own migraine emergency kit can help you manage your migraine away from home. Fill it with the items that help you deal with the migraine. You may include extra medication, a bottle of water, an eye mask, peppermint essential oil, a heating pad and ginger candy. Get a letter from your doctor that explains you are a migraine sufferer and deal best with certain medications. Present it in the emergency room so you don’t appear to be a drug seeker. Keep a kit in your car and at work.

Listen as migraine expert Lisa Jacobson joins Melanie Cole, MS, to explain how you can navigate and survive your migraines.

Additional Info

  • Segment Number: 1
  • Audio File: lifes_too_short/ts19.mp3
  • Featured Speaker: Lisa Jacobson
  • Guest Bio: Lisa JacobsonLisa Jacobson is a chronic migraine sufferer who has had over 9,000 migraines over the last 28 years. As an accomplished entrepreneur, she wanted to use her expert business skills to help solve a social issue.

    In 2014, when her migraines were at their worst, she founded TheDailyMigraine.com as that passion project; a place to give a voice to people with migraine through help, hope, healing and humor. With an estimated 300,000 followers, The Daily Migraine is the largest group of migraine sufferers anywhere in the world.

    Because migraine still continues to have the stigma of being “just a headache,” the funding for research is appalling low. Under 500 doctors in the U.S. have sought to get credentialed in the field. With The Daily Migraine, Lisa aims to change all of that by educating and motivating people with migraines to help make the change as a group and ultimately use their support, money and votes to find a cure.

    Lisa is currently in migraine remission. Her highly engaging Facebook Live sessions on various migraine topics typically attract over 15,000 viewers, and she has become a sought-after patient advocate and speaker on the national stage in the field of migraine. She is on the board of The American Migraine Foundation, and volunteers her time to work with biotech companies, the FDA and other groups, as well as small migraine research and support groups all over the world, unflaggingly working to reduce migraine stigma, raise funding, and most of all, create hope in people who have all but given up. 

    Lisa is also the inventor of The Migraine Hat.
  • Length (mins): 14:21
  • Waiver Received: Yes
  • Internal Notes: no social media
  • Host: Melanie Cole, MS