ROBIN ROBERTS: While pain is
universal, when it comes
to migraines, no two patients
are exactly alike.
They're
as unique as their triggers,
symptoms, and treatments.
Here now, in our series
"In Their Own Words,
Moving Beyond Migraine,"
patients describe
in vivid detail what
their migraines look like,
feel like, and sound like.
SARAH SHAW: OK, is this good?
CREW: Camera A, Camera B
rolling.
SPEAKER 1: And I'm looking right
into this camera?
CREW: All right.
SPEAKER 2: Oh boy.
SPEAKER 1: Oh my gosh,
I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER 3: As long as I look
good, that's fine.
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 2: My name is Zach
[INAUDIBLE].
SPEAKER 3: My name is Melissa
[INAUDIBLE].
SPEAKER 1: My name is Mary
[INAUDIBLE].
SARAH SHAW: My name is Sarah
Shaw.
SPEAKER 2: I'm 32.
SPEAKER 3: I am 28 years old.
SPEAKER 1: I am 46 years old.
SARAH SHAW: I'm 27 years old.
SPEAKER 2: I have been fighting
migraines since--
I can remember as young
as eight, my mom remembers as
young as like, five.
SPEAKER 3: Nearly all
of my life since I was four
years old.
SARAH SHAW: For the past four
years.
SPEAKER 1: I've had it
for over 20 years.
What does my migraine feel like?
SPEAKER 2: It's hard to explain
to someone that's never
experienced it.
SARAH SHAW: Because it's so much
more than just
having a headache,
which is what I think a lot
of people think of a migraine.
SPEAKER 3: It feels as
though there's a drill going
through my left eye, that's just
constantly drilling.
It goes all the way straight
through to the back of my head.
SPEAKER 1: Sometimes it'll start
in the back of my head,
and just sort of grip there,
and then move forward.
SPEAKER 2: It's like someone is
drumming on my brain.
SARAH SHAW: A very sharp, long
ice pick being jabbed right
into my eye.
Like a cement roller is rolling
over my head.
SPEAKER 1: I see a lot
of squiggly lines,
and different visual
disturbances.
Light is terrible.
SARAH SHAW: There is
this temporary blindness that
happens in my right eye, where I
can't see out of it for about 15
to 20 minutes.
SPEAKER 2: I don't lose my sight
completely.
The best way to describe it is
it's like being drunk.
You know, you go blurry.
SPEAKER 3: Hearing like a rush
of sound in my head,
and not being able to handle
lights, and needing to lie down.
SPEAKER 2: It's almost
like vertigo.
My ears ring quite a bit.
I really can't hear.
[ELECTRONIC TONE]
SARAH SHAW: Let me start off
by saying what haven't I tried
to treat my migraines.
All the triptans, I think I've
been through,
Relpax, sumatriptan,
rizatriptan.
SPEAKER 1: If it is supposed
to help, I've tried it.
I went to a specialist who put
lidocaine up my nose.
SARAH SHAW: I have an injection
medication that I take,
where I inject it into my leg
when I have a migraine episode.
SPEAKER 3: I've been
hospitalized twice to try
week-long treatments that didn't
have any effect.
After the last hospitalization--
the treatment that I tried--
I really just felt like, OK,
I just need to figure out how
to live with this now.
I can't stand another person
saying that they're going
to help me when it's just not
going to work.
SARAH SHAW: Migraines have
really forced me to miss out
on the past three years, half
of any social interactions,
and family interactions and me,
just personal enjoyment time.
SPEAKER 1: I'm always having
to kind of rearrange my schedule
and plans around my pain.
SARAH SHAW: I ended up going
to the hospital the night
before my birthday.
And what was supposed to be
a one-night treatment turned
into a week.
And I ended up spending
my 25th birthday
in the hospital.
SPEAKER 2: I went to a specialty
inpatient clinic for nine days.
That was the first time
the Pirates made the playoffs
in 20 years.
I was watching it alone
in a hospital bed in Chicago
by myself.
SPEAKER 1: How I live
with this condition-- it is
like a relationship.
It's like a very bad
relationship
that I've had for a long time.
I know eventually, there's going
to be a good day.
And that's just what I live for.
SARAH SHAW: One thing that I
want people to know who have
never had a migraine,
or who know me who don't know
that I have migraines,
is that I'm trying my best.
SPEAKER 3: It's something
that we have to live with all
the time, and typically, hide.
If someone tells you that they
have a migraine, that they're
constantly experiencing this,
believe them.
SPEAKER 1: It's not something
that we're doing because we want
to get out of seeing you,
or get out of work,
or just stay home and lay
around.
SARAH SHAW: Even if I look
like I'm happy on the inside,
90% of the time,
I am probably having
a migraine attack.
SPEAKER 1: I've never once have
faked having a headache.
But I fake being well
every single day.
SPEAKER 3: The pain is a part
of who I am.
SPEAKER 2: Would I like to live
without it?
Absolutely.
But yeah, it's part of me.
I'm going to keep fighting it.
ROBIN ROBERTS: Are migraines
impacting your life?
You can go to WebMD.com/migraine
to assess your approach
to managing them.
You are going to get
personalized strategies
for living better that you can
discuss with your doctor.
