Workforce
‘ It ’ s not just a headache ’
A nurse shares her battle with migraines .
By Elise Hartevelt
Chronic migraine can be a debilitating condition that affects multiple aspects of someone ’ s life . Nearly 5 million Australians live with migraine , which is equivalent to 20 per cent of the population .
Nurse and midwife Liz Durant has been having frequent migraine attacks since her late teens .
She ’ s worked as a registered nurse for over 23 years in various settings , including First Nations medical services and aged care .
“ Living with migraine has always impacted my work and personal life ,” Liz told Nursing Review .
“ But when you ’ re on a shift , you can ’ t just say , ‘ well , I ’ m feeling sick , so I ’ m going home ’ – you just have to do it .
“ Unfortunately , there are days that I haven ’ t been able to get out of bed , so I had to call in sick and I feel bad about that .”
Migraine attacks are episodes of complex neurological symptoms that include severe headaches , nausea , dizziness and problems with vision .
Genetic and environmental triggers , such as stress , can initiate a migraine attack .
Liz says that she knows many nurses who have migraines and that the profession can “ sometimes be very stressful ”.
She believes that the high-pressure environments nurses work in often have numerous trigger points that can set off an episode .
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“ A lot of these offices and hospitals have fluorescent lights where lighting can start a migraine attack .
“ Everything is digitalised now and our work has a lot of computer tasks , such as logging medications when you ’ re administering them ,” Liz says .
“ Cleaning products , such as disinfectants , also have fumes that can start a migraine episode .”
Once an episode begins , it can take as long as 72 hours to recover .
Research suggests that some Australians experience up to 15 migraine days every month .
“ My work colleagues and managers didn ’ t really understand ,” Liz says . “ I used to use my sick leave up for migraine every year and then some more .
“ Some organisations would actually end up letting me use my annual leave as sick leave so I could still be paid , but they don ’ t let you do that in the public system .
“ So , if I used up my sick leave , I was put on notice that ‘ We ’ d have to put you on a management plan because you ’ re taking so much time off ,’ because they don ’ t understand migraine .”
Over the past 12 months , Liz has significantly reduced her stress levels , which has positively impacted the frequency of her migraine attacks .
She says that since she ’ s had her daith pierced , the intensity of her migraine episodes settled .
A daith piercing is considered an alternative treatment thought to pierce an acupuncture pressure point in the ear to relieve pain .
“ I had to call in sick and I feel bad about that .
“ I stopped having painful migraine attacks and the symptoms changed again where I now get a silent migraine . So I get the migraine with aura ,” Liz says .
“ It does still happen , and if I ’ m having a conversation with my husband , my right eye flickers , and he ’ d say , ‘ You ’ re getting a migraine ’.
“ Or if I ’ m talking about something and the wrong word comes out , he says , ‘ Oh , you are getting a migraine ’.
“ He still hasn ’ t learned that we always live with migraine – It ’ s always there .”
Liz calls for a change in how we speak and think about chronic migraine in Australia , saying “ it ’ s not just a headache ”.
“ You live with migraine and have a migraine attack ,” she explains .
Organisations such as Migraine Australia have been pushing for broader community understanding to correct miscommunication and change awareness .
They found that 94 per cent of Australians living with migraine experienced stigma , most often from doctors and co-workers .
“ I think it would be good for health and nursing managers to do a bit of education and listen to people who live with migraine ,” Liz says .
“ There ’ s a lot more to it that it affects every part of our life because it ’ s not just affecting us being able to work . It affects us at home as well .” ■