Impact of Migraine/Cluster/Headache on Job Decisions
I admit, I was a bit surprised about the results of our last poll.
The question was: Has migraine/cluster/chronic headache impacted your choice of job/career?
Here’s the result:
Yes, a full 88% said YES.
Of course I knew about the incredible impact of these diseases and conditions. But I still expected the ratio to be lower.
Now, of course, this isn’t a scientific poll. Likely there are more people with more chronic forms of migraine and cluster and headaches.
Still, it’s a great reminder that for many people this is not an annoyance on the side – these are major, life-impacting condition.
Now, you’ve told us yes or no. I would like to hear from the "yes" group. Exactly how has your decision-making been impacted? Give us examples.
Did you move to be closer to better treatment? Did you lighten your workload? How? Change your work hours? What has helped? What hasn’t helped? Share your comments below.
Here are some previous posts pointing out the impact of migraine in particular on society: The Impact of Migraine in society, How does migraine really impact your life?, and an overview in What is Migraine? (The Life Impact Story)
23 July 2010 @ 2:18 pm
1. Can’t change jobs if I wanted to (which I don’t) because of increased disability
2. Have refused assignments, travel plans, reduced work hours becuase of The Headache
3. Have to figure business travel around emergency room access and medication schedules, etc.
4. Have increased the number of hours I work from home (one of the great benefits of the job I currently have)
5. Found a job (this one) where I didn’t people manage in order to reduce stress
25 July 2010 @ 4:25 pm
after four years at the same job,, coworkers finally understand when i have to call in sick or say a migraine is coming on…they know its not JUST A HEADACHE.
I have severe eye pain, vomiting, and feel like I’ve been run over by a train after the worst one….
26 July 2010 @ 10:34 pm
I’m fortunate enough to work at a company that permits me to work at home, and I rarely travel.
27 July 2010 @ 7:03 am
after many years of teaching, when i turned 32 my migraines got so bad that i was calling in sick so often, or leaving class to go to the nurse’s office with nausea/vomiting, that i had to go on temporary disability. while i was on break, i saw doctors all over the country (and even ones in scotland, england, spain, mexico and venezuela) but got little relief. the next year when i tried to return, my attacks were coming on so suddenly that i couldn’t even make proper lesson plans that a sub could follow (i had upper level spanish classes that my original lesson plans would not work with an ordinary sub), and they were becoming so frequent that i ultimately was forced to go on permanent disability. i’m now 43 and am still suffereing the same symptoms, although i have lived in wichita, ks, key biscayne, fl, and now dallas, tx and have seen numerous doctors (neurologists, pain mgmt docs, as well as alternative med docs) in each state) and have tried everything they have suggested. i have a long history of migraines on each side of my family and am currently on 4 different preventative meds, but nothing is working very well. i would love to return to work as a teacher, but at this point, i can barely volunteer at my child’s school (at least not anything where i have to be dependable…); i can only help out when i’m feeling well, and hope that it’s a day that they are in need of someone. i have a masters in spanish and spanish phonetics and feel that this is all going to waste. i know that the last thing that most docs recommend is a shot of pain meds, but honestly, when my pain is a 7+, the only thing that will break it is a big (150mg) of demerol or on occasional phentonal. triptans no longer work at all, and the “coctail” the love to give you at e.r.’s makes me hyper and agitated and unable to relax and sleep it off. it’s very frustrating when e.r. docs won’t listen to you and insist on giving you the “coctail” anyway… a total waste of time and $$ and your pain gets so much worse with all the noise and lights and time spent away from a dark room. i hate to say it but i wish at least one migraine on every e.r. doc, just so they could have some sympathy/empathy for all of us and stop with the torodol or benedryl or compazine etc when we present with a migraine! just give us some RELIEF!
4 November 2010 @ 11:58 pm
i totally empathize w/ situation you go thru when finally going to ER due to severe migraines…migraines i get are extremely, extremely painful directly behind left eye & when nausea sessions start is time when i head up to Hospital ER…am usually admitted fairly quickly because want to eliminate diagnosis of possible aneurysm…but, problem is when my headaches reach this point…only thing that relieves me is basically being knocked out w/ combo of demerol/gravel….some of Dr’s that have treated me i happen to know personally and they pretty much know level at which i am suffering & treat accordingly w/ only thing that seems to be effective when migraines reach this stage (Demerol/Gravol)…after i have woken up so to speak, migraine is totally gone…..am just exhausted from day;s events & lingering effects of medication…other physicians i have unfortunately dealt with say they don’t like to administer pain med because it is not formally recognized way of treating migraines…i try to explain that when headaches has reached this point these traditional remedies simply do not work….pretty much falls on deaf ears, & am personally in no mood to debate…just want pain in my head to subside, so, end up going thru about 2-3 hrs of traditional treatments…toradol (does not work)…Stimatil (does not work) and usually end up feeling very jumpy, restless, at which point i am administered and adivan (sleep aid i think) which generally puts me to sleep , but, still another 1/2 hr of feeling like you r going bananas….cannot understand why some physicians will not administer med for severe pain….am by no means a drug addict & is this not what intention of pain med is for…..is very frustrating to say the least, because get feeling Dr is not listening to me when i know exactly what stops migraine in its tracks when they reach this level of severity…was thinking of filing complaint against physician(s), but, was advised this would probably not end up being followed up on by someone that will back up patient……..appreciate any comments you may have
29 July 2010 @ 2:18 pm
Migraines have certainly affected my job choices and my career path. For the past 10 years I have been very fortunate to be able to work from home with my husband, since we run a small consulting business. I still need to be functional during my work day, but now I work with someone who loves me and who also suffers from migraines, so we can deal with them together. I recently decided to go back to school and work towards another career though, and I could not do that (or even think about doing so), unless I had some confidence in my current treatment plan.
After many years of struggling, and many, many employers, coworkers and even doctors who did not understand the impact of migraine attacks on my life, I was able to find a treatment plan that seems to work better for me – it is not perfect, but it has allowed me to spend a lot less time in pain.
I have migraines that come in clusters of 3-5 days (blinding pain, vomiting, light and sound sensitivity) – so even when I was taking Imitrex or Zomig, I was losing big chunks out of my life – sometimes as much as 3 weeks out of the month. After a while, the migraine meds just didn’t work anymore, so I my Family Doc recently asked me to try a new (triptan) medication (I’m in Canada), called Axert from McNeil. Axert works better for me – does not make me feel so “mush-brained” and actually allows me to rescue part of my day. However, whenever I start to have a cluster of migraines again, I ALSO book some Acupuncture appointments. I have been going to acupuncture for about 5 years now for migraine prevention, and I find that acupuncture treatments, combined with an acute migraine medication work well for me. It takes time, so you have to be patient. When my clusters return (maybe after a prolonged period of disrupted sleep, stress, or a particularly stormy month), I might have to have 2 treatments per week for a while, then can go once a week, then twice a month, and so on. The great thing is that the acupuncture treatment plan is specific to YOU – so the only acceptable outcome is that YOU are able to live migraine free – my T.C.M./Acupuncture practitioner is wonderful, and she will not stop until I get relief and until I am migraine free for an extended period of time – at least a few consecutive months without even a single migraine, then I am good to go for awhile.
29 July 2010 @ 2:58 pm
I am 35 and I have had migraines since I was 6 yrs old. Up until I was in my early 20’s they were pretty infrequent but intense when I did have them. For the last 6 years I have had them almost every day, usually 6 out of 7 days with a pain level between 4 and 10 plus. I’ve seen neurologists and had every test possible and they never find a reason. I’ve also tried alternative methods and been on every med heard of. I’m thinking of trying the botox injections next. These do run in my family on both sides but each time my husband gets transferred to a new city my new dr.’s insist on running the same tests again.
I worked in account management for years but decided to get out of it hoping the stress of the job was part of the problem. I’ve been fired from every job I’ve ever had due to missing work and most of my co-workers and bosses never understood that I was really in pain. I’ve taken easier jobs with no stress but that did not help either. I was just let go from my last job a month ago.
I started having seizures and fainting spells that my doctor and the ER said was syncable episodes due to my pain level. I am thankful that my husband is very supportive and has asked me to not go back to work. The problem is, I’m finding, even not working and barely leaving the house at all there is no change in my migraines.
My meds are $700.00 a month and we are having a very hard time paying for them. I am seriously considering filing for SSI but don’t know the process, don’t know if migraines would qualify and honestly feel like a loser for even considering it.
Is there anyone out there that has been through this and can offer any advice? I’m starting to feel really lost here.
27 December 2010 @ 12:50 pm
I’m in the same boat, I finally had to apply in Sept. and I just recieved a denial letter telling me that although I am disabled and can no longer do any work I have done in the past – I can still do something. The issue is – who would hire me? I have 4-5 migraine/cluster headaches -+on average in a week. I can not be counted on to be physically able to work. I am scared to death to drive because I often lose my vision or have aura – and I can’t drive like that ! I have been told that I should go thru the vocational program here in town to prove that I am not able to be hired. I was told that I also needed to get a letter from my neurologist that states I am not able to work because of memory loss and executive functioning deficit persistant & pace impared attention and concentration. Then I’m supose to bring that letter to the soc sec office and request to be found disabled now with a review to determine if I am still disabled in 2yrs.
I have to take a 4-5 hour memory test in Jan – because I have been having memory issues and they told me to get a copy of that too.
15 August 2010 @ 6:44 am
I quit my teaching job 16 years ago and just worked as a freelance writer at home. I thought that the economic impact was the thing that’s giving me the stress, but I was wrong! I receive non-employment benefits due to chronic illness (I am in Norway). Believe you me, I have taken a lot of life-changing measures from quitting smoking, alcohol, caffeine, some types of sugar, etc. I am taking supplements and I have tried diets —I am now on gluten free—but I am still in pain almost everyday of the month. I couldn’t fathom how my social life has suffered because I have migraine. I couldn’t travel long distance; the times I did try, I usually ended up alone in the hotel room or in the car while my companions enjoyed the sights. Migraine even impacted my plan on how many children I wanted to have; I couldn’t even take care of my child, let alone two or three. Now, can one resign from being a parent because of migraine? No choice.
The only thing that I deem “luxurious” about not having stress on the job is that I don’t have to listen to my nagging conscience about bosses and co-workers being let down by my non-appearance.
9 December 2010 @ 11:25 am
I worked in an office for 10yrs but over the last 2 1/2 almost 3yrs the migraines progressively got worse and worse. On average I now have 4-5 per wk and I was unable to continue working at a job I loved, with people I thought of as family. I started on short term disability back in August hopeful that my Doctor and new Neuro would be able to work a miracle I guess but I haven’t seen one yet. Most days I am using oxygen for cluster headaches and for the migraines well it’s sumavel shot, or zomig – either of which work once in a while, then it’s one to the zofrain, hydrocodone mix – if that doesn’t make it tolerable – the next attempt is the stadol – and if not of that works to at least make the pain something I can handle – then it’s off to the ER.
27 April 2014 @ 2:11 am
I run my own business. I do oit because I’m my own boss and can take time out for migraines whenever I need to. I don’t have to call in sick, I work from home, and when I have a migraine coming on or am recovering from one I can just about respond to clients on the phone in a civilised manner. I don’t travel and I don’t arrange to go to conferences or trade shows as I can’t be sure I’ll be well enough that da several months down the line.
I’m going through a slow patch right now, I’m bored at work, I’d like a change, but how else can I find a job that fits in with migraines?
5 May 2014 @ 1:22 am
I get cluster headaches and im episodic. I work on towboats as the mate and am working on my pilots license. I work and live on a boat for 30 days at a time. No way to get to a doctor and if the company knew I would be fired like at my last job. I’ve been lucky so far. Not sure for how long though and ive been doing this 10 years and I’m 35 so a career change would be very difficult. Single with a son so no help if i do lose my job. Awesome feeling.