The new treatments offering hope to migraine patients

“I like to think of the whole thing as a bookshelf,” says Goadsby. “On the bookshelf, there are classic medicines, there are modern medicines, there’s neuromodulation. We need to unpack which shelf you want to be on before we even decide which book you’re going to read.”

Some scientists also believe there needs to be a further shift in the way migraine is thought of – one that doesn’t just look at molecules, membranes and blood vessels, but looks at the whole brain, even when an attack isn’t happening.

“If we really talk about moving the field forward and improving quality of life, we must think that if you have a migraine brain, it’s a chronic condition,” says Monteith. Behavioural changes surrounding sleep hygiene, diet, and fitness regimes, as well as psychological therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation therapy and mindfulness, are also being incorporated in a patient’s journey to tame their migraine.

Daniels, for instance, does physical therapy for her vestibular symptoms, is on top of her mental health, stays active and works out every day, meditates and spends time in nature, and prioritises a healthy diet and a lot of hydration. No one thing helped alleviate her migraine symptoms, she says. “It is all part of the pieces of the puzzle.”

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