In her early 30s, Margot Andersen had a high-powered, full-time sales and marketing career in downtown Chicago. However, the stressful role, coupled with being a single parent at the time, quickly became difficult to navigate. Hidden beneath her demanding corporate and home life, Margot was living with chronic migraine that was severely impacting her both professionally and personally. 

"In those days, my office building had elegant and elaborate bathrooms,” Margot said. “I would lie on the couch inside the bathroom and throw up from my migraine attacks. I never told anyone. I would just go back to work. No one talked about migraine. It was very isolating."

People living with chronic migraine, like Margot, experience more than 15 headache days per month for three or more months. Migraine is a complex and disabling neurological brain disease that often progresses and limits functionality and quality of daily life. More than 40 million adults in the US live with migraine¹, which is not a “one size fits all” disease. It’s often accompanied by a range of symptoms, including severe headache pain, nausea, and visual or sensory disturbances like aura or sensitivity to light, sound, or movement.²

While each person may have different triggers for their migraine attacks, there are common culprits that affect many people, including stress (good or bad), certain foods, skipping meals, alcohol, sleeping too much or too little, changes in weather, concussions, hormonal changes in women, lights, sounds, scents, and traumatic brain injuries.²

Like many people managing migraine, Margot tried multiple medications hoping to find a solution. However, her migraine attacks continued to severely impact her day-to-day life, and she eventually changed careers in search of a more manageable lifestyle.

“It was scary, hard, and often heartbreaking,” she said. “Migraine was in a deep, dark closet. It was truly seen as just a headache. I felt totally alone. I needed a better quality of life.”

Ultimately, Margot’s breakthrough came when she found new medications that worked for her, and she paired effective treatment with impactful mindfulness techniques. She found that having a proactive and well-rounded approach to migraine management was empowering, and the key to reaching her own personal goals.

Now, Margot focuses on controlling what she can and staying present, whether it’s doing more of what she loves, including reading, practicing her spirituality, and teaching, or even seemingly simple tasks like being able to wash the dishes or brush her teeth.

These changes, along with support from family, have helped Margot maintain an optimistic outlook on life.

“I really see having migraine and suffering the ongoing ups and downs as an opportunity for growth,” she said. “I’ve always found some way to grow personally from the illness, whether it was medical or personal.”

Margot, who is now a wife and grandmother, is focused on continuing to build her own toolbox with proper treatment and self-care strategies. Along the way, she’s inspired everyone she’s comes across, including herself.

“Finding meaning and purpose in your life really does change you,” she said. “In my case, practicing self-care strategies every day and finding the correct medication were certainly key components of being able to reach my personal goals.”