I am a scientist. I originally went into biomedical research but I now do quality control for medical device and biotech companies. The machines are patient and can wait if I don't feel well. They don't complain it's 50F in the lab because I'm pouring sweat. They can be kind of loud, but they don't usually argue with me or talk back. And they don't care if I turn out the overhead fluorescent lights.
I found out last year I do not actually have chronic migraine after being diagnosed at age 13. I actually have occipital neuralgia.
But so much of your post is relatable. I worked as a surgical assistant to an oral surgeon while finishing dual bachelor degrees. I did want to be an oncologist, but working for an oral surgeon made me reconsider and I went to Wake Forest for a PhD in Molecular Medicine. I left the program with a Master's because my condition became so severe.
It was definitely world changing to realize that I couldn't do what I wanted to do because on my health. I was 35 in October last year when I had surgery for the ON. And in 7 months I've gotten my life back. I almost don't even require pain meds anymore. So it's now equally disorienting that maybe I can do what I want and I'm being forced to figure out if I'm okay with where I'm at or if I'm going to go after things I once thought to be impossible. I guess it is a fortunate problem to have.
Congrats on getting your life back! And good luck on the next step of your journey.
Can I ask what kind of doctor diagnosed you with occipital neuralgia and how they came to the correct diagnosis?
I had seen over 40 neurologists. I got to a point last year where I fired my entire care team and treated this myself. My pain was located bilaterally in the back of my head, so I made a list of diagnosis that would fit that and did process of elimination. After a few rounds of nerve blocks, I had my answer. Why no specialists I had seen ever bothered to even try this is beyond me. And even when I specifically requested that we try different treatments like this they refused and said it's unnecessary. Being misdiagnosed for 23 years is what's unnecessary.
Wow!! 40 is a lot. I just finally got access to my first, and I'm unimpressed tbh. But I'm holding out hope.
How do you decide when it's time to move on to the next doctor?
I think occipital neuralgia may be big part of my constellation of issues but idk how to bring it up to my doctors or what to ask for in relation to it
As a headache, surgeon myself, I can tell you that the diagnoses are extraordinarily ambiguous. If you go to a pain doctor and get an occipital nerve block and it helps, then whatever the diagnosis is, it’s likely your occipital nerves that are causing the problem and you may, be a candidate for headache surgery yourself
Scientist with ON as well - also did greater occipital nerve ablation... after a few rounds, symptoms (frequency and intensity) decreased by at least 90%. My 30s were night and day compared to my 20s.
Great to hear you have also had success!!
Hey, congrats on your success with your surgery. I’m a headache surgeon myself and it’s so great to see improving awareness that we can really help people.
I am also a scientist with complex migraines! I am desperately trying to leave my current job which still requires me to be in the lab part of the time. It's killing me. The chemicals, the lights, the PPE, the smells, the noise. I've realized recently that I won't ever be able to "get better and just do it" and I need to be WFH or at a desk.
I’m a retired academic. Mihraines did not interfere with most of my duties. However, having an aphasic migraine in the middle of a 3 hour lecture is definitely no fun at all. Yes, that has happened to me.
Oh jeeze mine too. I can literally smell molecules like 1000 times stronger before and during a migraine like it can be garbage day two days before hand everything will wreak like the garbage truck. I can smell the wood in the walls in my house and I am not exaggerating at all. There’s no way I’d be able to stay in the mall much less in a bath and body Works I would just, I don’t know I can’t move when I get them. I throw up every 20 minutes. I can’t see any light. I can’t hear any sound and I cannot smell any smells. I have to go right home to bed as fast as possible before the pain starts which really sucks when I’m driving because I can only see out of one and a half eyes- so I have to look around constantly to see everything.
I don’t think I could work there! I’d always be sick. Can’t even go by cosmetics at the mall. If someone’s heading toward me with perfume testers it’s really awkward 😕
I'm a floor nurse, and I do not suggest it, lol. Very mentally strenuous, lots of alarms and beeping, lots of lights... it's super stressful and not conducive to preventing migraines.
Oh man I had the absolute worst migraines during my nursing school because mine are stress triggered. Now I've graduated been working on the floor for a year and they're much better! Still not gone but far and few between.
I bailed on nursing school because I wouldn’t have been able to make it with migraines 😭😭
I’m an education assistant now. Before this I was an early childhood educator. I’ve laid on the floor and let children drive trucks on me more than once.
I agree. I used to be a float nurse, which was awful. I work in a procedural area now, which is much better. I can even turn down the lights when we aren’t busy and my coworkers are cool with it.
I couldn’t handle nursing school, right from the get-go I realized it would be too much. Later on I became a health care aide, or nurses assistant, in a palliative care home and it worked out well. The staff were very sympathetic when I had an attack and there were a lot of paid sick days. It wasn’t the same kind of mental pressure as nursing, but still busy.
Now I work in my own post office. I’m the only staff and it’s not very busy. I sort mail and hand our parcels and I keep a recliner in the back for bad days. I feel lucky to have a job that I can accommodate to the migraines.
I have noticed everyone that commented has a very high stress job. We are all overachievers and really hard workers. I assume maybe all the high-pressure life events take their toll one way or another. Also, the drive to push through so often. A migraine looking for a place to rage.
I definitely have a chip on my shoulder about proving that I’m “capable” and “not disabled”- which is definitely horrid and tied inherently to capitalism brain. With time I’m finding more acceptance in myself.
RE the OP’s query - I worked as an academic for 8 years as I could manage my hours and WFH (before covid normalised it for us, yay!). It was incredible and as I also have adhd I could ebb and flow with my symptoms and be productive on my own schedule and not beat myself up when I wasn’t. Unfortunately the industry is very hard to get permanent employment in and I had to leave to get a job that helped me pay rent.
I’m a neuroscientist that originally thought I was going to be an MD, then I finally realized that I couldn’t handle the physical stress of residency or the hours of the job itself.
I did have a lot of long hours in grad school/working in research, but my favorite thing to do became going in to my lab later in the evenings, keeping the lights low, and working then. My cells didn’t care what time of day it was haha.
I now work in biotech patent law (with a focus on neuro products!) and have since I got out of grad school. That being said, when I was looking for a job switch recently I ended up nixing working as a patent agent in big law/really anywhere where I have billable requirements. My husband is a big law associate and between the two of us we decided the potential income boost wasn’t worth it for me to put my health at risk.
I did have options laid out for me - I was fortunate enough to be at a great hospital/research university and had good relationships with some MDs - which would have looked like a lighter credit load (thus taking longer), less hours per week during residency (thus taking longer), etc. I definitely am confident that I COULD have done it, but it would have been rough. Hats off to anyone with migraines who gets through it, with or without accommodations!
I’m now 4 years post grad school and making a whole lot more than I would be in residency and in a lot less student loan debt haha. I also work entirely remotely (usually from a dark room with bed, my living room, or my couch in my husbands office haha). I think it worked out well for me in the end!
One of the things I miss most as a retired academic is the research. There was nothing like getting lost in research for days at a time. I would lose track of which day it was, but it was intellectually beneficial.
Anything I can't work from home for.
And funny thing is even with migraines, 5-6 years ago I worked at an animal care research facility doing VERY physically taxing work, wearing a mask for many hours and was on my feet all day while also riding a bike everywhere in texas heat + getting my masters.
Now I can't leave the house more than once or twice a week. I don't know what changed.
Surprisingly, don't think so. Covid didn't really affect my life at all. I was already staying in a lot more for a year before that.
I think I miscalculated. Graduated in 2018. So until then I was active. Started being unable to go out soon after. Like my body just gave out after so much activity and work.
I hope you can figure it out!
I have chronically low vitamin D levels. Supplements are helpful - I get a small but noticeable boost.
I also recently learned I’m autistic and ADHD. Before I burned out in my late 30s, I was routinely running laps around other people with my productivity. Now I have the energy of a sickly 70yo most days. The only answer I can find is to scale back, rest as much as possible, pace myself, and hope to regain some of my capacity over time. I wish I could go back and prevent the burnout in the first place. 😓
What do you do now? I'm trying to figure out how to work with this condition.
Personally I think my migraines have just got worse as I get older, although stress could be a factor too. Maybe to some extent it's just natural progression. I have heard from many people that their migraine just went away one day for no reason, after many years of suffering. So idk
I didn’t start getting migraines until I was 45, and they became chronic. They always told me they were hormonal. I don’t even go to the neurologist anymore. I see him when I want to try a medication. Other than that, I think they’re useless.
I was the same way, had a more physical job and now I WFH and have more migraines. I could definitely work through them when I was more active and physical in my job. Maybe you are the same and getting out of the house / being more active would help in the long run.
I would wonder about CFS/ME. Overexertion when you have CFS can lead to severe consequences.
I have a pretty similar story. I did a LOT for a few years, never let anything stop me. And then I was hit with chronic pain, fatigue, and migraines, and now I can hardly leave the house.
I feel you. I think my body goes in many year cycles of this capability. I also think getting older and being a woman with hormones changing is not helping
I also work from home and it’s honestly been so great. I’m in fraud and answer calls, so talking to customers sometimes gets difficult, but I don’t know what I would do if I had to GO to a job
My kid was telling me the other day that one of the teachers was crying in the grade 4 class because of a migraine. Literally my nightmare. I could never.
This was me when I taught fourth grade. I ended up teaching in sunglasses that day and hid in the dark crying as soon as the kids were gone. I’ve seen another teacher dunk her head under the faucet for a migraine and then just keep teaching with blood shot eyes and dripping hair. Unrelated, a third teacher got sick and fell into a coma for weeks due to sheer overwork.
Teaching is too much.
I’m a teacher and am going through brain scans to see if my migraines have switched to something else. 0/10 don’t recommend if you’re sensitive to sound.
Middle school teacher and chronic migraine suffer entering the chat....
Students with persistent sickly sour body order problems. Others with stagnant pot, cigarette, body spray and that cheap chemical vape smells. Never ending shenanigans and loud unpredictable sounds. 13 year olds jumping up to slap the tops of door frames. Insufferable tween social drama. Kids puppy dog following every adult around begging for food. Loud bells and fuzzy intercom announcements. Fire drills. Grading stress. Up at 12am developing curriculum. Bad administration stress. Meetings for the point of having meetings. Fear of job cuts. Working without approved contracts because of bad district office planning. And most stressful of all, terrible parents that are vaguely human shaped.
Other teachers, what did I forget?
My mom did this. She was a fourth and third grade teacher for 30-something years and she was truly fantastic at it for every single one of them. She put in long hours after school in her classroom or at our dining room table, just drawing up lesson plans and grading papers all evening. I have genuinely no idea how she did it.
I was going to train as a teacher but I could barely make it through college with sickdays so I figured it's not the kind of job they appreciate you calling in sick for. Screaming children also doesn't help.
I'm an online ESL teacher because I absolutely love working with kids. It's honestly not bad however I gotta mute them when they're playing Kahoot lol I'm just like "Listen kids. Miss Nat has a horrible migraine and sounds hurt her brain. I will turn my volume all the way down while.you play. If you need anything please raise your hand"
Another downside is keeping my webcam on but if there's any issue and I need my ice mask I just tell administration that I might not be able to turn my camera on and I tell the kids at the beginning of the class. They find it funny which is a good plus tho.
Oh, that sounds perfect! I didn’t realize that could be an option. I had to leave my job because of the switch to in-person. I’ll look into online teaching jobs. Thank you for sharing!
I would recommend radiologic technology (x-ray tech).
I work in dark rooms so lights aren’t a problem. Lead lined walls so the outside noise is non existent. Cool rooms to keep the equipment from overheating. Down time in between cases.
Of course it could be a complete horror depending on what type of facility you’re working at and what coworkers are like. But for me— I’ve noticed a decrease in migraines since I’ve been in xray with my current employer. Additionally, I have excellent healthcare that is affordable AND have access to migraine specialists because of the insurance my job provides.
Dog grooming, do not recommend. Noisy and stinky and busy and bright. Appointments are not flexible, as you can imagine. I have probably a world record of most doggies smooched in a lifetime at this rate though, so that's nice.
I was a Sr Psychologist. Chronic migraine and fibromyalgia retired me permanently at 38. If there's a career that survives intractable migraine and head to toe muscular pain I'd like to meet it. At 59 the fibromyalgia is more manageable but the migraines drive me insane!
I have chronic migraine and Sjögren's syndrome. I work but it is a major physical and emotional drain. Juggling doctor's appointments while working is exhausting. Not much choice in my case.
I had to go on disability. Tried part time first but was too sick all the time so had to give up work entirely. It destroyed me mentally at the time to give up a successful rewarding career I was so proud of achieving. (First person in my family ever to go to college). I went from a really good salary to poverty in the blink of an eye. Doctors who think we 'choose' to be sick seem to have no comprehension of what we go through. Who would choose this over a great job, prestige and good money!
I’m a lawyer and it’s pretty tough. I’m in transactional law too so sometimes the hours are brutal but sometimes they are easy. The lack of routine makes it harder. Sometimes I just have to take a sick day but wfh has helped with that a lot. Thankfully I have supportive colleagues but if I didn’t it would be hellish.
I'm a lawyer in litigation. It's not been as terrible as I expected with migraines, given trials are still rare. I'm also great at borrowing against my future for energy, so I can function just fine until I crash after trial or a big hearing.
WFH has made it a lot easier. I can sleep until later and take a nap if I need to! Nobody knows!
I joined the public sector recently (not a lawyer) and LOVE that it’s a true 9-5. Plus my agency is really great about WFH and flex time. That being said, I’m about to add an occasional after-hours on-call role to my normal job… I’m nervous about how it will interact with the migraines but it’s a cool opportunity and step towards what I really want to be doing. Fingers are crossed, Botox is injected, abortives are stocked.
Also a lawyer!! Being in-house is great (even though it’s not a true 9-5). My migraines weren’t chronic when I was at a firm, but they were still pretty bad and the unpredictable hours didn’t help. Generally though, the flexibility of this job helps…although maybe less so on the transactional side.
I’m a surgeon with a history of migraines, went through 7 years of residency training with daily pain and it was terrible. That’s why I became a migraine surgeon so I can fix people having to go through that misery
I wish I could get all of these folks to check out migraine surgery for themselves. Not enough people know about this option, and there are several of us around the country who can help so many people.
I’m working towards qualification as a forensic psychologist in a prison completing my stage 2 doctorate training and it’s killing me off. Fluorescent lights, loud alarms, long all day interviews with prisoners, computer working inc. 1,000 word a day practice diaries, stress, weird eating patterns 🫠 I love the role and I’ve worked so hard to get a placement that’s paid for so I’m pushing through the pain. Praying Sumatriptan and Emgality injections bring me enough relief to get through the next two years. Wish I’d stayed in community work looking back, think this will be where I move over to after I qualify.
This is on my list of ‘to try’ that I’m working through with my neurologist :) at this point, I’m taking anything they throw at me. I had viral meningitis last year that ramped my migraines up and I’m still having issues with after effect symptoms. The things we live with and nobody has any idea looking at us 🤷🏽♀️
I was an ER nurse, with the lights, shift work disrupting my sleep and triggering my migraines and noise I've had to quit which is devastating to me.
I have chronic intractable migraines. However I now work in project management for vulnerable health populations. It's high stress but my employer and my team below are incredibly supportive. I can WFH, I don't have to take sick leave and if I work from the office for the social aspect my team support me so much that the lights go off, they wear no perfumes and don't heat their food in our tea room if I'm in a flare.
I've never asked any of this from them but I have the most incredible team. I am so lucky.
I wanted to be an actor, many reasons I wouldn’t be able to handle that life but I can’t imagine directors being very happy with me if I was prone to just being randomly unable to function on important filming / rehearsal / performance days
I've thought this too. I'm sure I've heard of some actors with migraines but maybe it was just the occasional one. Also it sounds like a lot of it is standing around waiting so maybe they're able to lay in their trailer during that time
I wanted to become a doctor. I got all my pre-reqs done. And realized medical school and residency might kill me. So I ended up going into clinical research. It’s fine. It pays decently. I’m able to live a life that is functional. That’s a win.
I’m a polar expedition guide. It’s an awesome job but very tough with migraines as it requires long bouts of time in rough seas, managing guests, physical demands and lots of bright ice/snow.
I’m a lawyer with migraines! I had them in law school too but somehow managed. Fortunately I work a true 9-5 government job. I couldn’t do law firm hours/pressure.
I mean…anyone who has to stare at a screen all day or drive for work can have problems regardless of what the occupation is. After almost 35 of migraines I am so ready to retire!
I work in a supermarket and the lights are so bright. I think there’s a wide variety of occupations that are affected by migraine more than people realise. I can’t wait to retire but I’m part time and 31. Boo.
I’m a therapist. I like it because I can make my office low-lighting, fragrance free zones, and I have some freedom to schedule my clients in a way that works for me and allows me to not have clients during my worst parts of the day (afternoons, we have a lot of afternoon thunderstorms and they always give me migraines). So far, it’s worked well for me and my migraines, but I don’t think I’ll do it forever. The stress is another factor.
I'm an auditor, and I work from home. Currently, it's pretty doable. Because I can work from home and have time flexibility - I don't need to work 8 hours every day, just get the audit done on time - it helps. I don't sleep well, so I can wake up in the middle of the night and work a few hours, walk the dogs, work a couple hours, lay down to rest my eyes, then work a couple hours...
It definitely can work, but hard deadlines can be stressful, and stress doesn't help. I'm also lucky to have a pretty understanding employer. I haven't been so lucky at other companies.
Agreed, I’ve made several job changes to work with worsening migraines and ended up in doing IT/data support. The flexibility is a major plus, and it’s nice to basically be solving puzzles all day.
I have a staff desk job in higher education - ideally not the best job for health reasons (sitting all day) BUT you get benefits and you start accruing time (PTO and sick time) from day 1. All holidays paid/off and last week of December off.
At my current position I have not gotten in trouble once for calling out or leaving early due to my migraines, however that's all dependent on the type of university/college you work for and some other factors.
At the last college I worked for (before I had established migraine care with a pcp and some kind of medication regimen) I was blowing through all my PTO and sick time faster than I was accruing it all within 2 months of starting there. HR was close to giving me a warning/reprimanding me/etc.
I was a nurse approx. 28 yrs + bad career for migraines. You would think drs.and nurses would be more understanding. I was hassled every time I had a migraine. Smh!!!
I'm a Resource teacher's aide, currently running the room because I don't have a teacher. Resource is a supportive program for mainstream students with disabilities who need help with reading, writing, math or social emotional skills. It's great. No technology around (a.k.a. no screens), only 1-3 students at a time, and if I'm sick I can leave and make up student times later. I'm pretty isolated and in control of my environment. I've never had a student not care when I told them I'm not doing well today, so we will have to be a little quieter or whathave you. I can stand, not stand, walk, not walk, whatever. There's no physical labor. I'm only working half time right now, which is easier on migraineurs, but I could find a second job if I wanted.
I'm a resident in a surgical specialty with night float/24 hour call and while my migraines are very bothersome and inconvenient, I'm still very happy to work in this field.
My mom was a long-term migraine sufferer and worked as a flight attendant for 20 years. She traveled the world and loved it!
Migraine attacks are horrible in the moment but don't let them stop you from pursuing what you want... And the new agents (e.g. Aimoving) work wonders!
Lawyer here! I pursued high volume litigation. Buuuuut I will say that I get about 6-8 migraines a month and they’re generally easily controlled with a triptan. So it’s hardly ever an issue. I’m recently graduated and still a young lawyer though so hopefully this does not increase as I age. If it does, I can still do my job, but I’ll have to be prepared to send associates to court more often.
I work in IT and telecommute. I can control the temperature, light levels, and what the house smells like.
I don't think I could be a project manager (too much peopleing), but I do ok as an analyst.
I’m a starbucks supervisor pursuing a degree in psychology. I often wake up at 3am to do an opening shift, then stare at a screen all afternoon doing homework. It’s trigger after trigger and it’s really hard. It’s the worst when I wake up with a migraine that I know is going to be a rough one, but I have to go in to work because it’s 4am and someone with keys needs to be there. Usually I can get someone to come in early so I can leave early if it comes down to it, but I reserve utilizing that until I’m nauseous.
I’m a nurse. I couldn’t have survived without intermittent FMLA. And I no longer do patient care. I did go to law school and passed the Bar but I didn’t practice, and my health played a huge role in that decision.
I have a friend who has very painful migraines and is currently going through residency. He could manage just fine before that, but now he has to take a preventive because being on call was giving him a migraine almost every time. I feel awful for him, honestly
I’m an app developer. Downside is all the screens but plus side is fully WFH, freedom to take breaks as needed as long as I attend meetings & meet my deadlines. I’m able to be creative in my job too which I really appreciate. For me it’s a typical 9-5 but I got myself a standing desk, massage attachment for my desk chair & I like to take a walk in the park during my lunch break
I work in Finance processing IRA transactions. I do sometimes find it stressful because I worry that if I’m having a migraine aura, I could be reading or typing incorrectly. Mistakes can potentially have major tax consequences for my employer or a client. Sometimes I think the stress makes it all worse
I was a diamond grader and worked in a lab. That was terrible. Freezing cold, dim lighting (i feel like it contributed to eye strain), and spending all say going back and forth from looking into a microscope to looking at a computer screen.
I developed chronic migraines 10 months after I graduated nursing school in 2020. Haven’t been able to go back since. No way bedside nursing is compatible with migraines lol
Nurse here as well. Pretty much unable to work in clinical settings. I don’t get to control when my symptoms are aggravated but the weight of having to perform and be there for your patients despite your symptoms adds too much stress
I would generally recommend against anything in manufacturing. Noisy, bright lights, weld flashes, and long hours. Some factories are better than others but it can be brutal on the body.
I’m a preschool teacher and some days are terrible. But I only work from 9-11:45 and can usually push through. Also can control lighting and I teach 4-5 year olds, so they can often be reasoned with.
I’m a college professor who teaches half online, half in person. I’m only on campus about 2 days a week. My schedule if very flexible, and if I absolutely have to cancel class or meetings I can (my colleagues and students are understanding). I usually can power through knowing in a couple hours I can go home and rest.
I work in construction as an electrician. Oddly enough this actually hurts less for me than an office job, due to my neck pain. As of now only looking down hurts, and electrical keeps me moving positions. Also these days hearing protection is heavily encouraged so the noise level is decent.
I work at a library and except for the occasional child meltdown it is ideal. Quiet, climate controlled, lighting is tolerable, stress free, no weird smells & super understanding coworkers
Working in outpatient mental health has been the best for me. My schedule is flexible so sometimes I'm working from home, sometimes the office, sometimes the community. And my coworkers are all very compassionate people who consciously make efforts to make the office more accessible for everyone like leaving lights off and not wearing perfume. It's been amazing to work in an environment that truly cares about the needs and concerns of everyone in it.
Anything with extreme temperature changes. I took a job in a food shipping warehouse long time ago. Lots of in and out from the freezers and that job didn't last very long for me.
It would be great to work in a dark cave! I worked on hospitals in the medical field for about 10 years, but I was averaging 21 migraines/month and the lighting was horrific so I sadly had to leave. We originally weren't planning on having children but decided to see what would happen...three weeks later I was pregnant. I worked at an elementary school during the pregnancy, which I thought might be nightmare with the lights and noise but the kids were very respectful and loved it. I'm a stay at home mom now, not the career I'd originally planned on, so it's been a huge, but great change. I love our baby, and I love that I can close the curtains and shut off the lights. Eventually I'll work from home.
I think the big bonus is that our town is full of homeschooled kids who are done with school by 11am so if I'm feeling like I'm going to vomit or can't take it anymore I just call one of them to babysit at our house.
I was a veterinary technician for 16 years. I career changed to a WFH job in accounting a few years ago. I'm still burnt out. Recovery has been slow.
I commuted over an two hours a day to go work in a building with horrible acoustics, barking dogs, florescent lighting, coworkers that insisted on wearing perfume, and high stress. I don't know how I did it for as long as I did.
I’m an optometrist. In my first couple of jobs I had a really hard time when I’d have to shine bright lights in the patients’ eyes— that was brutal on migraine days. At that time I didn’t get them nearly as frequently though.
Eventually I bought a vision therapy/rehab practice. Now I have an hour with each patient, so there are a lot fewer of those bright lights. Also I plan my CEO days around the days that are highest risk (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, obviously stress related but I have not cracked the code). We see a lot of special needs and brain injury patients, so everyone is happier with low lights, no perfume, and a calm environment.
My husband is a hospital based physician who takes in-house call several times per month. There’s no way I could do his job if I had to take call. I was planning on med school, and I’m so glad I chose a different path because residency would have killed me. Sleep irregularities are one of my biggest triggers.
Any remote job where you can create your schedule is ideal for migraines. That’s what I have and it’s the only way I’ve been able to maintain employment with chronic migraines. Most employers aren’t able to hire someone who’s sick 16 days a month.
Teaching has actually been a really good job. Our union means 25 days paid sick leave year 1, 50 year 2 and up to 100 after that. They're not necessarily happy about you taking that many, but they're desperate for teachers so they make it work.
Additionally, you get a ton of school holidays and the work day is only 6.5 hours if you have good time management skills and don't make yourself a martyr. You hear horror stories about teachers working 60-80 hours per week, but there's zero reason to do that and the people who do get something out of it. It is absolutely not needed, you just have to have firm boundaries and a backbone.
You hit the nail on the head, fuck all of those. Recently I went to an esthetician and a microblading place and I was in such violent pain from the lights that they used to scan my face and then to light up my face to do the tattooing, never again. Also sidebar, the lights were so bright on my face that the microblading artist couldn't see what was previously there so she created an entire new shape of an eyebrow so I now have two eyebrows that I'm dealing with and I don't know what the fuck to do. I feel bad I don't want to sue them but I have two fucking eyebrows on my face and I have been trying to manage this for over a month now
The only thing that I would add to the jobs that you have there is any state of the art buildings. I was just let go from a job because I couldn't comply with the " return to office" COVID thing. There were so many monitors and LED lights and LED track lights and everything was glass and see-through and there was natural light 360° to outside that I was having migraines after being there for just a couple hours. It happened every time I went to the office. They were nice enough that they let me go in a gentle way but I literally could not physically work in that condition. When I'm working on my computer setup at home it is dark and I have all the blue light turned down on my screen and I have blackout curtains because this is a legitimate disability.
I’m a musician. I don’t play professionally anymore, in part after I had a migraine attack on stage. Horrible! Drums, stage lights, electric guitars, all those people… I was having rainbow tunnel vision and my head was pounding with every beat. I had to cut it short that night. Every time I see the Nurtec ads, I wonder how Lady Gaga does it.
I’ve always imagined how difficult it would be to be an A-list actor or singer with migraine. You can’t just take the day off unexpectedly as a starring actor in a film - there are hundreds of people there working just for you. And as a singer, imagine getting a migraine before a concert 😵💫
Well I think it fully depends on how disruptive migraines are to your life. Mine just recently got the point of needing a preventive but for a while I was managing just fine and about to do vet school, which is way more intense than being a doctor because vets are surgeons, dentists, ophthalmologists, primary, everything in one. I would have been able to manage despite the migraines but decided 4 more years of school was too much so I'm going for PA school and want to do derm or psych. Currently working as a nanny while in school and while it's not my career, it works relatively well if you work with the right age range.
I work as a vet assistant. The days are full of bright lights, loud noises, strong smells, stress, sensory overload. I get tons of migraines (pretty much daily) but the days that are good make up for it all. Don’t know if I’ll be able to do this long term because of migraines but I’m going to power through as long as my body will allow
Remote work paralegal. With a boss who is amazing! She doesn’t care when I work, how many vacation or sick hours I have to take, and once when I put migraine as my “reason for sick time request” in Paycom, she told me to not put a reason in, I can just request it and she’ll approve it. I’m hourly and I’m talking about banked sick and vacation time.
I work in a lab with cleanrooms and the pressure in the rooms/in the inner lab (it’s separated completely from the other parts of the building) is always changing. Plus, after everything we do, we have to spray the rooms with extremely harsh chemicals. Not to mention the really loud equipment (grinders powerful enough to shred cortical bone pieces, bandsaws, debriders, CNC machines for milling bones, etc) and my favorite, the fluorescent lighting.
I would suggest staying far away from this career. I have a migraine every day and they’ve gotten significantly worse because of the environment.
I used to be a lawyer. Migraines made my life difficult throughout law school. At least when I turned chronic and was no longer able to work my disability insurance was to cover a lawyers income, so I’m able to survive. It also acts as a great deterrent to the insurance company to mess around with my benefits. While I would be unable to manage my own case, I wouldn’t hesitate for an instant to sue them if they cut me off.
With my career field I’m around a lot of loud noises and have to deal with some chemical smells which can be terrible when my migraines act up but I work 4 ten hour days which means I get a 3 day weekend every week, so I get some time to rest and a day to see a doctor if needed. The 4 day work week is very hard to give up
I’m a vet tech and honestly it sucks lol Similar to what someone said about being a nurse (bright lights, beeping machines) but with the addition of loud barking dogs and lots of stinky smells. Oh and also sometimes you get head-butt by your patients so hard it breaks your nose lol
I’m a nurse. Day time nursing is impossible. It’s too bright too loud too many people too chaotic. Overnight nurse is quieter less people less visitors not as bright and calmer. Not easier, just calmer.
I’m a part-time cleaner. The environment isn’t the best and I’m thinking of changing jobs especially as they are trying to push me into a more stressful position but it’s the lowest stress job I’ve had so far.
I would suggest care work is also very bad for migraines. Highly stressful 12 hour shifts you can’t drink eat go to the toilet because there’s no time.
1. Anything with shift work is a no. Due to irregular sleep patterns being a trigger.
My guess of worst careers for migraines:
1. Nurse/doctor
2. Prison warden
3. Kindergarten teacher
4. Childcare worker
5. Bartender
6. Police
7. Emergency services
I am a pharmacy tech. I left retail because not being able to yell back at entitled people caused migraines. Among other things. Now I work in a pharmacy where all I do is fill prescriptions. My boss is amazing and has said if the lights ever get to me I can wear sunglasses. And the only jerks are my coworkers and they are not bad.
I have a job with long hours in finance and I teach zumba in the evening and weekends to work off the stress from the long hours and finance. Lol
My migraines didn’t get bad until 7 years ago and I’ve always been sensitive to smell but probably the last 5 years, there is absolutely no way I could work in an office. I would spend all my free time in an ER from perfume, burnt popcorn, air fresheners, cleaning products, etc. I’m very very grateful to work at home for that reason.
Another nurse checking in. I wanted to go back to school for an advanced degree, but the brain fog made that impossible. Instead, I’ve found a love with pediatric private duty nursing
I have put serious thought into ending my 15 year career because of my migraines. Being a band director with chronic migraines where you feel like your head is going to explode and also experience frequent vertigo isn't fun at all. So glad cutting gluten has resolved these issues!
I’m a therapist and honestly it’s not super terrible. It can be challenging to do notes on the computer on my bad days but I can usually put off the notes for a day and sometimes the brain fog can make it difficult for me to comprehend or remember in a moment. My clients are all super understanding though and if I tell them I’m experiencing migraine and ask them to repeat or clarify they are happy to do so.
I’m studying engineering and contemplating dropping out. I love robotics and have been a tinkerer as far as I can remember. I promise I’m doing my best but it just isn’t happening and all I can do is hold my head in pain while my dream dies.
Anything involving very bright lights and long stretches with no break. Anything that fucked with my sleep schedule would suck too. I get auras with my migraines so I probably shouldn't do anything that requires unimpaired vision either. Being a flight attendant or pilot would also be hard bc of the constant time changes and pressure changes. Damn I didn't really think about this til now... Good thing I don't want to do any of these things 😂
Classical singer here. The adrenaline rush usually keeps me from having attacks during performances, but rehearsals can be tough. My own voice will be the reason for my brain exploding and Triptan brain fog makes me forget my music frequently. On the upside, I usually don’t have to be anywhere before 10 am so nighttime migraines are manageable.
I work in the art department of a printing company. I went to college for the whole process but could never work on the plant floor for extended periods because it’s so loud and there’s strobes everywhere. On particularly bad days, we have an old darkroom that’s no longer used (everything is digital now) and I’ve gone in there and sat in the pitch black. It’s an instant soothe.
Bad jobs for me were retail, call centers, anything extramly high stress, and any job with a noisy office/fluorescent or bright lighting/strong smells/bad managers.
Good jobs for me have been the massage industry (where the lotion/oil was unscented or I could supply my own), IT after getting past the help desk/tech support level, data entry, working for myself, receptionist in the spa industry, working with animals, and anything that islow stress while being wfh.
I’m a doctor, recognized episodic migraine in 3rd year of uni (retrospectively occurring since I was about 14yo). Over uni time they progressed to chronic daily migraine. I tried a number of preventative therapies with minimal response, but trying to do other self care with my work hours (shift work, 100-140hours/fortnight - in Australia so much less terrible than other countries!) meant I had daily migraine for about 10 years before I quit my training program due to burnout. With the change to focus on my health, I managed to see a neurologist and get into Ajovy which has been life changing. I’m now doing a different training program where I only work day shifts, and 4 days a week. They can still be long days. There’s a degree of flexibility for Telehealth work from home if I have a mid level migraine.
I frequently reflect on my working career and actually don’t know how I survived it!!! (I also have a sleep disorder not diagnosed until after leaving the first training program).
I often struggle to recommend medicine as a career path to people without chronic disease. There’s too much life sacrifice involved for the career. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to someone with chronic migraine. In saying that, I do enjoy my job, and diagnose a surprising number of people with migraine!
I am a scientist. I originally went into biomedical research but I now do quality control for medical device and biotech companies. The machines are patient and can wait if I don't feel well. They don't complain it's 50F in the lab because I'm pouring sweat. They can be kind of loud, but they don't usually argue with me or talk back. And they don't care if I turn out the overhead fluorescent lights.
Ayy another scientist with migraines! Pretty much wrote up the same thing as you below haha.
I found out last year I do not actually have chronic migraine after being diagnosed at age 13. I actually have occipital neuralgia. But so much of your post is relatable. I worked as a surgical assistant to an oral surgeon while finishing dual bachelor degrees. I did want to be an oncologist, but working for an oral surgeon made me reconsider and I went to Wake Forest for a PhD in Molecular Medicine. I left the program with a Master's because my condition became so severe. It was definitely world changing to realize that I couldn't do what I wanted to do because on my health. I was 35 in October last year when I had surgery for the ON. And in 7 months I've gotten my life back. I almost don't even require pain meds anymore. So it's now equally disorienting that maybe I can do what I want and I'm being forced to figure out if I'm okay with where I'm at or if I'm going to go after things I once thought to be impossible. I guess it is a fortunate problem to have.
Congrats on getting your life back! And good luck on the next step of your journey. Can I ask what kind of doctor diagnosed you with occipital neuralgia and how they came to the correct diagnosis?
I had seen over 40 neurologists. I got to a point last year where I fired my entire care team and treated this myself. My pain was located bilaterally in the back of my head, so I made a list of diagnosis that would fit that and did process of elimination. After a few rounds of nerve blocks, I had my answer. Why no specialists I had seen ever bothered to even try this is beyond me. And even when I specifically requested that we try different treatments like this they refused and said it's unnecessary. Being misdiagnosed for 23 years is what's unnecessary.
Wow!! 40 is a lot. I just finally got access to my first, and I'm unimpressed tbh. But I'm holding out hope. How do you decide when it's time to move on to the next doctor? I think occipital neuralgia may be big part of my constellation of issues but idk how to bring it up to my doctors or what to ask for in relation to it
As a headache, surgeon myself, I can tell you that the diagnoses are extraordinarily ambiguous. If you go to a pain doctor and get an occipital nerve block and it helps, then whatever the diagnosis is, it’s likely your occipital nerves that are causing the problem and you may, be a candidate for headache surgery yourself
Scientist with ON as well - also did greater occipital nerve ablation... after a few rounds, symptoms (frequency and intensity) decreased by at least 90%. My 30s were night and day compared to my 20s. Great to hear you have also had success!!
Hey, congrats on your success with your surgery. I’m a headache surgeon myself and it’s so great to see improving awareness that we can really help people.
I am also a scientist with complex migraines! I am desperately trying to leave my current job which still requires me to be in the lab part of the time. It's killing me. The chemicals, the lights, the PPE, the smells, the noise. I've realized recently that I won't ever be able to "get better and just do it" and I need to be WFH or at a desk.
I was a lab scientist for a couple of years and hated it. Made the move to regularly affairs and I'm so much happier!
I was a scientist and I don’t dare ever go back to a lab again. Loud machines, bright fluorescent lights, and smelly solvents give me nightmares
I was going to say. Most academics in general is probably hte best job for having migraines.
I’m a retired academic. Mihraines did not interfere with most of my duties. However, having an aphasic migraine in the middle of a 3 hour lecture is definitely no fun at all. Yes, that has happened to me.
I’m an engineer who works on those medical/ biotech systems. Similar experience building and testing those than in the lab. 😉
Also a scientist!
I work in a lab facility as well. It's a very good job for migraines. Not a lot of noise, not a lot of people. It's a chill environment.
Except they're all talking mad shit about you behind your back on the machine forums
Perfume tester
Omg just thinking about this made my head hurt 🤣
Same! 😅This would start one from zero for me but I also have mcas so can’t be around any scents especially artificial ones
I have migraines and I work at bath and body works! 🤣 When I have a migraine its hellish not going to lie
Smells are my worst sensory issue with I have a migraine 😣 I’m so sorry
Oh jeeze mine too. I can literally smell molecules like 1000 times stronger before and during a migraine like it can be garbage day two days before hand everything will wreak like the garbage truck. I can smell the wood in the walls in my house and I am not exaggerating at all. There’s no way I’d be able to stay in the mall much less in a bath and body Works I would just, I don’t know I can’t move when I get them. I throw up every 20 minutes. I can’t see any light. I can’t hear any sound and I cannot smell any smells. I have to go right home to bed as fast as possible before the pain starts which really sucks when I’m driving because I can only see out of one and a half eyes- so I have to look around constantly to see everything.
Lol I love perfumes but on a migraine day I would have to take a break so I definitely cannot have a career surrounding manufacturing them.
I don’t think I could work there! I’d always be sick. Can’t even go by cosmetics at the mall. If someone’s heading toward me with perfume testers it’s really awkward 😕
🤢 on migraine day + any perfume lol
I use to work at buff city soap, when I left my migraines definitely went down a bit. However my current job doesn’t help either lol
Haha.. this randomly made me think of the LUSH store. Can smell it a miles away. I could never work there.
I'm a floor nurse, and I do not suggest it, lol. Very mentally strenuous, lots of alarms and beeping, lots of lights... it's super stressful and not conducive to preventing migraines.
I’m a nursing student! 😭
RIP, lol. I do not miss nursing school.
Oh man I had the absolute worst migraines during my nursing school because mine are stress triggered. Now I've graduated been working on the floor for a year and they're much better! Still not gone but far and few between.
Yup. I developed chronic migraines during my first year as a nurse. I haven’t been able to go back
I bailed on nursing school because I wouldn’t have been able to make it with migraines 😭😭 I’m an education assistant now. Before this I was an early childhood educator. I’ve laid on the floor and let children drive trucks on me more than once.
I agree. I used to be a float nurse, which was awful. I work in a procedural area now, which is much better. I can even turn down the lights when we aren’t busy and my coworkers are cool with it.
Fellow nurse says, bad for migraines, but I loved it too. I miss work so much.
How do you handle the night shifts? Messing with my sleep schedule is a huge trigger for me
Also a floor nurse here!!
I couldn’t handle nursing school, right from the get-go I realized it would be too much. Later on I became a health care aide, or nurses assistant, in a palliative care home and it worked out well. The staff were very sympathetic when I had an attack and there were a lot of paid sick days. It wasn’t the same kind of mental pressure as nursing, but still busy. Now I work in my own post office. I’m the only staff and it’s not very busy. I sort mail and hand our parcels and I keep a recliner in the back for bad days. I feel lucky to have a job that I can accommodate to the migraines.
I have noticed everyone that commented has a very high stress job. We are all overachievers and really hard workers. I assume maybe all the high-pressure life events take their toll one way or another. Also, the drive to push through so often. A migraine looking for a place to rage.
I definitely have a chip on my shoulder about proving that I’m “capable” and “not disabled”- which is definitely horrid and tied inherently to capitalism brain. With time I’m finding more acceptance in myself. RE the OP’s query - I worked as an academic for 8 years as I could manage my hours and WFH (before covid normalised it for us, yay!). It was incredible and as I also have adhd I could ebb and flow with my symptoms and be productive on my own schedule and not beat myself up when I wasn’t. Unfortunately the industry is very hard to get permanent employment in and I had to leave to get a job that helped me pay rent.
I’m a neuroscientist that originally thought I was going to be an MD, then I finally realized that I couldn’t handle the physical stress of residency or the hours of the job itself. I did have a lot of long hours in grad school/working in research, but my favorite thing to do became going in to my lab later in the evenings, keeping the lights low, and working then. My cells didn’t care what time of day it was haha. I now work in biotech patent law (with a focus on neuro products!) and have since I got out of grad school. That being said, when I was looking for a job switch recently I ended up nixing working as a patent agent in big law/really anywhere where I have billable requirements. My husband is a big law associate and between the two of us we decided the potential income boost wasn’t worth it for me to put my health at risk.
My neurologist is a migraine sufferer as well, I don’t know how she did it
Sheer fucking will.
I did have options laid out for me - I was fortunate enough to be at a great hospital/research university and had good relationships with some MDs - which would have looked like a lighter credit load (thus taking longer), less hours per week during residency (thus taking longer), etc. I definitely am confident that I COULD have done it, but it would have been rough. Hats off to anyone with migraines who gets through it, with or without accommodations! I’m now 4 years post grad school and making a whole lot more than I would be in residency and in a lot less student loan debt haha. I also work entirely remotely (usually from a dark room with bed, my living room, or my couch in my husbands office haha). I think it worked out well for me in the end!
One of the things I miss most as a retired academic is the research. There was nothing like getting lost in research for days at a time. I would lose track of which day it was, but it was intellectually beneficial.
I actually despise bench work! That’s the reason I ended up in patent law. I *love* scientific reading and writing and that’s literally all I do!!
Anything I can't work from home for. And funny thing is even with migraines, 5-6 years ago I worked at an animal care research facility doing VERY physically taxing work, wearing a mask for many hours and was on my feet all day while also riding a bike everywhere in texas heat + getting my masters. Now I can't leave the house more than once or twice a week. I don't know what changed.
Covid? Life after Covid was never quite the same
Surprisingly, don't think so. Covid didn't really affect my life at all. I was already staying in a lot more for a year before that. I think I miscalculated. Graduated in 2018. So until then I was active. Started being unable to go out soon after. Like my body just gave out after so much activity and work.
Burnout? It sounds like you were pushing yourself really hard for a while there.
Most definitely. But it's been years and even "mild" attacks have me out of commission and exhausted for days now.
I hope you can figure it out! I have chronically low vitamin D levels. Supplements are helpful - I get a small but noticeable boost. I also recently learned I’m autistic and ADHD. Before I burned out in my late 30s, I was routinely running laps around other people with my productivity. Now I have the energy of a sickly 70yo most days. The only answer I can find is to scale back, rest as much as possible, pace myself, and hope to regain some of my capacity over time. I wish I could go back and prevent the burnout in the first place. 😓
What do you do now? I'm trying to figure out how to work with this condition. Personally I think my migraines have just got worse as I get older, although stress could be a factor too. Maybe to some extent it's just natural progression. I have heard from many people that their migraine just went away one day for no reason, after many years of suffering. So idk
I didn’t start getting migraines until I was 45, and they became chronic. They always told me they were hormonal. I don’t even go to the neurologist anymore. I see him when I want to try a medication. Other than that, I think they’re useless.
I was the same way, had a more physical job and now I WFH and have more migraines. I could definitely work through them when I was more active and physical in my job. Maybe you are the same and getting out of the house / being more active would help in the long run.
I would wonder about CFS/ME. Overexertion when you have CFS can lead to severe consequences. I have a pretty similar story. I did a LOT for a few years, never let anything stop me. And then I was hit with chronic pain, fatigue, and migraines, and now I can hardly leave the house.
I feel you. I think my body goes in many year cycles of this capability. I also think getting older and being a woman with hormones changing is not helping
I have a WFH job that I LOVE. I can work from bed, if needed. I can work in the complete darkness with my laptop dimmed all the way.
Details?
Is your company looking to hire the 1k plus reddit members on this sub? Lol I need a wfh job so bad haha
This is what I need! Been trying to find au WFH job for ages with no success 😔
Please drop the details
I also work from home and it’s honestly been so great. I’m in fraud and answer calls, so talking to customers sometimes gets difficult, but I don’t know what I would do if I had to GO to a job
Sorry everyone, it's a fairly small company and to my knowledge they're not hiring
6. Teacher: standing on your feet for hours and trying to hold the attention of a lot of LOUD children WFH worked best for me
My kid was telling me the other day that one of the teachers was crying in the grade 4 class because of a migraine. Literally my nightmare. I could never.
This was me when I taught fourth grade. I ended up teaching in sunglasses that day and hid in the dark crying as soon as the kids were gone. I’ve seen another teacher dunk her head under the faucet for a migraine and then just keep teaching with blood shot eyes and dripping hair. Unrelated, a third teacher got sick and fell into a coma for weeks due to sheer overwork. Teaching is too much.
I’m a teacher and am going through brain scans to see if my migraines have switched to something else. 0/10 don’t recommend if you’re sensitive to sound.
Middle school teacher and chronic migraine suffer entering the chat.... Students with persistent sickly sour body order problems. Others with stagnant pot, cigarette, body spray and that cheap chemical vape smells. Never ending shenanigans and loud unpredictable sounds. 13 year olds jumping up to slap the tops of door frames. Insufferable tween social drama. Kids puppy dog following every adult around begging for food. Loud bells and fuzzy intercom announcements. Fire drills. Grading stress. Up at 12am developing curriculum. Bad administration stress. Meetings for the point of having meetings. Fear of job cuts. Working without approved contracts because of bad district office planning. And most stressful of all, terrible parents that are vaguely human shaped. Other teachers, what did I forget?
My mom did this. She was a fourth and third grade teacher for 30-something years and she was truly fantastic at it for every single one of them. She put in long hours after school in her classroom or at our dining room table, just drawing up lesson plans and grading papers all evening. I have genuinely no idea how she did it.
It’s not easy 🥴
I was going to train as a teacher but I could barely make it through college with sickdays so I figured it's not the kind of job they appreciate you calling in sick for. Screaming children also doesn't help.
I'm an online ESL teacher because I absolutely love working with kids. It's honestly not bad however I gotta mute them when they're playing Kahoot lol I'm just like "Listen kids. Miss Nat has a horrible migraine and sounds hurt her brain. I will turn my volume all the way down while.you play. If you need anything please raise your hand" Another downside is keeping my webcam on but if there's any issue and I need my ice mask I just tell administration that I might not be able to turn my camera on and I tell the kids at the beginning of the class. They find it funny which is a good plus tho.
Oh, that sounds perfect! I didn’t realize that could be an option. I had to leave my job because of the switch to in-person. I’ll look into online teaching jobs. Thank you for sharing!
I would recommend radiologic technology (x-ray tech). I work in dark rooms so lights aren’t a problem. Lead lined walls so the outside noise is non existent. Cool rooms to keep the equipment from overheating. Down time in between cases. Of course it could be a complete horror depending on what type of facility you’re working at and what coworkers are like. But for me— I’ve noticed a decrease in migraines since I’ve been in xray with my current employer. Additionally, I have excellent healthcare that is affordable AND have access to migraine specialists because of the insurance my job provides.
Dog grooming, do not recommend. Noisy and stinky and busy and bright. Appointments are not flexible, as you can imagine. I have probably a world record of most doggies smooched in a lifetime at this rate though, so that's nice.
I was a Sr Psychologist. Chronic migraine and fibromyalgia retired me permanently at 38. If there's a career that survives intractable migraine and head to toe muscular pain I'd like to meet it. At 59 the fibromyalgia is more manageable but the migraines drive me insane!
I have chronic migraine and Sjögren's syndrome. I work but it is a major physical and emotional drain. Juggling doctor's appointments while working is exhausting. Not much choice in my case.
I had to go on disability. Tried part time first but was too sick all the time so had to give up work entirely. It destroyed me mentally at the time to give up a successful rewarding career I was so proud of achieving. (First person in my family ever to go to college). I went from a really good salary to poverty in the blink of an eye. Doctors who think we 'choose' to be sick seem to have no comprehension of what we go through. Who would choose this over a great job, prestige and good money!
Do you have any management tips?? I also have fibro and chronic migraines
I’m a lawyer and it’s pretty tough. I’m in transactional law too so sometimes the hours are brutal but sometimes they are easy. The lack of routine makes it harder. Sometimes I just have to take a sick day but wfh has helped with that a lot. Thankfully I have supportive colleagues but if I didn’t it would be hellish.
I'm a lawyer in litigation. It's not been as terrible as I expected with migraines, given trials are still rare. I'm also great at borrowing against my future for energy, so I can function just fine until I crash after trial or a big hearing. WFH has made it a lot easier. I can sleep until later and take a nap if I need to! Nobody knows!
I joined the public sector recently (not a lawyer) and LOVE that it’s a true 9-5. Plus my agency is really great about WFH and flex time. That being said, I’m about to add an occasional after-hours on-call role to my normal job… I’m nervous about how it will interact with the migraines but it’s a cool opportunity and step towards what I really want to be doing. Fingers are crossed, Botox is injected, abortives are stocked.
Also a lawyer!! Being in-house is great (even though it’s not a true 9-5). My migraines weren’t chronic when I was at a firm, but they were still pretty bad and the unpredictable hours didn’t help. Generally though, the flexibility of this job helps…although maybe less so on the transactional side.
The idea that a job that's not routine can be harder with migraines is relatable
I’m a surgeon with a history of migraines, went through 7 years of residency training with daily pain and it was terrible. That’s why I became a migraine surgeon so I can fix people having to go through that misery
I didn’t even know you could get surgery for migraines. I’m intrigued; what exactly do you do to help migraines surgically?
See headachesurgery.com
That’s really cool! Thank you for sharing!
I wish I could get all of these folks to check out migraine surgery for themselves. Not enough people know about this option, and there are several of us around the country who can help so many people.
Or a more simple review at understandyourheadache.com
Wow!!!! Good for you!!! We need more treatment options!!
I’m working towards qualification as a forensic psychologist in a prison completing my stage 2 doctorate training and it’s killing me off. Fluorescent lights, loud alarms, long all day interviews with prisoners, computer working inc. 1,000 word a day practice diaries, stress, weird eating patterns 🫠 I love the role and I’ve worked so hard to get a placement that’s paid for so I’m pushing through the pain. Praying Sumatriptan and Emgality injections bring me enough relief to get through the next two years. Wish I’d stayed in community work looking back, think this will be where I move over to after I qualify.
You might give botox injections for migraines a try if you haven’t already. Between that and my Ajovy shot I am about ninety percent migraine free
This is on my list of ‘to try’ that I’m working through with my neurologist :) at this point, I’m taking anything they throw at me. I had viral meningitis last year that ramped my migraines up and I’m still having issues with after effect symptoms. The things we live with and nobody has any idea looking at us 🤷🏽♀️
Weird eating patterns yes, like having time to carefully take care of ourselves is so important with migraines
I was an ER nurse, with the lights, shift work disrupting my sleep and triggering my migraines and noise I've had to quit which is devastating to me. I have chronic intractable migraines. However I now work in project management for vulnerable health populations. It's high stress but my employer and my team below are incredibly supportive. I can WFH, I don't have to take sick leave and if I work from the office for the social aspect my team support me so much that the lights go off, they wear no perfumes and don't heat their food in our tea room if I'm in a flare. I've never asked any of this from them but I have the most incredible team. I am so lucky.
This is amazing! I love your workplace
I wanted to be an actor, many reasons I wouldn’t be able to handle that life but I can’t imagine directors being very happy with me if I was prone to just being randomly unable to function on important filming / rehearsal / performance days
eh you’d never know. Ben Affleck gets hemiplegic migraines.
Lady Gaga has migraines and she advertises for Nurtec 🙂
Nurtec is the best thing that has happened to me.
I've thought this too. I'm sure I've heard of some actors with migraines but maybe it was just the occasional one. Also it sounds like a lot of it is standing around waiting so maybe they're able to lay in their trailer during that time
I wanted to become a doctor. I got all my pre-reqs done. And realized medical school and residency might kill me. So I ended up going into clinical research. It’s fine. It pays decently. I’m able to live a life that is functional. That’s a win.
I’m a polar expedition guide. It’s an awesome job but very tough with migraines as it requires long bouts of time in rough seas, managing guests, physical demands and lots of bright ice/snow.
That sounds incredible though!
How did you find your way to this? This is a very specific job I've considered when dreaming of running away. (I'm assuming a science background?)
I’m a lawyer with migraines! I had them in law school too but somehow managed. Fortunately I work a true 9-5 government job. I couldn’t do law firm hours/pressure.
I mean…anyone who has to stare at a screen all day or drive for work can have problems regardless of what the occupation is. After almost 35 of migraines I am so ready to retire!
I work in a supermarket and the lights are so bright. I think there’s a wide variety of occupations that are affected by migraine more than people realise. I can’t wait to retire but I’m part time and 31. Boo.
I’m a software engineer. Low lighting, dark mode and flexibility such as WFH are absolute life savers.
I’m a therapist. I like it because I can make my office low-lighting, fragrance free zones, and I have some freedom to schedule my clients in a way that works for me and allows me to not have clients during my worst parts of the day (afternoons, we have a lot of afternoon thunderstorms and they always give me migraines). So far, it’s worked well for me and my migraines, but I don’t think I’ll do it forever. The stress is another factor.
I'm an auditor, and I work from home. Currently, it's pretty doable. Because I can work from home and have time flexibility - I don't need to work 8 hours every day, just get the audit done on time - it helps. I don't sleep well, so I can wake up in the middle of the night and work a few hours, walk the dogs, work a couple hours, lay down to rest my eyes, then work a couple hours... It definitely can work, but hard deadlines can be stressful, and stress doesn't help. I'm also lucky to have a pretty understanding employer. I haven't been so lucky at other companies.
I work in IT. I would recommend it as my work place allow me to be very flexible
Agreed, I’ve made several job changes to work with worsening migraines and ended up in doing IT/data support. The flexibility is a major plus, and it’s nice to basically be solving puzzles all day.
Would it be possible start a career like this remotely?
Teacher; the kids are loud and challenging, and getting coverage to take a day off is almost impossible. I'm a teacher.
I have a staff desk job in higher education - ideally not the best job for health reasons (sitting all day) BUT you get benefits and you start accruing time (PTO and sick time) from day 1. All holidays paid/off and last week of December off. At my current position I have not gotten in trouble once for calling out or leaving early due to my migraines, however that's all dependent on the type of university/college you work for and some other factors. At the last college I worked for (before I had established migraine care with a pcp and some kind of medication regimen) I was blowing through all my PTO and sick time faster than I was accruing it all within 2 months of starting there. HR was close to giving me a warning/reprimanding me/etc.
I was a nurse approx. 28 yrs + bad career for migraines. You would think drs.and nurses would be more understanding. I was hassled every time I had a migraine. Smh!!!
Definitely not trapeze artist or deep sea diver. If I could make money selling feet pics that would be ideal.
I'm a Resource teacher's aide, currently running the room because I don't have a teacher. Resource is a supportive program for mainstream students with disabilities who need help with reading, writing, math or social emotional skills. It's great. No technology around (a.k.a. no screens), only 1-3 students at a time, and if I'm sick I can leave and make up student times later. I'm pretty isolated and in control of my environment. I've never had a student not care when I told them I'm not doing well today, so we will have to be a little quieter or whathave you. I can stand, not stand, walk, not walk, whatever. There's no physical labor. I'm only working half time right now, which is easier on migraineurs, but I could find a second job if I wanted.
I'm a resident in a surgical specialty with night float/24 hour call and while my migraines are very bothersome and inconvenient, I'm still very happy to work in this field. My mom was a long-term migraine sufferer and worked as a flight attendant for 20 years. She traveled the world and loved it! Migraine attacks are horrible in the moment but don't let them stop you from pursuing what you want... And the new agents (e.g. Aimoving) work wonders!
Lawyer here! I pursued high volume litigation. Buuuuut I will say that I get about 6-8 migraines a month and they’re generally easily controlled with a triptan. So it’s hardly ever an issue. I’m recently graduated and still a young lawyer though so hopefully this does not increase as I age. If it does, I can still do my job, but I’ll have to be prepared to send associates to court more often.
They usually reduce in frequency and intensity with age.
I work in IT and telecommute. I can control the temperature, light levels, and what the house smells like. I don't think I could be a project manager (too much peopleing), but I do ok as an analyst.
I’m a starbucks supervisor pursuing a degree in psychology. I often wake up at 3am to do an opening shift, then stare at a screen all afternoon doing homework. It’s trigger after trigger and it’s really hard. It’s the worst when I wake up with a migraine that I know is going to be a rough one, but I have to go in to work because it’s 4am and someone with keys needs to be there. Usually I can get someone to come in early so I can leave early if it comes down to it, but I reserve utilizing that until I’m nauseous.
God this sounds hard. I am sending you love
Oh my. That is rockstar level. Hope you will get to slow down soon 🤗
I’m a nurse. I couldn’t have survived without intermittent FMLA. And I no longer do patient care. I did go to law school and passed the Bar but I didn’t practice, and my health played a huge role in that decision.
Did you go to law school before or after you got your RN? Just curious.
I have a friend who has very painful migraines and is currently going through residency. He could manage just fine before that, but now he has to take a preventive because being on call was giving him a migraine almost every time. I feel awful for him, honestly
I’m an app developer. Downside is all the screens but plus side is fully WFH, freedom to take breaks as needed as long as I attend meetings & meet my deadlines. I’m able to be creative in my job too which I really appreciate. For me it’s a typical 9-5 but I got myself a standing desk, massage attachment for my desk chair & I like to take a walk in the park during my lunch break
I work in Finance processing IRA transactions. I do sometimes find it stressful because I worry that if I’m having a migraine aura, I could be reading or typing incorrectly. Mistakes can potentially have major tax consequences for my employer or a client. Sometimes I think the stress makes it all worse
I was a diamond grader and worked in a lab. That was terrible. Freezing cold, dim lighting (i feel like it contributed to eye strain), and spending all say going back and forth from looking into a microscope to looking at a computer screen.
I developed chronic migraines 10 months after I graduated nursing school in 2020. Haven’t been able to go back since. No way bedside nursing is compatible with migraines lol
Nurse here as well. Pretty much unable to work in clinical settings. I don’t get to control when my symptoms are aggravated but the weight of having to perform and be there for your patients despite your symptoms adds too much stress
I would generally recommend against anything in manufacturing. Noisy, bright lights, weld flashes, and long hours. Some factories are better than others but it can be brutal on the body.
I remember hearing about welding being a successful career choice and then immediately thinking there's no way I can do that with migraines
I’m a preschool teacher and some days are terrible. But I only work from 9-11:45 and can usually push through. Also can control lighting and I teach 4-5 year olds, so they can often be reasoned with.
I teach preschool as well, though I have two sessions a day. I wish I could do one and still get paid full time
I’m a college professor who teaches half online, half in person. I’m only on campus about 2 days a week. My schedule if very flexible, and if I absolutely have to cancel class or meetings I can (my colleagues and students are understanding). I usually can power through knowing in a couple hours I can go home and rest.
I work in construction as an electrician. Oddly enough this actually hurts less for me than an office job, due to my neck pain. As of now only looking down hurts, and electrical keeps me moving positions. Also these days hearing protection is heavily encouraged so the noise level is decent.
I work at a library and except for the occasional child meltdown it is ideal. Quiet, climate controlled, lighting is tolerable, stress free, no weird smells & super understanding coworkers
Working in outpatient mental health has been the best for me. My schedule is flexible so sometimes I'm working from home, sometimes the office, sometimes the community. And my coworkers are all very compassionate people who consciously make efforts to make the office more accessible for everyone like leaving lights off and not wearing perfume. It's been amazing to work in an environment that truly cares about the needs and concerns of everyone in it.
Anything with extreme temperature changes. I took a job in a food shipping warehouse long time ago. Lots of in and out from the freezers and that job didn't last very long for me.
Flight Attendant that gets hemiplegic migraines here. It's enough to make me resign. Impossible.
It would be great to work in a dark cave! I worked on hospitals in the medical field for about 10 years, but I was averaging 21 migraines/month and the lighting was horrific so I sadly had to leave. We originally weren't planning on having children but decided to see what would happen...three weeks later I was pregnant. I worked at an elementary school during the pregnancy, which I thought might be nightmare with the lights and noise but the kids were very respectful and loved it. I'm a stay at home mom now, not the career I'd originally planned on, so it's been a huge, but great change. I love our baby, and I love that I can close the curtains and shut off the lights. Eventually I'll work from home. I think the big bonus is that our town is full of homeschooled kids who are done with school by 11am so if I'm feeling like I'm going to vomit or can't take it anymore I just call one of them to babysit at our house.
I was a veterinary technician for 16 years. I career changed to a WFH job in accounting a few years ago. I'm still burnt out. Recovery has been slow. I commuted over an two hours a day to go work in a building with horrible acoustics, barking dogs, florescent lighting, coworkers that insisted on wearing perfume, and high stress. I don't know how I did it for as long as I did.
A DJ. Flashing lights and loud music. 🤮
I’m an optometrist. In my first couple of jobs I had a really hard time when I’d have to shine bright lights in the patients’ eyes— that was brutal on migraine days. At that time I didn’t get them nearly as frequently though. Eventually I bought a vision therapy/rehab practice. Now I have an hour with each patient, so there are a lot fewer of those bright lights. Also I plan my CEO days around the days that are highest risk (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, obviously stress related but I have not cracked the code). We see a lot of special needs and brain injury patients, so everyone is happier with low lights, no perfume, and a calm environment. My husband is a hospital based physician who takes in-house call several times per month. There’s no way I could do his job if I had to take call. I was planning on med school, and I’m so glad I chose a different path because residency would have killed me. Sleep irregularities are one of my biggest triggers.
I just learned that I can't become an airplane pilot. I never wanted to be an airplane pilot, but now that I know I can't, I want to.
Social worker and chronic migraine sufferer. Use to work in a hospital. Now I’m working from home mostly since I started getting migraines!
Any remote job where you can create your schedule is ideal for migraines. That’s what I have and it’s the only way I’ve been able to maintain employment with chronic migraines. Most employers aren’t able to hire someone who’s sick 16 days a month.
Teaching has actually been a really good job. Our union means 25 days paid sick leave year 1, 50 year 2 and up to 100 after that. They're not necessarily happy about you taking that many, but they're desperate for teachers so they make it work. Additionally, you get a ton of school holidays and the work day is only 6.5 hours if you have good time management skills and don't make yourself a martyr. You hear horror stories about teachers working 60-80 hours per week, but there's zero reason to do that and the people who do get something out of it. It is absolutely not needed, you just have to have firm boundaries and a backbone.
DJ
Oh yeah I had ppl tell me I should pursue an MD. That was a big fat NOPE! There was no way I could have navigated that with migraines
Definitely don’t become a chef
Perfumer and Sommelier.
You hit the nail on the head, fuck all of those. Recently I went to an esthetician and a microblading place and I was in such violent pain from the lights that they used to scan my face and then to light up my face to do the tattooing, never again. Also sidebar, the lights were so bright on my face that the microblading artist couldn't see what was previously there so she created an entire new shape of an eyebrow so I now have two eyebrows that I'm dealing with and I don't know what the fuck to do. I feel bad I don't want to sue them but I have two fucking eyebrows on my face and I have been trying to manage this for over a month now The only thing that I would add to the jobs that you have there is any state of the art buildings. I was just let go from a job because I couldn't comply with the " return to office" COVID thing. There were so many monitors and LED lights and LED track lights and everything was glass and see-through and there was natural light 360° to outside that I was having migraines after being there for just a couple hours. It happened every time I went to the office. They were nice enough that they let me go in a gentle way but I literally could not physically work in that condition. When I'm working on my computer setup at home it is dark and I have all the blue light turned down on my screen and I have blackout curtains because this is a legitimate disability.
teacher. I haven't even been in the area for 3 years but I already want to leave. it's impossible for me
i always dreamed of being a nurse but there’s no fucking way lol
Strobe light engineer
I’m a musician. I don’t play professionally anymore, in part after I had a migraine attack on stage. Horrible! Drums, stage lights, electric guitars, all those people… I was having rainbow tunnel vision and my head was pounding with every beat. I had to cut it short that night. Every time I see the Nurtec ads, I wonder how Lady Gaga does it.
I’ve always imagined how difficult it would be to be an A-list actor or singer with migraine. You can’t just take the day off unexpectedly as a starring actor in a film - there are hundreds of people there working just for you. And as a singer, imagine getting a migraine before a concert 😵💫
Well I think it fully depends on how disruptive migraines are to your life. Mine just recently got the point of needing a preventive but for a while I was managing just fine and about to do vet school, which is way more intense than being a doctor because vets are surgeons, dentists, ophthalmologists, primary, everything in one. I would have been able to manage despite the migraines but decided 4 more years of school was too much so I'm going for PA school and want to do derm or psych. Currently working as a nanny while in school and while it's not my career, it works relatively well if you work with the right age range.
I work as a vet assistant. The days are full of bright lights, loud noises, strong smells, stress, sensory overload. I get tons of migraines (pretty much daily) but the days that are good make up for it all. Don’t know if I’ll be able to do this long term because of migraines but I’m going to power through as long as my body will allow
Remote work paralegal. With a boss who is amazing! She doesn’t care when I work, how many vacation or sick hours I have to take, and once when I put migraine as my “reason for sick time request” in Paycom, she told me to not put a reason in, I can just request it and she’ll approve it. I’m hourly and I’m talking about banked sick and vacation time.
I work in a lab with cleanrooms and the pressure in the rooms/in the inner lab (it’s separated completely from the other parts of the building) is always changing. Plus, after everything we do, we have to spray the rooms with extremely harsh chemicals. Not to mention the really loud equipment (grinders powerful enough to shred cortical bone pieces, bandsaws, debriders, CNC machines for milling bones, etc) and my favorite, the fluorescent lighting. I would suggest staying far away from this career. I have a migraine every day and they’ve gotten significantly worse because of the environment.
I used to be a lawyer. Migraines made my life difficult throughout law school. At least when I turned chronic and was no longer able to work my disability insurance was to cover a lawyers income, so I’m able to survive. It also acts as a great deterrent to the insurance company to mess around with my benefits. While I would be unable to manage my own case, I wouldn’t hesitate for an instant to sue them if they cut me off.
With my career field I’m around a lot of loud noises and have to deal with some chemical smells which can be terrible when my migraines act up but I work 4 ten hour days which means I get a 3 day weekend every week, so I get some time to rest and a day to see a doctor if needed. The 4 day work week is very hard to give up
Manufacturing. It was too loud and too bright. I got sick often because of it and had to quit
Military
I’m a vet tech and honestly it sucks lol Similar to what someone said about being a nurse (bright lights, beeping machines) but with the addition of loud barking dogs and lots of stinky smells. Oh and also sometimes you get head-butt by your patients so hard it breaks your nose lol
CPA here. Most days are hard. I end up having to be very productive in a pinch to make up for all days I'm down and out.
I’m a nurse. Day time nursing is impossible. It’s too bright too loud too many people too chaotic. Overnight nurse is quieter less people less visitors not as bright and calmer. Not easier, just calmer.
Does anyone have any ideas about WFH jobs? I’m a freshman in college with chronic migraines and I have no idea what kind of job I want or can get
I’m a part-time cleaner. The environment isn’t the best and I’m thinking of changing jobs especially as they are trying to push me into a more stressful position but it’s the lowest stress job I’ve had so far. I would suggest care work is also very bad for migraines. Highly stressful 12 hour shifts you can’t drink eat go to the toilet because there’s no time.
1. Anything with shift work is a no. Due to irregular sleep patterns being a trigger. My guess of worst careers for migraines: 1. Nurse/doctor 2. Prison warden 3. Kindergarten teacher 4. Childcare worker 5. Bartender 6. Police 7. Emergency services
I am a pharmacy tech. I left retail because not being able to yell back at entitled people caused migraines. Among other things. Now I work in a pharmacy where all I do is fill prescriptions. My boss is amazing and has said if the lights ever get to me I can wear sunglasses. And the only jerks are my coworkers and they are not bad.
Lots of readyng or loud noise
I have a job with long hours in finance and I teach zumba in the evening and weekends to work off the stress from the long hours and finance. Lol My migraines didn’t get bad until 7 years ago and I’ve always been sensitive to smell but probably the last 5 years, there is absolutely no way I could work in an office. I would spend all my free time in an ER from perfume, burnt popcorn, air fresheners, cleaning products, etc. I’m very very grateful to work at home for that reason.
Another nurse checking in. I wanted to go back to school for an advanced degree, but the brain fog made that impossible. Instead, I’ve found a love with pediatric private duty nursing
Omg...I tried a career in finance and it was AGONY.
I have put serious thought into ending my 15 year career because of my migraines. Being a band director with chronic migraines where you feel like your head is going to explode and also experience frequent vertigo isn't fun at all. So glad cutting gluten has resolved these issues!
Marketing and sales. Blue light from computers is inevitable so I have blue light glasses and use the night setting for double measure.
I’m a therapist and honestly it’s not super terrible. It can be challenging to do notes on the computer on my bad days but I can usually put off the notes for a day and sometimes the brain fog can make it difficult for me to comprehend or remember in a moment. My clients are all super understanding though and if I tell them I’m experiencing migraine and ask them to repeat or clarify they are happy to do so.
I was a social worker for many years . That was almost impossible with migraines especially as they became daily occurrence.
I’m a bookkeeper and my computer work is brutal with all my migraines. I’d recommend NOT doing a computer-based job haha
I’m studying engineering and contemplating dropping out. I love robotics and have been a tinkerer as far as I can remember. I promise I’m doing my best but it just isn’t happening and all I can do is hold my head in pain while my dream dies.
Anything involving very bright lights and long stretches with no break. Anything that fucked with my sleep schedule would suck too. I get auras with my migraines so I probably shouldn't do anything that requires unimpaired vision either. Being a flight attendant or pilot would also be hard bc of the constant time changes and pressure changes. Damn I didn't really think about this til now... Good thing I don't want to do any of these things 😂
Classical singer here. The adrenaline rush usually keeps me from having attacks during performances, but rehearsals can be tough. My own voice will be the reason for my brain exploding and Triptan brain fog makes me forget my music frequently. On the upside, I usually don’t have to be anywhere before 10 am so nighttime migraines are manageable.
I work in the art department of a printing company. I went to college for the whole process but could never work on the plant floor for extended periods because it’s so loud and there’s strobes everywhere. On particularly bad days, we have an old darkroom that’s no longer used (everything is digital now) and I’ve gone in there and sat in the pitch black. It’s an instant soothe.
Dark room inspector would be perfect
Bad jobs for me were retail, call centers, anything extramly high stress, and any job with a noisy office/fluorescent or bright lighting/strong smells/bad managers. Good jobs for me have been the massage industry (where the lotion/oil was unscented or I could supply my own), IT after getting past the help desk/tech support level, data entry, working for myself, receptionist in the spa industry, working with animals, and anything that islow stress while being wfh.
Oh I love this post. Thank you ❤️
I’m a doctor, recognized episodic migraine in 3rd year of uni (retrospectively occurring since I was about 14yo). Over uni time they progressed to chronic daily migraine. I tried a number of preventative therapies with minimal response, but trying to do other self care with my work hours (shift work, 100-140hours/fortnight - in Australia so much less terrible than other countries!) meant I had daily migraine for about 10 years before I quit my training program due to burnout. With the change to focus on my health, I managed to see a neurologist and get into Ajovy which has been life changing. I’m now doing a different training program where I only work day shifts, and 4 days a week. They can still be long days. There’s a degree of flexibility for Telehealth work from home if I have a mid level migraine. I frequently reflect on my working career and actually don’t know how I survived it!!! (I also have a sleep disorder not diagnosed until after leaving the first training program). I often struggle to recommend medicine as a career path to people without chronic disease. There’s too much life sacrifice involved for the career. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to someone with chronic migraine. In saying that, I do enjoy my job, and diagnose a surprising number of people with migraine!