Archives: Summit Talks

How to Thrive in Your Career Despite Migraine

Key Questions
  • What is “transient aphasia” and how does it relate to migraine?
  • How can you manage a very public career once viewers have seen you having a debilitating migraine attack on live TV?
  • What are ways you can educate employers and coworkers while managing migraine?
Interview Notes

Find more about Serene Branson and her work here:

The Challenges of Living With Disability

Key Questions
  • How does the Americans with Disabilities Act define a disability and how does this definition relate to chronic migraine?
  • What is the disability application process and what information is required for submission?
  • At what point should a person consider applying for disability?
Interview Notes

Find more about Angie Glaser and her work here:

Good Migraine Self-Care Practices

Key Questions
  • What is one of the first things you should do once you have been diagnosed?
  • How do you manage your condition?
  • What have you noticed about migraine progression?
  • How do you deal with chronic pain?
  • What traps can patients fall into?
  • How can someone with migraine empower themselves?
  • How can the guilt that can accompanies migraine be managed?
  • How did you start a lasting patient organization?
  • Why did you prioritize migraine over cancer advocacy?
  • What advice would you give to anyone who wants to be an advocate?
  • What migraine patient issues do you still see today?
  • How have you found happiness despite disabling and frequent migraine?
  • How and why should we be kinder to ourselves as we struggle with migraine?
  • How did migraine advocacy get started in Ireland and Europe?
  • How can newly diagnosed migraine patients find support and educate themselves?
Interview Notes

Find more about Audrey Craven and his work here:

Fighting Stigma: “Coming Out” as a Person with Migraine

Key Questions
  • How significant is the disability caused by migraine and headache-related disorders or disease?
  • How are diseases compared to each other in terms of the burden they cause and the amount of research funding they receive?
  • What is a “DALY?” What does it have to do with migraine?
  • How much funding does migraine receive each year?
  • How much funding should migraine receive if it was proportionate to its impact on the population and to other diseases?
  • What percent of employers consider migraine a valid reason to take sick leave from work?
  • What implications does this have for our behavior as an employee?
  • What influence does the media have on stigma?
  • What advocacy efforts are needed to advance research and create new therapies for migraine?
  • What is Headache on the Hill?
  • What kinds of stigma confront people with migraine in terms of attitudes, access to treatment, research funding, employability, and eligibility for disability compensation?
  • Why is now the time to destigmatize migraine?
  • What can we do ourselves?
Interview Notes

Find more about Robert Shapiro, MD, PhD and his work here:

Treatment Spotlight: Nerve Blocks and Injections

Key Questions
  • How might various types of injection-based treatments affect migraine?What is the most appropriate phase of a migraine in which to get a nerve block?
  • For chronic migraine, can repeated nerve blocks or Botox injections have a preventative effect?
Interview Notes

Find more about Andrew Blumenfeld, MD and his work here:

Treatment Spotlight: Triptans and Rebound

Key Questions
  • What are rebound or medication overuse headaches?
  • Why is it so often missed for healthcare professionals?
  • What are telltale signs you have MOH?
  • Why it’s so important to stop MOH
  • How to break the cycle of MOH
  • How to reduce the frequency of your attacks with rebound headache?
  • How do you know if medication is being overused?
  • Which medications do not cause MOH?
  • How can those with several pain conditions (such as fibromyalgia) manage?
  • How can combinations of treatments help or hinder progress?
  • How can patients work with their doctors to overcome rebound headaches?
Interview Notes

Find more about Richard Lipton, MD and his work here:

Using Acupressure & Acupuncture for Headache and Migraine

Key Questions
  • What is Traditional Chinese Medicine and how is it different from Western medicine?
  • Is there evidence specifically for headache and migraine within Traditional Chinese Medicine?
  • How do you advise your patients to manage stress if they recognize that stress is a factor in their migraine attacks?
Interview Notes

Find more about Andrew Shubov, MD and his work here:

The Most Common Treatments Patients Use

Key Questions
  • What are the most used migraine treatments, according to data you’ve compiled?
  • Why might a person with migraine think about changing preventative and acute migraine treatments?
  • How does one’s record-keeping of migraine attacks and triggers affect treatment?
Interview Notes

Find more about Francois Cadiou and his work here: