Migraine is classified by the World Health Organization as the second most disabling disease in the world. In Hauts-de-France, 64% of people questioned say they are concerned, personally or through a loved one. In addition to its impact on quality of life, migraine has a strong impact on professional life.
In France, migraine affects 11 million people. Women are 2 to 3 times more affected than men. This is the case of Morgane Rivera Vargas, 33 years old. The first attacks occurred when she was in her twenties. They never left her side. Worse, they transformed his life into a fight.
For years, she had to live with pain, permanent mental fog and the fatigue it caused. Fatigue that triggers attacks again. A vicious, infernal circle. So much so that she was on sick leave for almost a year and recognized as 50% disabled.
Like her, there are thousands in Hauts-de-France who suffer from migraines. The number is important. 45% of residents in the region say they are personally affected by migraine episodes. Compared to 39% nationally.
This is what the study carried out by the Opinion Way polling institute, the Pfizer company, reveals with the support of the association La Voix des migraineurs. Four thousand people were interviewed on the occasion of World Migraine Solidarity Day, Friday June 21.
Through this study, 83% of people affected by migraines estimate that the disease forces them to limit their social and family life, sometimes going so far as to develop a feeling of exclusion.
Patients also feel that they are misunderstood, feel a feeling of injustice (77% of respondents) or even say they are stigmatized by loved ones or in the world of work.
Migraine is defined, firstly, by its duration, “between 4 and 72 hours“, explains Professor Christian Lucas, neurologist at Lille University Hospital.
Then, you must experience at least two of the following four symptoms:
- pain located on one side (in 30% of cases, it may be on both sides)
- pounding, pounding headaches
- moderate to severe pain (which interferes with all activity)
- pain that increases with exercise
Pain combined with one of the following two symptoms:
- nausea or vomiting
- discomfort with light and noise (migraine sufferers often feel the need to isolate themselves in the dark).
First of all, explains Christian Lucas, you must confirm the diagnosis with a doctor, who can prescribe effective medications in the event of a migraine attack.
But, adds the neurologist, for patients with frequent and regular attacks, it is important to take migraine prevention treatment every day to space out the attacks. His message is clear: consult your general practitioner or a neurologist. Since the disease is neurological of genetic origin.
For migraine, there are a number of medications that work to alleviate attacks. But no treatment cures migraine.
Some patients, and this is the case of Morgane Rivera Vargas, have severe forms that are refractory to treatment. For a time, she believed that the disease was going to steal her whole life. But today, she has found a semblance of normality and returned to work, thanks to anti-CGRP, combined with a beta blocker and an antidepressant. Together, these three medications allow him to have migraines “only” two weeks out of the month.
The problem is that anti-CGRP, intended for the most resistant cases, are not reimbursed by social security. However, for Morgane, it was “her last hope”. “This consists of an injection once a month” she explains. “But it costs 250 euros and without it, I don’t work“. So, she doesn’t understand that he is” rreimbursed throughout Europe, except in France“, she fumes.
Morgane Rivera Vargas has suffered from violent migraines for a dozen years.
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© M. Rivera Vargas
Professor Christian Lucas explains that if 12 to 21% of adults are affected, nearly 5% to 10% of children also suffer from migraines, from 3 to 4 years old.
This is also one of the struggles of Morgane Rivera Vargas, within the association La Voix des migraineurs. As a volunteer, she campaigns for more appropriate care for children, particularly through PAIs (individualized reception projects) at school.
The symptoms are significantly different from those of adults: it affects both sides of the skull, the face is pale, children complain of digestive problems (desire to vomit, for example). The attacks are also shorter, from 1 to 24 hours. Finally, sleep calms seizures in children.
