Migraine Heroes

Should you tell your employer about your migraine or keep it private?

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores how to approach migraine disclosure at work in a way that protects your privacy while helping you get the support you need.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How to decide whether telling your employer about migraine is right for you.
• Who may actually need to know, from your manager or HR to occupational health or a trusted colleague.
• How to explain your migraine, decide how much to share, and ask for practical workplace support.

The goal is not to justify your illness, but to create the conditions that help you work well.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

Identification of Work Accommodations and Interventions Associated With Work Productivity in Adults With Migraine: A Scoping Review (Begasse de Dhaem et al., 2021): This review identifies workplace factors and accommodations associated with better productivity in migraine. Read more here.

Migraine in the Workplace (Begasse de Dhaem & Sakai, 2022): This review examines presenteeism, stigma, productivity loss, and workplace migraine programs. Read more here.

Migraine in the Workplace: Work Productivity Impact in a Large US-Based Healthcare System Using a Cross-Sectional Employee Survey (Begasse de Dhaem et al., 2025): This study documents substantial migraine-related productivity loss, particularly from presenteeism. Read more here.

Migraine Stigma and General Knowledge of Migraine: A Cross-Sectional European Survey (Goadsby et al., 2025): This survey examines migraine stigma and public understanding across multiple countries. Read more here.

Migraine and Work – Beyond Absenteeism: Migraine Severity and Occupational Burnout – A Cohort Study (Peles et al., 2024): This study links migraine and greater migraine severity with occupational burnout. Read more here.

Legal Aspects of Migraine in the Workplace (Riggins & Paris, 2022): This review discusses workplace accommodation, disability protections, leave, and US employment law for migraine. Read more here.

Reasonable Accommodation at Work: Guidelines and Good Practices (European Commission, 2024): These guidelines provide practical guidance for creating individualized and inclusive workplace accommodations. Read more here.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Can you have a migraine without a headache?

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores silent migraine, visual aura without headache, and symptoms such as kaleidoscope vision, zigzag lines and blind spots, helping you understand what may be happening in the brain and why these symptoms can feel so unsettling.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why migraine aura can happen without headache pain.
• How to recognize zigzag lines, blind spots, kaleidoscope vision and other visual aura symptoms.
• How Western science and Traditional Chinese Medicine interpret these sudden neurological changes.

Understand what these visual changes may be telling you, and when they deserve closer attention.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd Edition (International Headache Society, 2018): The official classification defines migraine aura and typical aura without headache. Read more here.
• What Does a Migraine Aura Look Like?A Systematic Review (Joppeková et al., 2025): This review summarizes aura symptoms, mechanisms, diagnosis, and differential diagnoses. Read more here.
• Spreading Depolarization as a Therapeutic Target in Migraine (Harriott & Ayata, 2025): This review examines spreading depolarization as the biological basis of migraine aura and a potential treatment target. Read more here.
• Migraine Aura Symptoms: Duration, Succession and Temporal Relationship to Headache (Viana et al., 2016): This diary study examines the timing and sequence of aura symptoms and headache. Read more here.
• Clinical Features of Migraine Aura: Results From a Prospective Diary-Aided Study (Viana et al., 2017): This study describes the variety and variability of visual, sensory, and language aura symptoms. Read more here.
• Cortical Spreading Depression and Migraine (Charles & Baca, 2013): This review examines cortical spreading depression and its proposed relationship to migraine aura. Read more here.
• Neuroimaging in the Pre-Ictal or Premonitory Phase of Migraine: A Narrative Review (Karsan & Goadsby, 2023): This review examines brain changes occurring before migraine headache begins. Read more here.
• Migraine Aura Without Headache (Shah, Dilwali & Friedman, 2018): This review covers aura without headache, its diagnosis, physiology, and differential diagnosis. Read more here.
• Migraine Aura Without Headache: Transient Ischaemic Attack or Not? (Dennis & Warlow, 1992): This study compares aura without headache with transient ischemic attacks. Read more here.
• Aura Phenomenon: A Proposal for an Etiology-Based Clinical Classification (Pensato et al., 2025): This review proposes distinguishing migrainous aura from aura caused by other neurological conditions. Read more here.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

For years, Susanne thought her headaches might be a dental problem. By the time she found herself crying in her GP's office, saying "I can't manage this," migraines were coming weekly, and the fear of the next one was shaping her work, her weekends, and her plans. In this episode, she shares how she started to understand her own migraine patterns, what changed when she stopped bracing for the next attack, and why her biggest lesson was learning to trust the process, and herself.

Her story comes from our practitioner-guided work, which shaped the method behind the Migraine Heroes app. Today, you can start that same method in the app and see your own migraine patterns. Getting started is free.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Postpartum recovery already asks a lot from the body and migraine can make that transition even harder.

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores why migraines can return after childbirth, what may be driving them, and how to better support the body during postpartum recovery.

You’ll learn:

💡 Why migraine can return after childbirth, even after improving during pregnancy

💡 Which postpartum headache changes should not automatically be treated as your “usual migraine”

💡 How Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at postpartum migraine through recovery, depletion, and rebuilding the body’s resources

This episode is about understanding postpartum migraine in the context of recovery, not just stopping the pain, but supporting the body as it rebuilds.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• Course of Migraine During Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Prospective Study (Sances et al., 2003): This study tracks migraine improvement during pregnancy and recurrence postpartum. Read more here.
• The Complex Relationship Between Estrogen and Migraines: A Scoping Review (Reddy et al., 2021): This review examines estrogen fluctuations and the estrogen-withdrawal hypothesis in migraine. Read more here.
• Hormonal Influences in Migraine — Interactions of Oestrogen, Oxytocin and CGRP (Krause et al., 2021): This review explores how reproductive hormones and CGRP interact in migraine. Read more here.
• Migraine and Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review (Tiseo et al., 2020): This review examines the bidirectional relationship between migraine and sleep disorders. Read more here.
• Interventions for Migraine and Sleep: A Systematic Review Exploring Their Bidirectional Association (Sforza et al., 2026): This review evaluates treatments targeting migraine, sleep, or both. Read more here.
• Exclusive Breastfeeding Protects Against Postpartum Migraine Recurrence Attacks? (Serva et al., 2012): This study links exclusive breastfeeding with lower early postpartum migraine recurrence. Read more here.
• Management of Primary Headaches During Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review (Saldanha et al., 2021): This review evaluates headache treatments during pregnancy, postpartum, and breastfeeding. Read more here.
• Acute Headache in Pregnant and Post-Partum Patients: A Clinical Review (Greige et al., 2023): This review discusses primary headaches and dangerous secondary causes during pregnancy and postpartum. Read more here.
• Headaches in Pregnancy and Postpartum: ACOG Clinical Practice Guideline No. 3 (ACOG, 2022): This guideline covers evaluation and treatment of headaches during pregnancy and postpartum. Read more here.
• Beyond Postdural Puncture Headache: Headache and the Puerperium (Bavaro et al., 2026): This review covers the differential diagnosis and management of postpartum headache. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Your desk may be affecting your migraine more than you realize.

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, Diane Ducarme shares seven tiny changes that can make your working day feel easier and more migraine-friendly.

You’ll learn:

💡 How light, screen position, noise, and hydration can quietly affect your migraine threshold

💡 7 simple, low-cost desk upgrades you can try without redesigning your workspace

💡 Diane’s special productivity trick and how one simple sheet of paper can completely change the way you work

👉 Download Diane’s productivity sheet, a simple tool designed to help you reduce mental clutter, stay focused on what matters most, and get more done without keeping everything in your head.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• A Neural Mechanism for Exacerbation of Headache by Light (Noseda et al., 2010): This study identifies a neural pathway through which light can worsen migraine pain. Read more here.
• Migraine and Light: A Narrative Review (Artemenko et al., 2022): This review examines photophobia and how light can influence migraine attacks. Read more here.
• Factors Negatively Affecting a Migraine-Friendly Workplace in Healthcare (Aydinlar et al., 2026): This study identifies workplace factors that can worsen migraine burden among healthcare workers. Read more here.
• Digital Screen Exposure and Migraine Burden: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Gowda et al., 2026): This review examines the relationship between screen exposure and migraine burden. Read more here.
• Identification of Work Accommodations and Interventions Associated With Work Productivity in Adults With Migraine (Begasse de Dhaem et al., 2021): This review identifies workplace accommodations that may support productivity in people with migraine. Read more here.
• Migraine and the Environment (Friedman & De Ver Dye, 2009): This review examines environmental migraine triggers such as light, odors, air quality, and weather. Read more here.
• SEEDS for Success: Lifestyle Management in Migraine (Robblee & Starling, 2019): This review outlines lifestyle strategies involving sleep, exercise, eating, diaries, and stress management. Read more here.
• Color and Spatial Frequency Are Related to Visual Pattern Sensitivity in Migraine (Shepherd et al., 2013): This study examines how color and visual patterns influence discomfort in migraine. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Can birth control trigger migraines or make hormonal migraines worse? The answer may have less to do with simply having “too much estrogen” and more to do with how your hormones rise, fall, and change over time.

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores the connection between migraine, hormones, birth control, and the menstrual cycle, including why migraine attacks may appear around menstruation or during the hormone-free days of contraception.

You’ll learn:

💡 Why hormonal fluctuations and estrogen withdrawal may contribute to menstrual migraine

💡 Why migraine with aura matters when choosing hormonal birth control

💡 What to do if your migraines begin or noticeably change after starting contraception

You’ll also learn how different forms of birth control can create very different hormonal patterns and why understanding your individual migraine response matters.

If you think your migraines may be linked to your hormones or birth control, this episode will help you know what to track and what to discuss with your doctor.

Ask Diane Anything: Live Q&A

Have a migraine question? Join Diane live to ask your questions or simply listen.

👉 Register here: migraineheroes.com/live

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• Menstrual Migraine Is Caused by Estrogen Withdrawal: Revisiting the Evidence (Raffaelli et al., 2023): This review reassesses the evidence linking estrogen withdrawal to menstrual migraine. Read more here.
• Hormonal Contraceptives and Migraine Frequency and Severity in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Alju et al., 2026): This review examines how hormonal contraceptives may affect migraine frequency and severity. Read more here.
• Use of Combined Hormonal Contraceptives Among Women With Migraines and Risk of Ischemic Stroke (Champaloux et al., 2017): This study examines stroke risk according to migraine type and combined hormonal contraceptive use. Read more here.
• Safety of Hormonal Contraceptives Among Women With Migraine: A Systematic Review (Tepper et al., 2016): This review evaluates vascular risks of hormonal contraception in women with migraine. Read more here.
• Hormonal Contraceptives and Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Women With Migraine (Sacco et al., 2017): This consensus statement provides guidance on contraception and stroke risk in women with migraine. Read more here.
• Effectiveness of the Progestin-Only Pill for Migraine Treatment in Women (Warhurst et al., 2018): This review evaluates progestin-only contraception as a potential migraine treatment. Read more here
• U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2024 (CDC, 2024): These guidelines classify contraceptive safety for different medical conditions, including migraine with and without aura. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Living with chronic migraine can feel deeply isolating. Pain, unpredictable attacks, cancelled plans, and feeling misunderstood can slowly make your world feel smaller.

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores the connection between migraine, loneliness, social isolation, and support, and how to stay connected without pushing your body beyond what it can manage. This episode is about finding a connection that works with your migraine not against it.

You’ll learn:

💡 How to create migraine-safe forms of social connection without exhausting yourself

💡 How to explain what migraine support actually looks like to the people around you

💡 Why supportive relationships can matter more than having a large social circle and how small moments of connection can help you feel less alone

You do not need to rebuild your entire social life to feel supported. Sometimes one understanding person, one message, or one small moment of connection can begin to open your world again.

Ask Diane Anything: Live Q&A

Have a migraine question? Join Diane live to ask your questions or simply listen.

👉 Register here: migraineheroes.com/live

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• My Migraine Voice Survey: A Global Study of Disease Burden Among Individuals With Migraine for Whom Preventive Treatments Have Failed (Martelletti et al., 2018): This global survey highlights the personal, social, and professional burden of migraine. Read more here.
• The Social Life of Migraine: A Meta-Ethnography of Lived Experience in Adults With Migraine (Ng et al., 2026): This review explores how migraine affects identity, relationships, and social participation. Read more here.
• Impact of Migraine on the Family: Perspectives of People With Migraine and Their Spouse/Domestic Partner in the CaMEO Study (Buse et al., 2016): This study examines how migraine affects partners and family life. Read more here.
• Life With Migraine: Effects on Relationships, Career, and Finances From the CaMEO Study (Buse et al., 2019): This study shows migraine’s impact on relationships, careers, and finances. Read more here.
• The Stigma of Migraine (Young et al., 2013): This study examines the social stigma experienced by people with migraine. Read more here.
• Loneliness and Migraine Self-Management: A Cross-Sectional Assessment (Lui et al., 2020): This study explores how loneliness relates to migraine self-management. Read more here.
• Poor Social Support and Loneliness in Chronic Headache: Prevalence and Effect Modifiers (Westergaard et al., 2021): This study found greater loneliness and poor social support among people with chronic headache. Read more here.
• The Family Impact of Migraine: Population-Based Studies in the USA and UK (Lipton et al., 2003): This study shows that migraine can substantially affect partners, children, and family activities. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Got a migraine question the podcast hasn’t quite answered for you?

Join Diane live for Ask Diane Anything on Thursday, September 24, 2026. Bring your questions about migraine, hormones, sleep, food, exercise or simply come and listen.

✨ Free to attend

📅 Thursday, September 24

🔗 Register at migraineheroes.com/live

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

If your migraines suddenly feel more frequent, intense, or unpredictable in midlife, hormonal instability may be playing a bigger role than you realize.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

💡 Why fluctuating estrogen during perimenopause can make the migraine brain more reactive

💡 How poor sleep, hot flashes, anxiety, irregular periods, and migraine can reinforce one another

💡 How to track your personal patterns and create more stability during this hormonal transition

Perimenopause may feel unpredictable, but understanding your changing rhythm can help you respond with more clarity and confidence.

Ask Diane Anything — Live Q&A

Have a migraine question? Join Diane live on September 24, 2026 to ask your questions or simply listen.

👉 Register here: migraineheroes.com/live

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• Migraine Across the Menopausal Transition and Beyond: A Narrative Review (Korn & Bernstein, 2026): This review covers migraine changes and management across menopause. Read more here.
• Menstrual and Perimenopausal Migraine: A Narrative Review (MacGregor, 2020): This review examines hormonal changes affecting menstrual and perimenopausal migraine. Read more here.
• Menstrual Migraine Is Caused by Estrogen Withdrawal: Revisiting the Evidence (Raffaelli et al., 2023): This review reassesses the evidence for estrogen withdrawal as a migraine trigger. Read more here.
• Perimenopause and Menopause Are Associated With High Frequency Headache in Women With Migraine (Martin et al., 2016): This study found increased high-frequency headache during perimenopause. Read more here.
• Executive Summary of the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10 (Harlow et al., 2012): This paper defines stages of reproductive aging and the menopausal transition. Read more here.
• Migraine Management During Menstruation and Menopause (MacGregor, 2015): This review covers migraine treatment during menstruation and menopause. Read more here.
• Migraine and Menopause: A Narrative Review (Bernstein & O’Neal, 2020): This review examines migraine patterns and treatment around menopause. Read more here.
• Hormonal Influences in Migraine, Interactions of Oestrogen, Oxytocin and CGRP (Krause et al., 2021): This review explores how reproductive hormones and CGRP interact in migraine. Read more here.
• Acupuncture for the Prevention of Episodic Migraine (Linde et al., 2016): This Cochrane review evaluates acupuncture for migraine prevention. Read more here.
• Acupuncture for Migraine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression of Randomized Controlled Trials (Yang et al., 2024): This review examines the dose-response relationship between acupuncture and migraine frequency. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.

Could fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, feeling cold, and migraine be pointing to something deeper, like low iron stores?

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, Diane Ducarme explores the connection between iron, energy, oxygen delivery, brain function, and migraine and why low iron can sometimes be missed when we look only at hemoglobin.

You’ll learn:

💡 Why low iron may affect much more than your energy — and potentially make a migraine-prone nervous system more vulnerable

💡 Why ferritin can reveal depleted iron stores even when your blood count appears normal

💡 Simple ways to support iron intake, plus why finding the reason behind low iron matters just as much as replacing it

You’ll also discover how heavy periods, blood loss, diet, and absorption can contribute to depletion and why symptoms are often clues worth investigating rather than problems to look at in isolation.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• The Bidirectional Relationship Between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Chronic Headache Disorders (Rohilla et al., 2025): This meta-analysis found a significant association between iron-deficiency anemia and chronic headache disorders. Read more here.
• Association Between Dietary Iron Intake and Serum Ferritin and Severe Headache or Migraine (Meng et al., 2021): This study links iron intake and ferritin levels with migraine or severe headache in some women. Read more here.
• Association Between Anemia Severity and Migraine in Iron Deficiency Anemia (Sari & Kama Başci, 2024): Lower ferritin was associated with greater migraine pain and headache impact. Read more here.
• Is There Any Correlation Between Migraine Attacks and Iron Deficiency Anemia? A Case-Control Study (Tayyebi et al., 2019): This study found associations between migraine and iron deficiency, particularly among women. Read more here.
• Is Iron-Deficiency Anemia Associated With Migraine? Is There a Role for Anxiety and Depression? (Pamuk et al., 2016): This study found migraine was common among patients with iron-deficiency anemia. Read more here.
• Association Between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Chronic Daily Headache: A Case-Control Study (Singh et al., 2023): Iron-deficiency anemia was independently associated with chronic daily headache. Read more here.
• Iron Deficiency Without Anaemia: A Diagnosis That Matters (Al-Naseem et al., 2021): This review explains how iron deficiency can occur despite normal hemoglobin levels. Read more here.
• British Society of Gastroenterology Guidelines for the Management of Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Adults (Snook et al., 2021): These guidelines explain how ferritin and other iron markers are used to diagnose iron deficiency. Read more here.
• Non-Anaemic Iron Deficiency (Balendran & Forsyth, 2021): This review covers low iron stores despite normal hemoglobin and their clinical management. Read more here.
• Iron in the Migraine Brain (Tepe, Yemisci & Karatas, 2025): This review explores iron deficiency, iron overload, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation in migraine. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for health-related concerns.