Working and Chronic Daily Intractable Migraine

Working and living with migraine is super difficult, as you all know. I have been through 3 jobs and couldn’t keep them because I just could not function in person, even for only 3 hours straight a day.

My previous position

My last job knew that I had migraine and they were pretty understanding. They even let me pass out sunglasses to people for Shades for Migraine (I was a community leader). It was great and my coworkers shared many stories with me about themselves or people they know! I didn’t feel alone at work. However, I decided to resign from my job the week of my celebration of marriage (we eloped but just had the celebration on October 2nd).

I worked with kiddos on the autism spectrum as a registered behavior technician doing ABA therapy. I really liked this job but I wasn’t reliable. I never knew when my daily migraine would be at a 7 or higher pain-wise. I also never knew when I was going to have to vomit, be nauseous, or have blurry vision due to migraine.

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Feeling guilty

My husband got very upset, however, because I did this without talking with him about it. This was not the way I wanted the week of our wedding to be but I couldn’t lie anymore. I felt so guilty about him carrying all the burden that I just recently searched for a job doing what I was doing before but to go even more part-time than I was before.

Finding on a new role

I was looking for 10-13 hours a week. I interviewed and got a job I initially didn’t apply for. I had applied for an early intervention associate working with kiddos in the birth to 3-years-old program and/or kids who were on the spectrum.

This sounded like a great opportunity and I would have fewer in-person hours. The director of the branch in my state looked at my resume and realized I have my special ed teaching certification in Connecticut (where I live). I was actually qualified to do a different job that was flexible and could fit in the hours I wanted to work and did some similar things to when I was teaching.

Remote work

I am so happy to be working remotely now and have to work at least ten hours a week but no more than 19- which is perfect for me!! I’m now a developmental therapist at the company evaluating kiddos to see if they are eligible for the Birth-3 program in our state. There are also different roles within that position as well.

This job has a lot more responsibilities but I HOPE I can make it work. Because of the nature of the job I can practically make my own hours and wasn’t locked into say a 9-11 shift or something like that. I was relieved to know that the sessions were way shorter than I had been used to.

Worried about the impact of migraine

I start in two weeks, I know I can do the job but I’m worried I won’t be able to keep it due to chronic migraine but this is what I’m meant to be doing I think because along with doing this they also provide tuition reimbursement for 60% of cost!! I can go back to school and become another position that would advance me in the company and in my career.

I was so happy when I got the job and felt like I was good enough to be hired. I hope it’ll work out and migraine won’t impact my work this time around?! I’m trying to stay positive and seek out the care I need which currently involves seeing a neurologist who is a two-hour drive from my house and another headache specialist with a four-hour drive.

Staying positive

I would LOVE to work more hours because you have to work a certain amount in order for them to pay with schooling and get the supervision you need to be able to come a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst). I’m really nervous about having in-person hours again. It is worth trying again and will give me the best of both worlds, teaching & behavior analysis!

I can ramble on for days but I’ll stop there. I have had my ups and downs and right now I’m on an upswing. I hope seeking out another doctor will make a difference! Only time will tell though. I pray for migraine attacks that are not daily and lessen in intensity. It’s SO hard to stay positive when almost everything has failed!! I’m glad I have a space to rant/ramble on and have people to lean on for support who actually “get it”.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The Migraine.com team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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