Heres her story, as told to health writer Maressa Brown.
I started having migraine symptoms when I was six.
My tummy would feel as if it were contracting and expanding, and I would get really dizzy.
Nhung Le
Lights seemed too bright, and sounds were annoying.
Between the ages of 6 and 10, my parents took me to every doctor they could think of.
Still, nobody could figure out what was wrong with me.
When I turned 10, I started experiencing head painactualmigraine attacksfor the first time.
My dad would black out the room with blankets so the light couldnt hurt me.
However, the doctors my parents took me to see all those years didnt connect the dots.
This was India in the 1990s, and there wasnt a lot of awareness about migraine in children.
I loved to read in low light, so doctors would often assume that was the cause.
A few physicians told my parents thatI was just trying to get attentionand get out of school.
(This wasnt true: I was always the teachers pet!)
They didnt have answers for my dizziness and nausea either.
She said my symptoms were likely brought on by stress.
At the same time, I was diagnosed with depression and generalizedanxiety disorder.
Even once I was on medication for the condition, I was still in pain.
I got the sense that people thought I brought the symptoms on myself.
My mom would say, Why don’t you get some fresh air?
Why dont you try this or that?
In high school and through college, my symptoms caused me to struggle academically.
I felt like I was losing a part of myself.
At the same time, I was dealing withsuicidal ideation.
you’re gonna wanna end your life today.
Sometimes I couldnt even articulate what I needed.
After graduation, I was driven in my career doing ghostwriting and marketing.
I wanted to prove to myself and those around me that my condition didnt affect me.
I pushed myself hard, butstress from workwould trigger my symptoms.
I gave birth at 29, which caused my migraine severity to skyrocket.
Then, at 32, I reached a breaking point.
I felt so dejected that no one understood what I was dealing with.
My pain was unbearable.
I couldn’t sit near a window because the light was too bright.
I couldn’t look at my phone without feeling an attack coming on.
It was that bad.
My doctor also recognized that I had treatment-resistant depression.
This community saved me and inspired me to let other people know that theyre not alone.
So many have supported and validated what I was feeling.
I felt really isolated for a long time.
Finding a community saved my life.
If youre outside the United States,hereis a list of international suicide helplines.
