Can candidate with migraines lead as president? A fellow sufferer weighs in Wellness Health Fitness

Can candidate with migraines lead as president? A fellow sufferer weighs in

Posted by Hayden Solomon 23 Jul, 2011

Only another migraine sufferer can truly feel Michele Bachmann’s pain, but since an estimated 30 million Americans are in that camp, it’s reasonable to expect that we’ll be hearing from both the impassioned left and the defensive right as to the Republican candidate’s ability to perform as president in light of her headaches.

I’ll start, since I’m almost the same age as the 55-year-old Minnesota congresswoman and can boast of roughly 17 years of up-close-and-personal experience with the joy of migraine headaches. (While sarcasm is one of the few diversions that seem to help me handle pain, it’s perhaps an ill-advised tactic for Bachmann’s fish-bowl life.)

So far, there’s no list of the congresswoman’s curative measures (my own includes acupuncture, reflexology, Depakote, Botox and ever so much more), but as a woman of a certain age, I’m sure the presidential hopeful has experimented a bit while coming to know the peculiarities and signature rhythms of her own headaches through the years.

I presume that, like me, she’s still learning about her chronic illness. For instance, after a couple of decades watching my own migraines, I’ve only recently recognized that staying hydrated (some might say super-hydrated) can make me less susceptible to a headache’s onset.

Of course, no two people experience any illness exactly the same way. The wide spectrum of a migraine experience has led experts to grade the headaches from 1 to 5 based on their severity. Patients may have frequent 3′s but mostly 1′s or occasional 5′s or anything in between. Not to mention that migraine severity and frequency can fluctuate from season to season, year to year.

All of which caused me to experience skepticism when I read that Bachmann vowed her ability to function effectively has never been impeded by migraines.

Really?

Never?

Making such a blanket statement about a medical condition that is exacerbated by so many factors and treated – often unsuccessfully – with an equal number of remedies feels blithely optimistic to this migraine co-commiserator.

Sure, I’ve had days when a single Relpax, Maxalt or whatever triptan I’m taking will beat down the symptoms, and I can soldier on with my tasks. But let’s not, as Bachmann seems to be doing, pretend such a happy outcome can be predicted for every headache.

I don’t know Bachmann’s symptoms, but surely some of her spells are worse than others. Though nausea is rarely a part of my migraine experience, every fourth or fifth headache attacks with enough severity that I’m forced to lie down in a dark room for 20 minutes or so, in order to allow the medicine to get traction. I’ve come to know that if I can fall asleep, even for a very short while, I can lull the nerves into a quieter state, and thus return to my work.

When I worked full time, I can’t imagine what I would have done during what I called bad migraine days if I hadn’t had access to a tiny, dark room in my building where I could sneak off and recover. Many less fortunate migraine sufferers don’t have this luxury, but, obviously, a president is going to be able to commandeer a quiet spot to recuperate should she become ill. So I’m thinking if she’s only unavailable for 20 minutes on bad days, it’s likely anything but an emergency can be handled in her absence.

What worries me more is the effect triptans often have when paired with the retreating symptoms of a migraine headache. I can remember many times sitting in my office, struggling with the fog of triptan aftereffects mixed with residual migraine pain.

At those times, I was categorically unable to write. I could return phone calls, do paperwork and even edit copy, but I could not concentrate enough to create original work. For me, writing requires singular focus; I have to be firing on all cylinders to organize a story, support a premise and articulate. This was not possible for me on many migraine days.

So, faced with the choice, do I prefer my president firing on all cylinders pretty much every day she’s in office? As a matter of fact, yes. Do I think she’ll be firing on all cylinders on days she’s ingested a couple of heavy-duty migraine pills. No.

But let’s not forget that both Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant are thought to have been migraine sufferers – and they muddled through. Plus, I’m realistic enough to know that a number of medical conditions (colitis, allergy attacks, dental pain, ulcers) can just as effectively take a president’s mind off his or her game.

Even sanctioned alcohol consumption can have negative consequences that I’d rather my president never fall victim to.

Conclusion? In the real world, humans are fallible. We suffer maladies that occasionally detract from the ability to bring our full concentration and skills to a task. So I don’t believe Bachmann’s Achilles heel will be the defining trait of her campaign. And while I doubt her assurance that migraines will never impede her ability to be a commander in chief, I agree with her when she suggests, the greater concern should be the debate that is occurring in Washington.

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