Living with migraine: The pain was like someone piercing me with a screwdriver

The stress of working as a nurse during the pandemic has led to an increase in Ciara O'Rourke's migraine attacks, which can be so severe she's unable to get out of bed. Helen O'Callaghan reports 

Ciara O'Rourke who suffers with migraine. Photograph Moya Nolan

On the Thursday before we speak, Ciara O’Rourke had to leave work early because of a migraine attack. A frontline healthcare worker in a busy Dublin hospital, the pain, she says, “was like someone piercing me with a screwdriver”.

But it wasn’t just that, says the Co Meath-based mum of three – it was all the other symptoms too that people don’t realise go along with migraine. “The nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to bright lights where I can’t see properly, the dizziness, and sometimes I’m not able to speak properly – I’m not able to structure my sentences.”