'I get 25 migraines a month' Woman suffering for three decades calls for more specialist help

  • Watch the video report by Kelsey Redmore

A woman who says she has suffered with migraines so badly that she has to wear ear plugs and avoid strong smells and food, has called for more help for those who suffer with the condition.

Lisa Williams from Swansea has suffered with migraines for the last 27 years and said it took her a long time to be referred to a specialist clinic.

"So I get around 20, 25 migraines a month", Lisa said - who is also a carer for her disabled son.

She has suffered with migraines for 27 years

"I really struggle with them. I get like a blackness on my left, always my left side, I get weakness in my left arm, funny lights in front of my eyes, obviously a pounding headache and I'm really sensitive to smells and sounds, so just life in general is really difficult.

"I'm a full-time carer for my son who's severely disabled so unfortunately, I don't get a lot of time to sort of lie down in a darkened room, I just have to get on with it - it's just trying to get through life as best I can really."

Lisa is a full-time carer for her son, Macsen

Lisa's condition means that she is very sensitive to noise and smell. 

As a result, she wears ear plugs, walks around with sunglasses on, doesn't answer the phone and walks carefully to avoid creating vibration under feet that could trigger a migraine.

She also has to avoid strong perfumes and certain foods.

Lisa has tried many treatments and medications over the years including botox to help to reduce her migraines, but said she is not sure whether she will ever be free of them.

She said, "It is really difficult to manage. I've tried hundreds of different things to stop them or reduce them even would be a start, gone through every medication available.

"Over the years I've gone back and forth to the GP and they gave me loads of different medication that didn't work. Eventually I got referred to the migraine centre, which is a clinic in the hospital.

"I was chuffed because I finally felt like I had somewhere to go that took me seriously."

After years of waiting, she was referred to a migraine clinic

Lisa isn't alone in waiting years for referred specialist help as a report launched by The Migraine Trust as part of Migraine Awareness Week says there are healthcare issues across Wales and the rest of the UK.

Four hundred thousand people in Wales are estimated to be affected by migraines with more people suffering with migraines in the UK than diabetes, asthma, and epilepsy combined.

The charity says there's a lack of specialist care in Wales and people are left on the waiting lists for years, dismissed as merely having a headache. Lack of treatment also means that thousands of people are in debilitating daily pain.

They're now calling for headache specialists to be placed in local health boards across the country.

Rob Music, Chief Executive of the Migraine Trust said that the system is "broken" which has caused "huge delays in diagnosis, if being diagnosed at all".

He added: "There's no focus on patient centred care, people aren't getting the right treatments at the right time so people are living for years with the wrong treatment, the wrong care and that really needs to change.

Rob Music, Chief Executive, The Migraine Trust

"It's a huge personal cost, but also it's having a huge cost on the NHS as well because we're not getting this right."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "We recognise the debilitating effects of migraine and are committed to working with the NHS to improve care, services and access to services."