When Migraine Made Her Stronger: Whitney Cummings Finds Resilience in Pain

Comedian and creator Whitney Cummings began experiencing migraine attacks around age 6—nausea, light sensitivity, and one-sided head pain—long before she had a name for it. Nicknamed “the headache kid,” she often missed out on activities and felt like a burden. For years, she masked her pain with humor, even while spending hours in dark rooms to recover.

A turning point came when she saw a neurologist. She learned that anxiety about having a migraine attack was itself contributing to their frequency. With medical guidance, she built a proactive care plan, identifying what contributed to her migraine attacks and developing strategies to manage them.

Whitney now views migraine as an internal signal to slow down and take care of herself. “If I didn’t have migraines, I might still be pushing myself too hard,” she says. They’ve become a reason to pause, reset, and prioritize her health.

Her approach includes managing sleep, hydration, stress, nutrition, routine, and hormonal balance. Migraine didn’t just interrupt her life—it helped her reshape it into one centered on self-awareness and resilience.

Read the full referenced article here: Whitney Cummings: How Migraines Changed My Life—and Made Me Stronger

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