You know, sometimes you get an email totally unexpected that surprises you…but in a good way. That happened to me last month on December 3, 2020. Biohaven®, a pharmaceutical company that manufactures Nurtec™ ODT (rimegepant) – a dissolvable tablet for acute migraine treatment – sent me a message asking if I was interested in interviewing Tori Spelling. Yes, that Tori Spelling, the one from the original 90210 tv show…from my 90s days as a pre-teen and lasted all the way through my early 20s. Excited was an understatement. By the time I went to bed the next day, the meeting was set, and I had a date with Tori Spelling for 10 minutes on the coming Tuesday, December 8th!
Let’s just say the next 4 days I was doing my research by watching episodes of 90210 and stalking her social media. Yea, I did that. I didn’t realize Tori lived with migraine, even though I remember hearing about some of her hospitalizations over the years due to severe attacks. I somehow forgot, but as we chatted over the phone about life as a mom living with migraine, my heart knew I was talking to a kindred spirit.
Before beginning our chat, a member of her team explains that we only have 10 minutes because Tori has to record her podcast with Jennie Garth (the one they started in October last year aptly named 9021OMG. If you’re a 90210 fan, definitely check it out). Our interview was supposed to be a video call, but unfortunately that didn’t work out, so we talked old school, on the phone…so 90s right?!
I wrote down what looked like an hour’s worth of interview questions and was ready to go! I spent all weekend thinking of questions to ask, reading them to my husband while lying in bed, trying to get them just right. I shouldn’t have worried so much because, honestly, we have a lot in common and the conversation flowed easily without me looking too much at my notes. While I’d 100% agree my schedule is nothing as crazy as Tori’s, my days can still become packed with making t-shirts for Achy Smile Shop and Americana Sister, completing graphic design projects, sharing my love for magnetic lashes on social media, and volunteering with Chronic Migraine Awareness, Inc. I’m sure you’re wondering how I do it all while managing chronic migraine attacks. Well, I’ll just say this: sometimes not well, and other times, I get by. Migraine is a spectrum disease…some days are tolerable and I can work, other days are spent in bed when nothing works. Thankfully, medications, like Nurtec™ ODT, and taking care of my mental health (which has been challenging to say the least) has helped.
Since I am unable to multitask these days due to the cognitive decline from chronic migraine, I also recorded our conversation. I knew recording would help me with quotes since writing would have slowed me down and confused me. Guess what happened? IT DIDN’T RECORD! I wanted to cry while I tried to playback the interview and heard nothing. Here’s the thing, I’m a very determined person and this conversation was so important to me. We all have our migraine story to tell and I feel delighted to be able to share just a little bit of Tori’s and mine. So here we go!
When we first started talking, I had to thank Tori for giving me time to interview her about what life is like for a celebrity mom living with migraine. I know what it’s like for me, but was is it like for her? I mean, she has FIVE kids…cuties Liam, Stella, Hattie, Fin, and Beau! Which, funny enough, will become a big part of her migraine story…so don’t go anywhere.
During a particularly severe migraine attack Tori was taken to the emergency room for treatment.
For some women, migraine disease can begin right before, during, or after childbirth. In fact, according to an article in Headache, The Journal of Headache and Face Pain, titled “Predictors of Headache Before, During, and After Pregnancy: A Cohort Study” researchers found that “compared to those without a history of headache, a history of headache prior to pregnancy was the strongest predictor of headache during pregnancy.” For Tori, this was exactly the case. In that bubbly voice of hers, Tori explained to me the most fascinating story about how she knew each time she was pregnant. Not one of her five children were planned, but she seemed to know she was possibly expecting because one thing that would happen to her right before she’d find out.
During a particularly severe migraine attack Tori was taken to the emergency room for treatment. We’ve all been there, everything hurts, and nothing works. While being triaged, a nurse asks Tori for a urine sample and if she could possibly be pregnant. Tori, 100% positive she isn’t, tells them she doesn’t need a urine sample. There’s no way she’s pregnant, she just had her daughter, Hattie, about 5 weeks earlier. She just wanted her meds; she was in so much pain and it seemed to be worse than any attack she’d had prior. Even though, the nurse insisted, as it is hospital protocol. So off to pee she went, provided her sample, and waited for her meds.
You know that feeling you get once you get a bed in the emergency room and relief is so close, yet so far away because you have to wait for urine tests, neurological tests, IV to be inserted, etc., etc.? It’s limbo and that’s where Tori waited…and waited. She knew her test would be negative and felt it was pointless to provide a urine sample, but rules are rules. Finally, the nurse returned, looked at Tori, and explained that she was INDEED pregnant with Finn. With shock written all over her face, Tori would realize with each of her children, that a severe attack, worse than any of the others, would be a pregnancy test biologically all her own.
Can you imagine? Your migraine attack is so severe you need emergency room intervention, possible hospitalization for treatment, and leaving expecting a new baby! That’s an expensive pregnancy test. Or at least it used to be for Tori. Her attacks have decreased significantly after starting Nurtec™ ODT as an acute migraine treatment at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown. She says the dissolvable medication has really changed her life in that she can take a Nurtec™ ODT when a migraine attack appears and within a short period of time, she’s back to what she was doing. Long gone are the days of living in her bed waiting for the attack to end and the second day with migraine hangover. That has been my experience with Nurtec™ ODT as well, thankfully. Unfortunately, though, my insurance has denied my refill for November, December, and January. In December, I changed my doctor from a general neurologist to a headache specialist and was able to get samples to hold me over last Friday. But for those few months, I was left with other medications, that while they helped, still left me with migraine hangover and multiple, consecutive migraine days. Hopefully, together with my doctor, we will appeal and I will advocate for myself to get Nurtec™ ODT prescribed…I’ll keep you posted!
During our short time on the phone, we chatted about many things, like stress being a major trigger, being disbelieved by medical professionals and friends, and our fears about our children experiencing migraine. Tori told me a story about the worry she felt when one of her daughters came to her with head pain. She said she was struck with fear because she didn’t want to give her little girl this disease. After giving her daughter an over-the-counter pain medication for children, the headache disappeared. Tori was relieved, because she knew that while an OTC pain reliever can alleviate a headache, for sure a migraine would need stronger treatment from her own experiences.
Tori’s fears are real, I know this because both of my young adult children live with migraine and take a daily preventative and acute medications. Marissa, 20, started experiencing attacks around 7 or 8 years old with abdominal migraine that eventually changed into vestibular migraine. Noah, 18, begun his migraine journey last year experiencing extreme eye pain and light sensitivity. I know Tori’s fear well, but I know that as their mom living with chronic migraine, my kids will never be alone. My husband, Stephen, and I advocate for them with everything we’ve got. Funny enough, they both invite me to their appointments, now that they’re both over 18 years old. If there’s one thing I can give Tori advice about, it’s that she is the best person in their life that can fight for them to be heard when nobody else seems to be listening.
When you see Tori on your television set or hear her through your headphones talking 90210 during her podcast, what shines most is her bubbly personality and the biggest smile she gives to everyone. I could hear that through the phone. The smile on her face as she spoke to me felt wide and real. It’s very contagious, even with the subject of migraine. But smiles and laughter can be deceiving. The biggest trigger we both agree on most is stress. We laughed and sighed at each other’s stories of how stress rears its ugly head at different points in our lives. Stress doesn’t care if you’re a celebrity, it doesn’t care if you’re a mom, it doesn’t care if you have a neurological disease. Stress is something we all experience differently because what might be enough to trigger a migraine attack may not be something that affects you, and vice versa.
Somehow, our 10-minute interview turned into about 13 and someone from her team let us know it was time to wrap things up. Our “wrap up” took about another 5 minutes or so! Oops! When you put two people together who live with migraine, have a lot in common as mom’s and entrepreneur’s, it’s tough to just say goodbye when there’s so much more to ask and say. I laughed, because I knew we had gone over our allotted time, and Tori would probably be late to her podcast recording. But she didn’t seem to mind and gave me 100% of her attention and even asked me questions about my life, my family, and how Nurtec™ ODT works for me. I felt heard, validated, and like I made a new friend…I hope she did too.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Do not take Nurtec™ ODT if you are allergic to Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) or any of its ingredients.
Before you take Nurtec™ ODT, tell your healthcare provider (HCP) about all your medical conditions,
including if you:
- have liver problems,
- have kidney problems,
- are pregnant or plan to become pregnant,
- breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.
- Tell your HCP about all the medicines you take, including prescription and
- over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
Nurtec™ ODT may cause serious side effects including allergic reactions, including trouble breathing and rash. This can happen days after you take Nurtec™ ODT. Call your HCP or get emergency help right away if you have swelling of the face, mouth, tongue, or throat or trouble breathing. This occurred in less than 1% of patients treated with Nurtec™ ODT.
The most common side effect of Nurtec™ ODT was nausea (2% of patients). This is not the only possible side effect of Nurtec™ ODT. Tell your HCP if you have any side effects.
You are encouraged to report side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088 or report side effects to Biohaven at 1-833-4Nurtec.
WHAT IS NURTEC™ ODT?
Nurtec™ ODT (rimegepant) orally disintegrating tablets is a prescription medicine for the acute treatment of migraine attacks with or without aura in adults. Nurtec™ ODT is not used as a preventive treatment of migraine. It is not known if Nurtec™ ODT is safe and effective in children.
See full Prescribing Information and Patient Information.
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