A grandma on the go, Joy is an RN turned small business owner and OSHA educator. When she’s not spending free time with her grandkids, Joy surrounds herself with vibrant blooms and buds as an amateur flower arranger.
As a multi-generational migraine sufferer, she has experienced migraine pain for more than half of her life.
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For Joy, like for so many others, the symptoms that accompany the pain are just as devastating as the migraine itself. “I don’t have any appetite, I don’t feel good, my head hurts, sometimes I get a little dizziness with it,” she said. “I have had many days where I have to [work] with a migraine, and it is really hard because it hurts! And when you are experiencing nausea and photosensitivity and go into a bright office, or some situation—[you] just have to keep going.”
When a migraine hits, finding a pain relief option that meets her needs has always been a struggle.
“I get very sensitive to light, sound, [and] sometimes a really strong smell will bother me. But it’s mostly auditory and visual sensitivity that bother me the most—and nausea.”
Throughout her life, Joy has tried more than her fair share of medications to relieve her migraine pain. But when her neurologist introduced her to Tosymra®, things changed.“I use about every strategy that is out there, but when it comes to getting a migraine and managing it, that is a different story.”
Joy uses a combination of preventive and acute treatment medications for her migraines.
She’s used other medications in the past. However, “Tosymra® is the only [migraine medication] that I keep with me,” Joy said. She keeps Tosymra® on hand for those times when a migraine sneaks up. “It gives me much better pain relief.”
When it comes to dealing with her migraines, a support system is also key for Joy. “I have a lot of support around me. My husband, my kids, and my grandkids.”
When she experiences a migraine, it can be hard to lose out on time with her family. “It is difficult being left out, absolutely! It’s difficult not being able to be around my grandkids, or just not feeling well enough to do other activities that I enjoy.”
Her family helps her cope with the symptoms often associated with her migraines—and some members can relate and share experiences.
“I noticed a big difference really. Not only did I get fast relief from [Tosymra®], but for me it lasted!! That was my biggest ‘Oh my gosh! It is better for me’ moment.”
“My daughter also [gets migraines]. My grandmother used to get them really bad. She lived on a farm in Ohio, and she would have to just go shut herself in a room and she would talk about her ‘black days,’” Joy said.
“And I just think ‘oh my gosh, I have so much to work with to manage my migraines. That is why [Tosymra®] is so much nicer. Because I get fast relief, and for me it lasts.”
With so much more available to her than even when she was first diagnosed, Joy feels good about the resource she’s found in Tosymra®.
“When you have migraines, it’s one of those things where you just think that it is never going to end. Because of Tosymra®, I can function better. I am able to get relief that lasts so that my day is better.”
“Because of Tosymra®, I feel optimistic.”
Tosymra® is a prescription medicine used to treat acute migraine with or without aura in adults.
Tosymra® is not used to treat other types of headaches such as hemiplegic (that make you unable to move on one side of your body) or basilar (rare form of migraine with aura) migraines. Tosymra® is not used to treat cluster headaches.
Tosymra® is not used to prevent or decrease the number of migraines you have. It is not known if Tosymra® is safe and effective in children under 18 years of age.
New York-based events and TV producer, nonprofit co-founder, mother of three, and wife Melissa Gerstein spent a lot of time pushing through before discovering Tosymra®.
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