"I didn't realize that the people next to me weren't dealing with extreme pain all the time," says Bernadette Gorczyca.
For as long as Bernadette Gorczyca can remember, she has suffered from debilitating migraine headaches— the kind that cause nausea, require dim lighting and low noise, and leave her bedridden for days or even weeks.
The former teacher from New Jersey recalls waking up in the middle of the night as a child, telling her parents, "My stomach hurts so bad." She was unaware then that she had intractable migraines—a severe type of headache lasting more than 72 hours and often resistant to conventional treatments.
"I lived with undiagnosed and untreated migraines pretty much my whole life," says Gorczyca, 37, who has gained viral attention on TikTok by sharing her journey.
@chronicaccounts Life with intractable migraine —how do you manage chronic migraine? #MigraineLife #Awareness #ChronicIllness ♬ original sound - Bernadette | Migraine Advocate
Throughout her childhood and young adulthood, Gorczyca's doctors misdiagnosed her with various conditions, including a sliding hiatal hernia, chronic sinusitis, and stress headaches. Meanwhile, migraines became a daily occurrence. "I was planning my day around it," she says. "I didn't realize that the people next to me weren't dealing with extreme pain all the time."
By age 33, she was experiencing migraines almost every day. "I was only going one to two days per month without a migraine. My longest one lasted 17 days. And I only stayed home from work if it was so severe I couldn't move."
The situation worsened when she contracted COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic. "It took me a very long time to fight it off. About a month after recovering, I started having a severe migraine that never went away. I broke down because I didn't know how to live like this." This led her to discover an organization called Migraine Strong.
Through Migraine Strong, Gorczyca found neurological specialists who finally diagnosed her with intractable migraines. "Intractable migraine is a complex neurological disorder that makes the brain more sensitive," she explains. "People see migraines as separate events, but sometimes there is a chronic underlying cause, similar to epilepsy causing seizures."
Understanding her condition was a "lightbulb moment" for Gorczyca. "It was like, 'This is why you collapse after work. This is why you feel like you can't keep up.'"
She began sharing her story on TikTok, connecting with others who, like her, had endured migraines for years without a proper diagnosis, thus preventing them from accessing effective treatments.
Despite the improvement, Gorczyca acknowledges, "there's no cure." She has adjusted her lifestyle, leaving her teaching job to work remotely, allowing her to control her environment and manage her migraines better. She also consults headache specialists virtually, gaining access to experts she otherwise wouldn't have.
"I still have daily attacks but I have seen an improvement in severity," she says. "Now, they are probably severe 40% of the month, which is a significant improvement for me. I haven't had a day without a migraine attack since before 2020."
Gorczyca uses various tools to manage her condition, including preventative medications, electrolytes, migraine glasses, magnesium baths, gentle movement, neuromodulation devices, and acute medications for rising attacks. "The problem is I have way more attacks than I have pills," she notes. "So, I have to pick and choose when's the best time to take them."
While she can control light and noise in her environment, other triggers, like hormones and weather changes, are beyond her control. Yet, Gorczyca maintains an optimistic attitude. "Some of my attitude is a bit of masking," she says with a laugh. "But it's also a mindset. It's not a battle; it's just my circumstance. This is what I'm living with, so I'm going to live with it as best I can."
The Quran - Chapter Al-Waqi'ah : 55 - 56
and you will drink ˹it˺ like thirsty camels do.”
This will be their accommodation on the Day of Judgment.
