Over the past few years I’ve covered the Migraine World Summit to help share information and keep patients informed. In order to make navigation easier, this page has been designed to showcase Summit Summaries, Critiques, and Discussions to help guide you through which blogs may be helpful to you and your journey.

The Summit has been a critical part of my own education and has helped me understand how to better research migraine along with what areas we need more education on. Past summits are available for purchase, but my summaries are designed to share highlights, key things that I learned and how they apply to my personal journey, and help provide a starting point for your own research. I’ve written these as a way to thank those who have supported me in attending, but also as a critical part of opening up migraine education to anyone who needs it, not just those who can afford it or take time out of their schedule to attend events like these.

2019 Migraine World Summit

Migraine World Summit Part 1 – Part one covers the first two days of the summit. The first day focuses on Essentials to your migraine education including sleep, avoiding false advertising and claims, getting the most from your doctor, and different migraine phases. The second day covers Understanding Migraine includes understanding research, understanding the procedural tests and scans that are done, differentiating between tension type headaches and migraine, and being aware of clinical errors that disrupt our care.

Migraine World Summit Part 2 – Part two covers days three and four. Day three covers types of migraines and headaches including treatments for cluster headaches, diagnostic procedures for tension headaches vs CSF Leaks, connecting balance issues and vertigo to migraine, and silent migraines. Day four highlights common side effects caused by migraine medications, neck pain, using hormones like birth control or HRT for migraine management, and the importance of preventative migraine treatment.

Migraine World Summit Part 3 – Part three covers day five and six which have a strong focus on treatments. Day five jumps into alternative therapies including the ketogenic diet, tension in our bodies and using massage to help, exercise as a trigger and a treatment, and a brief introduction to the new (at the time) CGRP medications and common supplements. Day six focused on medical treatments beginning with new neuromodulation devices, Botox, new medicines in development (now available), and how medical marijuana fits into migraine therapy.

Migraine World Summit Part 4 – Part three wraps up the summit covering the final days of the summit. Day seven addresses more complex cases including how to get quality emergency care, approaching unresponsive chronic migraine, and approaching your physician to get the best care for your needs. The final day covers living with migraine including using our experience to inform advocacy, fighting for insurance coverage for new meds, knowing your workplace rights to properly advocate for any accommodations, and a brief intro to the highlighted patient Jaime Sanders and her migraine journey.

2020 Migraine World Summit

The second year of my attendance I shifted how I wanted to cover each day, leaving more room to explain what each topic covered and expand upon my reactions. Many interviews have my own critiques highlighting what I thought was missing or what needed more attention, along with how my own experience influences my reactions to the topics. Due to the nature of 2020, additional interviews were added during the summer that are not covered in my Takeaways in a continuation of the Summit.

Takeaways Day 1 – This post highlights my perspective on the Summit and what I’m hoping will be discussed. Day one covers “real warriors” with migraine placing the spotlight athletes and author’s experience with migraine, along with a spotlight on the Clusterbusters organization and a panel of patient advocates who are actively dealing with migraine.

Takeaways Day 2 – Day two has a strong focus on causes and diagnosis when it comes to migraine. The four interviews focus on misdiagnosis of migraine, genetics, the relationship between migraine and childhood trauma, and a highlight of concussions.

Takeaways Day 3 – Day three of the Migraine World Summit focuses in on migraine types. Specifically, doctors and nurses from around the world share information on risks for chronification, identifying how pain works in the brain, connecting hormones to migraines, and focusing in on harder to treat status migraines.

Takeaways Day 4 – The fourth day of the Migraine World Summit focuses in on Symptoms. These interviews narrow in on some of our most disabling symptoms like nausea and brain fog, while highlighting conditions we may experience alongside migraine such as various psychological disorders and autoimmune diseases.

Takeaways Day 5 – Day five of the Migraine World Summit focuses in on Triggers. The interviews dive into trigger education and management, dietary habits, advances with CGRP, and new treatments based on light.

Takeaways Day 6 – Day six focuses in again on alternative therapies, going more in depth with supplements and natural alternatives, discussing CBD oil, analyzing mindfulness based stress reduction, and how diet can play a role in migraine management.

Takeaways Day 7 – Day seven covers Treatments – specifically pharmacological treatments and devices that require your doctor’s approval. These interviews dig into new developments, provide more understanding of CGRP medications, touch on migraine surgeries, and explore a unique multi-disciplined approach to migraine care.

Takeaways Day 8 – Day eight interviews dive into what we can learn about treating migraine alongside anxiety and depression, how migraine and treatments change with age, insurance and access barriers, and how we can strive to have a better migraine experience at work. This day also highlights the extreme inequalities that the summit failed to address when discussing access barriers and what topics must be covered to truly reach all of the migraine population.

2021 Migraine World Summit

As posts are written, I will add them here. I will not be paying for full access to the summit this year, nor am I advocating for others to do so – my post discussing the lack of diversity and inclusion can be found here on Patreon and is available to paid subscribers. I will be covering a few interviews as they are available for free each day of the summit and provide coverage as I am able to ensure that the information remains as accessible as possible.

At this time, I am only interested in sharing education as a means of access for migraine and headache patients across the globe. I do not support the Migraine World Summit or their mission as I do not believe their mission is in the interest of the broader population. As an advocate, I speak with my money and will not be financially contributing until I see meaningful change.

Days 1-3 – Over the first three days I covered interviews discussing strategies for chronic migraine treatment, weather triggers, and gut brain disorders that may impact medication efficacy.

Racial Inequalities Talk, Day 2 – The Migraine World Summit attempted to take on race as a disparity and this collaborative piece is a direct critique of the Summit and how grotesquely they failed.

Day 4 was not covered.

Days 5 – 8 – This post highlights discussions of Medication Overuse Headache, Access Barriers from a rural perspective, and my personal favorite interview from the Summit: a talk digging deep into sleep and the gut connection and it’s impact on migraine.