The Listener
  • The Listener home
  • The Listener E-edition
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Health & nutrition
  • Arts & Culture
  • New Zealand
  • World
  • Consumer tech & enterprise
  • Food & drink

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • New Zealand
  • World
  • Health & nutrition
  • Consumer tech & enterprise
  • Art & culture
  • Food & drink
  • Entertainment
  • Books
  • Life

More

  • The Listener E-edition
  • The Listener on Facebook
  • The Listener on Instagram
  • The Listener on X

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Listener / Health

New hope for migraine sufferers - at a price

By Nicky Pellegrino
Health writer·New Zealand Listener·
30 Aug, 2024 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

About 45,000 New Zealanders suffer chronic migraine but now new drugs offer relief to those who can afford the hefty price tag. Photo / Getty Images

About 45,000 New Zealanders suffer chronic migraine but now new drugs offer relief to those who can afford the hefty price tag. Photo / Getty Images

Since childhood, Fiona Imlach has suffered migraine attacks, which worsened as she reached her 20s, and no treatment seemed to make a difference.

“I must have tried at least a dozen different types of preventers,” says Imlach, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago. “I tried betablockers, antidepressants, anti-epileptics, I even tried Botox, but nothing worked for me.”

Migraine is more than just a headache; it is a complex neurological disorder with symptoms that may include loss of coherent speech, paralysis on one side of the body, nausea and vomiting, visual disturbance and sensitivity to sounds, light, smell and touch. Around 45,000 New Zealanders are thought to suffer from chronic migraine which is defined as 15 or more headache days per month. For these chronic sufferers, relying on pain medication carries a risk.

“You can sensitise the brain even more and induce a headache that is as bad as the one you were trying to deal with,” says Imlach. “People get into a cycle of taking more and more pain relief, because they think that’s going to help, and it’s actually making things worse.”

For years, Imlach did her best to hide that she was a chronic migraine sufferer, concerned about the stigma and potential impact on her career. Then in 2021, she decided to take time off work and walk the Te Araroa trail to raise funds for migraine awareness. Surprised to find there was no dedicated charity she could donate to, Imlach went on to co-found the Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand.

“If you have chronic migraine you can end up disengaging from life and society, so it becomes an invisible condition. One of the reasons we started the foundation is that we knew there are people who are severely disabled and not getting much help. They don’t have the capacity to advocate for themselves because they’re just trying to survive.”

Recently, Imlach published research in the New Zealand Medical Journal to provide a clearer picture of what it is like to live with migraine. More than 500 people responded to a foundation survey and the results confirm both the heavy burden of the disease and the need for better care.

Fiona Imlach, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago, co-found the Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand. Photo / supplied
Fiona Imlach, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago, co-found the Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand. Photo / supplied

Nearly a quarter of respondents had chronic migraine and of those, 20% had continuous or nearly continuous headache and another 22% had 24 days or more of headaches a month.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

More than half of those eligible for preventive medication weren’t taking it, often because these medications didn’t work or had significant side effects. Many were relying on opioids to manage migraine instead, despite the risk of medication-overuse headache.

Significantly more women than men are affected by migraine and there is believed to be a hormonal, as well as a genetic, component. However, the theory around certain foods, such as chocolate, triggering an attack has changed. It is now thought that in the early stages of a migraine, the brain triggers a food craving.

Discover more

How head injuries can affect your brain for years

31 Jul 05:00 PM

How psychology may be able to help migraines

25 Feb 04:00 PM

Advice on back pain is outdated, here’s the new way to treat it

24 Jun 05:00 PM

Although the exact cause of migraine is still to be identified, there has been a breakthrough in treatment. New preventive drugs developed specifically for migraine block the calcitonin gene-related peptide, a small protein involved in migraine attacks.

Two of them, injectable monoclonal antibody medications Emgality and Aimovig, are available in New Zealand but remain unfunded. The Migraine Foundation has put in an application to Pharmac for Emgality and the drug is now on a priority list, but there is still no guarantee it will be funded.

Imlach pays $325 a month for the treatment which has been a game changer. She now has fewer migraine attacks and, if she does have one, can treat it quickly without fear of overusing painkillers.

“These new treatments are so exciting,” she says. “They have surprisingly few side effects so people tolerate them really well and will stay on them. And, while they don’t work for everyone, there are more new drugs in the pipeline.

“One of the things we’re trying to do with the foundation is raise awareness of the potential new treatments that are coming. “It’s a horrible thing to have a chronic disease and think, this is my life, there’s nothing more anyone can do.”

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Listener

LISTENER
30 Under 30 - the young New Zealanders shaping our future

30 Under 30 - the young New Zealanders shaping our future

06 Jul 06:05 PM

From advocacy and arts to science and sport, meet our most promising young NZers.

LISTENER
NZ Listener’s Songs of the Week: Foo Fighters’ 30th anniversary anthem, plus Theia, Geneva AM and more

NZ Listener’s Songs of the Week: Foo Fighters’ 30th anniversary anthem, plus Theia, Geneva AM and more

05 Jul 07:00 PM
LISTENER
The best books (so far) of 2025 - and those to look forward to

The best books (so far) of 2025 - and those to look forward to

07 Jul 06:02 PM
LISTENER
The mystery of Minnie Dean: Was the only woman executed by law in New Zealand innocent?

The mystery of Minnie Dean: Was the only woman executed by law in New Zealand innocent?

07 Jul 06:01 PM
LISTENER
Aaron Smale: Shane Jones's achievements don’t match his rhetoric

Aaron Smale: Shane Jones's achievements don’t match his rhetoric

07 Jul 06:01 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Contact NZ Herald
  • Help & support
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
NZ Listener
  • NZ Listener e-edition
  • Contact Listener Editorial
  • Advertising with NZ Listener
  • Manage your Listener subscription
  • Subscribe to NZ Listener digital
  • Subscribe to NZ Listener
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotion and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • NZ Listener
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP