"I live constantly in my fear of my next migraine attack"

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Yasmin Coutinho

Yasmin Coutinho, 23, has been suffering from migraines since the age of seven and has ruined some of the best moments of his life.

"At seven, I had a migraine at the wedding of my parents, I was the flower girl and it ruined the whole weekend.

"Since then, I have worried about attacks in important moments and it is a vicious circle because stress and anxiety increase the likelihood of having a migraine.

"In a way, migraines are almost psychological, but unfortunately they manifest themselves physically," she says.

Yasmin suffers from migraines three to four times a month. Her attacks last about three days and she describes the pain as if she had been shot in the head.

Invariably, she vomits, the liquid comes out of her nose and she is sensitive to light and sound. It's completely debilitating.

Last year, when graduating, fear and anxiety caused another attack.

"It happened the night before and I woke up at 4:00 with a lot of pain.

"Four years ago, I was finally prescribed medication after years of suffering, so I took these medications, and I was able to get relief for a few hours.

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Yasmin Coutinho

"Medications have side effects, but at least I can only work. I kept taking medication all day long and I was able to finish my studies, but this worry is still there.

"I travel quite often and am always afraid to get a migraine on a plane.

"Migraines have ruined some of the best moments of my life."

Yasmin's experience echoes the findings of a new survey of 690 migraine sufferers in the UK, which shows that more than two-thirds of them live in fear of An aggression.

"I live in fear of losing my sight"

Nichola West, mother of three of Bath's children, also suffers from migraine-related anxiety as she loses her vision for about 20 to 30 minutes before the onset of headaches.

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Nichola West

"I have migraines with an aura, it's there that I lose sight or it gets very blurry.It's a horrible sensation.The first one I had was when I was Was pregnant with my youngest son.

"I had to go to the hospital, they did not know if I had a stroke.

"I'm always on the alert, because if someone comes along, I can not see, the lack of vision lasts about 20 to 40 minutes." I have three children and I went out to do shopping with them and it comes and I had to get my eldest son out of the store and drive me to a bench.

"I had to talk to my kids about what to do if I was under attack," said Nichola at the Victoria Derbyshire program.

The survey, conducted for the Novartis pharmaceutical company between September 2017 and February 2018, analyzed data from people who had four or more migraine attacks per month.

He found that in the UK, 71% of people must rely on external support to cope with daily tasks.

Around the world, half of the 11,000 migraine sufferers surveyed said they live daily in fear of aggression.

Migraines affect about 10 million British adults and there are more than 190,000 migraine attacks a day.

Wendy Thomas, executive director of the Migraine charity, said, "Migraine and stress are closely linked.

"Anxiety, excitement and any form of tension and shock can all lead to a migraine attack."

Novartis has launched a #FOMA social media campaign – or the fear of a migraine attack to encourage people to talk about the disease.

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