title: Migraine--more than a headache: women's experiences of living with migraine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this qualitative study the aim was to explore the meaning of living with migraine.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-depth interviews were conducted with ten women about their experience of living with migraine. Halfway through the interview, the women drew a picture of what living with migraine is like, and the interview continued with the conversation being guided by the picture. The interviews were analyzed using a hermeneutic phenomenological method inspired by van Manen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis revealed an essence "Being obliged to endure a life accompanied by an unpredictable and invisible disorder" and three themes "Being besieged by an attack", "Struggling in a life characterized by uncertainty" and "Living with an invisible disorder."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Migraine is a debilitating disorder which accompanies life in the sense that it or the threat of its return is always present, and yet invisible to others. The struggle of enduring life with migraine is worsened by the feeling of having an invisible disorder and of being doubted. There is a need to increase the knowledge among healthcare professionals about what it means to live with migraine, something this qualitative study offers.
authors: Department of Health Science, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden. stina.rutberg@ltu.se
authors: Stina
authors: S
authors: Rutberg
authors: Kerstin
authors: K
authors: Öhrling
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D035501:Uncertainty