What if the sounds everyone else ignores, the dishwasher, traffic, voices, music, or even someone chewing, feel painfully loud to your migraine brain?

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores why sound sensitivity is not being dramatic, fragile, or difficult. It may be a sign that your nervous system is already overwhelmed, sensitized, or moving toward a migraine attack.

We look at sound sensitivity through both Western neuroscience and Eastern medicine, helping you understand why everyday noise can feel like too much — and what your body may be trying to tell you.

You’ll discover:

💡 Why normal sounds can feel intense, painful, or unbearable when you live with migraine

💡 How Western medicine explains sound sensitivity through the migraine brain and nervous system sensitization

💡 How Eastern medicine connects hearing, sound tolerance, and the deeper reserves of the body

This episode will help you stop blaming yourself for being “too sensitive” and start seeing sound sensitivity as an important signal from your body.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• Ictal and Interictal Phonophobia in Migraine — A Quantitative Controlled Study (Ashkenazi et al., 2009): This study examines sound sensitivity during and between migraine attacks, showing how phonophobia can reflect altered sensory processing in migraine. Read more here.
• Phonophobia in Migraine (Main, Dowson, & Gross, 1997): This paper explores sound sensitivity in migraine and how everyday noise may become uncomfortable or painful for people living with migraine. Read more here.
• International Classification of Headache Disorders, Third Edition (International Headache Society): This classification provides the standard diagnostic criteria for migraine, including phonophobia as one of the key associated symptoms. Read more here.
• Multiple Sensory Hypersensitivities and Headache-Related Disability in Migraine (Suzuki et al., 2021): This study examines how sensitivity to sound, light, smell, and other sensory inputs may combine and increase migraine-related disability. Read more here.
• Central Sensitization in Migraine (Ornello et al., 2021): This review explains how repeated or amplified pain signaling can make the migraine brain more sensitive to sensory input, touch, and pain. Read more here.
• Cutaneous Allodynia as Predictor for Treatment Response in Chronic Migraine (Caratozzolo et al., 2023): This study explores how touch sensitivity in chronic migraine may help predict treatment response and reflect central sensitization. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for providing medical advice. Always consult your healthcare professional before making any health-related decisions.

For women, men, and children who suffer from migraine disease, Migraine Heroes is your go-to resource for understanding, managing, and overcoming migraine attacks.

We cover all types of migraines and related headaches, including primary and secondary migraines, chronic migraines, and cluster migraines. We dive deep into the complexities of migraine with aura and migraine without aura, as well as rarer forms like hemiplegic migraine, retinal migraine, and acephalgic migraine (silent migraine). Our discussions also extend to cervicogenic headaches, ice pick headaches, and pressure headaches, which often mimic migraine or contribute to overall migraine burden.

Could high blood pressure be quietly adding pressure to your migraine brain?

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores how blood pressure, circulation, and nervous system stress may play a hidden role in migraine attacks. You’ll learn why migraines may not be just a “head problem,” but a signal that your whole body needs deeper support.

You’ll discover:

💡 How high blood pressure may affect migraine-related systems, even without obvious symptoms

💡 Why circulation and nervous system imbalance can make migraines more frequent or intense

💡 Practical steps to support healthier blood pressure and a calmer migraine threshold

This episode helps you look beyond the pain and understand what your body may be trying to tell you.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• Arterial Hypertension in the Chronic Evolution of Migraine: Bystander or Risk Factor? (Mazzacane et al., 2024): This review explains how hypertension may share biological pathways with migraine and may contribute to the transition from episodic to chronic migraine. Read more here.
• Prevalent Migraine as a Predictor of Incident Hypertension (Entonen et al., 2022): This population-based study found that migraine may predict later development of hypertension in working-age adults. Read more here.
• Migraines and Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanisms and Methodological Considerations (Kurth et al., 2023): This review discusses the complex relationship between migraine and cardiovascular disease, including shared vascular mechanisms and challenges in assessing risk. Read more here.
• Endothelial Dysfunction in Hypertension: Current Concepts and Clinical Implications (Bruno et al., 2021): The original “De Ciuceis/Porteri, Journal of Hypertension” citation did not match clearly. This verified alternative explains how endothelial dysfunction contributes to hypertension and cardiovascular risk. Read more here.
• CGRP as the Target of New Migraine Therapies (Edvinsson et al., 2018): The title you gave did not match The Lancet Neurology exactly. This verified review explains how CGRP became a major migraine treatment target. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for providing medical advice. Always consult your healthcare professional before making any health-related decisions.

For women, men, and children who suffer from migraine disease, Migraine Heroes is your go-to resource for understanding, managing, and overcoming migraine attacks.

We cover all types of migraines and related headaches, including primary and secondary migraines, chronic migraines, and cluster migraines. We dive deep into the complexities of migraine with aura and migraine without aura, as well as rarer forms like hemiplegic migraine, retinal migraine, and acephalgic migraine (silent migraine). Our discussions also extend to cervicogenic headaches, ice pick headaches, and pressure headaches, which often mimic migraine or contribute to overall migraine burden.

Do you suddenly feel emotionally reactive, impatient, or irritated… only to realize a migraine is coming hours later?

In this episode of Migraine Heroes Podcast, host Diane Ducarme explores why irritability before a migraine is often a neurological warning sign — not a personality flaw. Blending neuroscience with holistic healing insights, this episode explains what happens inside the brain and nervous system in the early stages of a migraine attack.

You’ll discover:

💡 Why feeling irritable or emotionally “on edge” before a migraine is often part of the neurological migraine process

💡 What changes inside the brain and nervous system during the hours leading up to an attack

💡 How to recognize these emotional warning signs early so you can support your body before symptoms escalate

If you’ve ever felt guilty, confused, or frustrated by mood changes before a migraine, this episode will help you understand that your brain may have been signaling distress long before the pain arrived.

🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday

🔗 Discover our work on migraineheroes.com

References:

• Pathophysiology of Migraine (Goadsby et al., 2017): This review explains migraine as a disorder of sensory processing involving trigeminovascular pathways, altered brain excitability, and neuropeptide signaling. Read more here.
• he Migraine Generator Revisited: Continuous Scanning of the Migraine Cycle Over 30 Days (Schulte & May, 2016): This study tracked brain activity throughout the migraine cycle and identified changes in the hypothalamus before migraine attacks, supporting its role in attack generation. Read more here.
• Migraine: Multiple Processes, Complex Pathophysiology (Burstein et al., 2015): This review describes migraine as a disorder involving trigeminovascular activation, sensitization, cortical spreading depression, and altered pain processing across multiple brain networks. Read more here.
• Pathophysiology of Migraine (Pietrobon & Moskowitz, 2013): This review summarizes the biological mechanisms underlying migraine, including genetic factors, cortical spreading depression, trigeminovascular activation, and central sensitization. Read more here.
• Brain Activations in the Premonitory Phase of Nitroglycerin-Triggered Migraine Attacks (Maniyar et al., 2014): This PET study found hypothalamic and brainstem activation during the premonitory phase, before migraine pain begins. Read more here.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for providing medical advice. Always consult your healthcare professional before making any health-related decisions.

For women, men, and children who suffer from migraine disease, Migraine Heroes is your go-to resource for understanding, managing, and overcoming migraine attacks.

We cover all types of migraines and related headaches, including primary and secondary migraines, chronic migraines, and cluster migraines. We dive deep into the complexities of migraine with aura and migraine without aura, as well as rarer forms like hemiplegic migraine, retinal migraine, and acephalgic migraine (silent migraine). Our discussions also extend to cervicogenic headaches, ice pick headaches, and pressure headaches, which often mimic migraine or contribute to overall migraine burden.