Can we please stop saying that something 'cured' our migraine?

Migraine is a neurobiological disease with no known cure. It is not a series of isolated attacks. Migraine can go into remission; however, that person still has migraine. An attack can be stopped, but it is not cured.

The reason I'm urging us to change our language is that the use of the term 'cure' promotes harmful and inaccurate stigma. Language does matter. Reducing harmful misinformation and stigma helps us all.

Edit to add context: I have chronic migraine with aura. Two headache specialists have stated that it is highly unlikely that I will ever be in remission. Migraine significantly affects my life. I have lost relationships and career changed from a field that I was highly passionate about because of migraine.

Using the term 'cure' harms me and other folks who have this level of severity. We NEED appropriate accommodations to function. We NEED research to be invested in to find how and why migraine occurs so that we can better manage our migraine.

I absolutely think that success stories are awesome and very needed here. I'm happy for folks who go into remission and/or are able to successfully stop attacks. I am not asking that we stop sharing. I am asking that we stop using inaccurate language that promotes migraine stigma.

2nd edit: It's been asked here a few times what language would be better. The terms manage, alleviate, stop, ease, and help all accurately describe what is happening when an acute treatment stops an attack and could be used to describe preventative management. Remission is the appropriate term for a pause in symptoms over a period of time (that period of time could last for the rest of your life-you do still have migraine though).

Here are some examples:

"Cold packs help to alleviate my symptoms."

"Nurtec stopped my attack."

"Amovig helps to manage my migraine."

"I feel better after getting my large fries and coke from McDonald's."

"Avoiding certain foods and other triggers has stopped my attacks."

"Since starting botox, my migraine has been in remission! I've been attack free for 6 months."

Note that in all of these examples, a 'cure' is not stated or inferred.

If you are struggling with this post, that's ok. We are all on our own journey. Accepting that you have an incurable neurobiological disease is really hard. That doesn't mean that you are without hope. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't continue whatever helps you. Effective management looks different for everyone. The hope is that we all find what works best for us. 💜

For more info on migraine, here are some resources:

https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/migraine-101/

https://www.migrainedisorders.org/education/patient-resources/