Hollyoaks star Jessica Fox has revealed she once vomited in the middle of filming, as she speaks for the first time about a lifelong battle with migraine attacks. The 43-year-old actress, who has played the soap’s Nancy Osborne for 22 years, said the incident occurred early during her time on the show.
She added: “When you’re at work, you never want to be a problem. There was one very unpleasant time when I was actually sick on myself in the middle of a take because I had got to the point where I couldn’t see anymore, and I felt so unwell. Obviously, I had to go home.”
Jessica is sharing her experience in support of a report by The Migraine Trust, which found that nine in 10 sufferers have not felt believed about the severity or impact of their condition.
She said her symptom patterns are different every time and can include pressure around her sinuses or the back of her head, tingling sensations and spotty vision. Possible triggers include tiredness, fluctuations in female hormones and bright lights — which can be a hazard on TV sets.
Jessica said: “There are a lot of artificial lights. We use a lot of LEDs, which vibrate ever so slightly, and that can be a real trigger for me. Luckily, Hollyoaks is aware of that now, and they put a piece of diff [gel-like material that diffuses the light] on the lights so that I don’t get affected by it.”
She added: “The problem with migraine is — well, for me anyway, with a migraine attack — it kind of sneaks up on you unawares. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, once you’ve realised it’s happening, it’s kind of too late. Trying to recognise those triggers can be really tricky.”
Jessica’s mother remembers her hallucinating spots and showing other symptoms around the age of two or three that the family now believes were early migraine attacks. The actress recalls episodes from the age of around eight and missing school.
She added: “It’s something I’ve lived with forever to the point that it’s almost normalised. It’s just part of my life and existence.”
Jessica has not found any medication that has helped long-term, but tools can help manage her symptoms. A cold cap kept in her freezer or an eye massager can sometimes ease pain.
She also uses a simple home remedy. Jessica said, “I call it my ‘reset’, which is a peanut butter sandwich and a full-fat Coke. A nurse told me that if you have those two things — or even a bag of salted crisps and a full-fat Coke — it resets your blood sugar. I’ve found that to be almost a cure for everything in life.
“I sometimes do that if I can face food. But sometimes it’s just a case of having to lie in a dark room with a flannel on my head until it goes away.”
Jessica suffers from severe attacks once every two to three months. Milder ones are common, including two last week. She was once was forced to miss the majority of her best friend’s hen party after painstakingly organising the celebrations.
Jessica is the only person in her family who suffers from migraines. She hopes her son River will not be affected. She added: “It’s really not a headache. It’s a lot more than that, and the impact it can have on your day-to-day life can be huge.
“I’ve been a migraine sufferer since I was a small child, and I still don’t have a medication that works for me or a plan in place with my GP to manage them. I think that speaks volumes.
“I’ve had scans and stuff like that over the years and never found an answer. I feel like if you suffer from migraines, sometimes you just end up giving up because you think: ‘What’s the point?’
“If you are a migraine sufferer and you are going to a GP, and you don’t feel that you’ve been listened to, just keep going back.” Migraines affect one in seven people in the UK.
The Migraine Trust’s survey of almost 600 sufferers found more than three-quarters said not being believed about the severity of their condition had affected their mental health.
Some 31% said they had not felt believed by a work colleague or manager, and almost one in four (24%) by their family or someone they lived with. One in five said they did not feel believed by a healthcare professional.
The charity’s chief executive, Rob Music, said: “A common perception of migraine is that it is ‘just a headache’ and ‘it can’t be that bad’, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“We need to urgently tackle the stigma associated with migraine. This Migraine Awareness Week (September 21-27), we are calling for greater public understanding of the condition, especially among employers and healthcare professionals. This simple act can have a profound impact on the quality of care and support that people with migraine so desperately need.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
