Tania Dutton was 11 when she first started suffering from migraines.
They started out as blistering headaches and slurred speech; by the time she was 13, she had started passing out several times a day.
‘I was seen by epilepsy specialists who said there was nothing on their scans, so it must all be in my head,’ she said.
It was not until Mrs Dutton was 23 that she received a proper diagnosis – a severe form of migraines called basilar migraines, which cause people to lose consciousness.
Her condition is particularly linked to light – so she has to wear special tinted glasses and is banned from driving – and she needs supervision to swim or even take a bath because the reflections on the water could trigger an attack.
With a cocktail of epilepsy drugs, beta blockers and botox Mrs Dutton, now 31, learned to manage her condition – and forged a career teaching oboe and other instruments to school children.
But when she and her husband Dan, a 35-year-old schoolteacher, decided to start a family, she had to come off the drugs because they are harmful in pregnancy.
‘It took me a year to come off the drugs and we are now expecting a baby girl in March,’ she said.
‘But to do that, I have had to give up my job and stay inside the house in case I have an attack. It will all be worth it, but it is not easy.’
Mrs Dutton, who lives in Warwickshire, added: ‘All these drugs are designed for other conditions – and they come with real side effects.
‘So it is fantastic that we are finally getting a drug that is specifically designed for migraines.’
