It is difficult for those of us who have been avoided it so far to appreciate the dark reality of migraine. The condition has been recorded for 2000 years, and in that time our understanding of its causes and treatment has barely advanced. We have merely learned to describe it better.

A gifted young actress who consulted with us on the film's depiction of migraine, had a long period during which she would be awakened every morning at exactly 4:07 to a pain like "a hot drill entering her right temple." The pain increased from there. For the eternity of the next hour or two, she would hide in the darkest place she could find, often a closet. Sometimes she would bang her head against the wall,trying to dislodge the pain. All light, sounds, smells and human contact became unbearable.

When the episodes passed, she often experienced a sense of euphoria, a high which might last all day. Every night, she was afraid to go back to sleep. The next morning the pain would wake her again.

All attempts to treat her were fruitless. Allergy tests, a range of pharmaceuticals, opiates, therapy, and clinics around the world all failed to reduce the frequency or intensity of her episodes for more than a few weeks.

Symptoms vary greatly from one sufferer to the next; and headache is never the sole symptom. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, and severe mood changes are common parts of the migraine cycle. Many migraine sufferers have prodromal symptoms which warn of the main attack, and some form of "resolution" which concludes it. Although some patients find partial relief from some of the drugs produced by the pharmaceutical industry, many have no escape from their attacks, which enter their lives without warning or explanation and sometimes leave the same way.