A WOMAN who suffered from debilitating migraines for 30 years has been thrown a lifeline after being put on a trial for a piece of equipment that creates a sedative effect.

Sue Anderson, 50, from Dishforth, has suffered from migraines since she was in her 20s, having two to three attacks a week that took over her life and made her depressed.

Symptoms of migraine can include nausea, severe headaches, exhaustion, aura – seeing flashing lights, and around 50 per cent of sufferers find that standard medication does little to help.

But Mrs Anderson has found that a high-tech device recently launched in the UK called Cefaly – which she describes as being similar to a TENs machine worn on the head.

She said: “The migraines used to be monthly but had increased in frequency in the last year to the point where they have taken over my life; we can’t plan anything, holidays are extremely difficult and my social life is often ruined.

“I spent all of Christmas in bed and I feel really bad for my children.

"I have tried every medication possible, including anti epileptic drugs, tricyclics but nothing has helped. I was on Frovatriptan and my consultant has told me there is nothing more he can do for me unless a new drug comes onto the market.

"I started using Cefaly a month ago and I feel like a different person. I had less migraines the first week I took it and even less the week after.”

Cefaly works by limiting pain signals from the nerve centre by working on the trigeminal nerve where migraine headaches start.