37 - Chronic migraine and PMDD: Jessica’s story

The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

Dr Louise Newson

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Medicine

4.8 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by her daughter Jessica for a very personal conversation about living with chronic migraine, PMDD and the long journey toward feeling well again. Jessica talks openly about the years of debilitating symptoms, the medications that helped (and those that didn’t), the impact on her studies and music, and the frustration of not being fully heard in medical consultations.

They explore how hormonal fluctuations contributed to Jess’s symptoms, the role of HRT in stabilising her health and the difference that careful, holistic care made after a long period of uncertainty. They also reflect on the importance of being listened to, the small incremental changes that add up, and why young women deserve better recognition and support when experiencing severe hormonal or chronic health issues.

It’s an emotional conversation about resilience, advocacy and the steady work of rebuilding quality of life with a chronic condition.

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LEARN MORE

Learn more about Jessica and her music here 👉

https://www.theroyalsackbutcollective.com/

Follow Jessica on Instagram here 👉

https://www.instagram.com/jessbullanderson/

https://www.instagram.com/jessbullanderson.art/

https://www.instagram.com/jessbullanderson.music/

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https://www.balance-menopause.com/balance-app/

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https://www.nlp-ltd.com/dr-louise-newson-breaking-the-cycle/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I've got Jess, my oldest daughter on my podcast today. It's quite an emotional podcast because
0:05.1	we're talking about living with a chronic disease. We talk about migraine. We talk about
0:09.0	PMDD. We talk about side effects of other medication that may or may not help a disorder
0:16.0	and how she's really built up and transformed her life by making lots and lots of different adjustments.
0:23.2	But also, sadly, some of the treatments that haven't helped her
0:26.9	and some of the ways doctors have spoken to her as well.
0:29.8	So there's a lot to listen to in this podcast.
0:32.3	It's quite sensitive, but it's a really important conversation.
0:38.3	So Jessica, you're here in real life.
0:41.3	Yeah.
0:41.7	Last time we did it remotely, your podcast.
0:44.4	We did.
0:45.3	And you had long hair.
0:46.8	Yes.
0:47.3	And you might or might not been taking hormones.
0:51.3	I can't quite remember.
0:52.4	I think I was taking estrogen.
0:56.6	So I was talking to someone this morning, actually, I've not met before. And I was telling her a bit about you. And I hope you don't want me
1:02.3	saying you have like the cleanest life ever. And it's got better and better in that. You've never
1:07.3	been bad, but you really, really, you don't drink alcohol,
1:11.5	you don't eat processed foods, your natural fibers, everything.
1:16.1	But you've had to be like this because of your migraines.
	...

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