Every morning, when Brady Hoffman wakes up, he worries if he'll get a migraine. The social media influencer and busy nursing student, who has over half a million followers on TikTok, has had the painful, unpredictable attacks since he was 10 years old.
"It can be really hard to plan your life and your work and your entire schedule around whether you're going to get a migraine or not," he says. "And if that does happen, what are you going to do? It's definitely been a big learning challenge, trying to balance all of that."
Migraine is a complex neurological condition that affects about 12% of people in the U.S. Severe head pain is often worsened by light, noise, strong smells, and even movement. That can bring life to a standstill, but Hoffman still manages to find the humor in migraine attacks, for instance, putting clothespins on his eyebrows to show his followers how he tries to relieve his head pain.
"[Migraine] is so debilitating," says Hoffman. "If someone's experiencing the same thing as me and I can make them laugh about what they're experiencing, it just makes me feel better."
Growing Up With Migraine
Hoffman still remembers the first time he had a migraine attack. He was inside a sporting goods store, picking out a Father's Day present for his dad. "I was looking at this fishing lure, and I'm picking it up and can't read the label. I don't know what it says. I just have this giant kaleidoscope in my left eye," he says.
The aura was followed by head pain, nausea, and vomiting. "My mom was like, 'What the heck is happening?' Because I couldn't see, she thought I was having a stroke," Hoffman says.
His pediatrician thought that hormonal changes might be to blame, and that Hoffman might grow out of migraines. Instead, they began happening more often. By the time he was in high school, Hoffman was often leaving classes early, going in late, or calling in sick because of migraine attacks.
Over-the-counter medications didn't offer much relief. Instead, when the pain struck, "I would just sleep for hours and hours," he says.
"It was honestly very challenging to navigate, because I didn't know what to do," Hoffman says. "My doctor didn't know what to do. My family didn't know what to do. So it was just a lot of trial and error and trying to navigate what to do best."
Getting Answers and Making Changes
When Hoffman was 18, a new primary care doctor diagnosed him with chronic migraine disorder. Still, "for the longest time, I was unmedicated," he says. "I just kind of did life raw and was kind of taking every single day with the chance that I might get them."
But when he enrolled in nursing school two years ago, Hoffman made some big changes.
He found a treatment plan that worked: a CGRP inhibitor, which helps prevent migraine attacks, and a triptan medication, which can help relieve a migraine if one still starts. "At one point, I was getting between 12 and 15 migraines a month. And now, with those two medications in combo, I would say I'm down to maybe one or two, which is fantastic," Hoffman says.
He also committed to lifestyle changes to help reduce his migraine triggers. Today, that includes being careful about what he eats and drinks, getting enough sleep, and working out regularly at his gym.
Because stress is Hoffman's biggest trigger, he makes time to decompress, whether watching his favorite tv show (Sex and the City), doomscrolling on his iPad, or taking a hot shower or bath. Spending time with his family and the horses he grew up riding also "really brings me back down and calms me down," he says.
Influencing By Accident
In 2019, Hoffman became an influencer "completely by accident."
"TikTok came out, and I was like, 'What is this app?'" I saw people who were just doing, like, funny little skits," he says.
For fun, Hoffman made his own. When it got almost 13,000 likes, he kept making more, at first chasing the high of even higher numbers.
"Then, I started to notice that I really enjoyed making people laugh," he says. "I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine that there is. … If I can make someone laugh every day, then I feel fulfilled."
That desire to connect to others catapulted him into becoming an influencer, while also attending nursing school and working as a patient care technician in a hospital oncology unit. "The kind of content that I create is a mixing pot of everything," Hoffman says. "I kind of mix in lifestyle, going-out content … a lot of school content. I live on a farm, so I have farm content. It's kind of a jack of all trades."
He also posts about migraines.
"The reason that I started … was, honestly, there's a stigma around [them]," he says. "like, 'It's just a headache.' 'Drink more water. …' 'Get on with your day like it's fine.' I don't think people truly understand how debilitating it is."
Whether Hoffman is posting about the medications he takes or how he copes with the symptoms, he does so from a comedic point of view. "Having a laugh really just helps bring the community that experiences [migraine] a little bit more light," he says.
Finding Balance
Trying to prevent migraine attacks while going to nursing school, working at the hospital, creating content, and maintaining real-life relationships is a balancing act. But "I'm someone that does like to have a full plate at all times," Hoffman says. "I like to have something to look forward to, even if it's an exam on my calendar."
His strong support system makes getting it all done – and living with migraine – easier. "I love to have people in my corner that are cheering me on, saying 'You can do this,' 'I'm proud of you,' 'Just keep going,'" Hoffman says. "And a lot of times, that's people on the internet, not just my family and my boyfriend."
