About Carl Cincinnato

Carl stopped taking his health for granted at an early age thanks to migraine. Over the last 30 years, health has become central throughout his life and work. This includes working at one of the biggest health companies in the world, Johnson & Johnson.

Today, Carl works with charities, foundations, and organizations to help lift the global burden of migraine including Migraine & Headache Australia, the Brain Foundation, the Coalition of Headache and Migraine Patients (CHAMP), the Global Patient Advocacy Coalition (GPAC), and the World Health Education Foundation (WHEF). Carl is a member of the International Headache Society, acts on several patient committees, the author of MigrainePal.com and the founder of the Migraine World Summit.

Carl is a public and passionate patient advocate for migraine. He has spoken nationally and internationally about migraine and the need to increase research funding, reduce stigma, increase patient support and education.

Carl has featured in national TV reports and international media including the following:

My Journey

We may not be much different. We both have migraine and when they occur they usually ruin our day.

Very few people really understand what you go through unless they have migraine themselves. It’s not just the pain and agony of the migraine attack itself, but the risk of the next migraine attack occurring at the worst possible time… It can keep you constantly on edge… Making it difficult or impossible to confirm plans and driving a wedge between you and everyone else.

Migraine is a neurobiological disorder that can eventually impact every aspect of your life. Research has shown the heavy toll chronic migraine takes on relationships, work, happiness and your quality of life.

I didn’t choose to have migraine and neither did you.

“Unfair things happen. Whether its being diagnosed with a disease, demoted for a mistake you didn’t make or convicted of a crime you didn’t commit. The ref might make a bad call, an agreement might be abrogated, a partner might let you down.

Our instinct is to fight these unfairnesses, to succumb if there’s no choice, but to go down kicking and screaming. We want to make it clear that we won’t accept injustice easily, we want to teach the system a lesson, we want them to know that we’re not a pushover.

But will it change the situation? Will the diagnosis be changed, the outcome of the call be any different?

What if, instead, we went at it singing and dancing? What if we walked into our four-year prison sentence determined to learn more, do more and contribute more than anyone had ever dreamed? What if we saw the derailment of one path as the opportunity to grow or to invent or to find another path?

This is incredibly difficult work, but it seems far better than the alternative.”

— Seth Godin

 

Whilst Seth may not suffer in the same way as we do, he offers an enlightened path in the battle against migraine.

Migraines have been a part of my life for 27 years. I experience migraine with aura. A shoulder injury playing sport triggered a rapid decline from episodic migraines, with a frequency of 2 migraines a year, to chronic migraines which lasted 7 years. At my worst, I could experience 6 attacks a week.

3 years ago I recovered from chronic migraine and have been in remission with around 6 attacks per year. No cure, but still life-changing.

Recovering from chronic migraines was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

You can be smart, persistent, conduct research, follow the doctor’s directions instructions and still fail over and over.

For so many reasons managing migraine is difficult. But it is absolutely necessary.

MigrainePal helps those with migraine get the facts with medically referenced answers

With millions of page views to date, you can find practical and scientifically based insights to help tip the scales at the doctor’s office.

MigrainePal is authored by Carl Cincinnato, the founder of the Migraine World Summit, member of the International Headache Society and patient advisor to several organizations.

MigrainePal was created to provide answers

Many people with migraine share the frustration of unanswered questions and disappointing results from those who are supposed to be experts.

As I discover more facts, findings and results, for better or worse, I share them here along with the insights, research and news I pick up along the way.

MigrainePal is not a journal of personal struggles.

It’s about sharing the facts about migraine, getting better and supporting each other.

Mission

My goal is to help prevent 1 million migraine attacks and move the needle in the global burden of migraine.

This will be accomplished this through:

  • The articles and insights shared on MigrainePal.com
  • As founder, cohost and producer of the Migraine World Summit which is the largest migraine patient event of it’s kind.
  • As a partner to other migraine institutions and foundations

Is this your first visit?

If so, start here to find free migraine guides on the fundamentals you need to know, popular articles and a fun migraine quiz for the experienced patient >>