Kristin Chenoweth Reveals a Migraine Caused Her to Pass Out During a Performance
Kristin Chenoweth reveals the intense way she discovered she suffered from chronic migraines.
The 53-year-old recounts her most difficult moments in the spotlight with the chronic condition, and how Botox for migraines has helped her manage.
“At 25 years old I started getting chronic migraines and [it] really impacted my life and career. I didn’t know what it was—I thought it was a brain tumor,” Chenoweth said.
Kristin Chenoweth has made a name for herself both on- and off-Broadway, lighting up the stage and big screen for more than 20 years. While she’s learned a lot about herself during her tenure in the spotlight, it hasn’t always been easy. The 53-year-old suffers from chronic migraines, which she’s had since she was just 25 years old.
“At 25 years old I started getting chronic migraines and [it] really impacted my life and career. I didn’t know what it was—I thought it was a brain tumor,” Chenowith recently told Prevention.
As for her first sign that something was wrong, the TONY award-winning actress says she was onstage at the Virginia Orchestra performing for a sold-out room when the spotlight must have triggered her first migraine.
“It was the light. And after that, I got kaleidoscope eyes. And after that I started feeling very nauseous,” she explained. “Now I’ve got five more minutes left of act one. I start to feel like I’m going to throw up. Then I realize I have one more song left, I’ve managed to get there. The curtain came down. I threw up. I crawled off stage—literally the conductor…carried me back to the dressing room. I turned out all of the lights, even a flickering candle I couldn’t take it.”
Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of the Schmigadoon! star’s migraine battle. “There was a performance I did where I was in so much pain I passed out. I passed out for just a second, and I hear [Sean Hayes] say ‘I got you I got you,’ and then I came right back and just [finished the show].”
As if that wasn’t harrowing enough, Chenowith recounted another incident, this time landing her in the hospital. “The night I won the Emmy [there were] paparazzi lights, and literally instead of being able to celebrate that night I was taken to the hospital,” she remembered.
One of her biggest frustrations with the condition is that it’s invisible, like with so many chronic issues. “It’s hard for people to understand...just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
And the irony of her living a life under the spotlight and in front of camera flashes (a common migraine trigger) isn’t lost on her. “There was a time in my late 30s where I thought, ‘well, I have to retire,’ because I thought I can’t do this.”
Luckily, after trying a slew of remedies to assuage the pain, her dermatologist recommended Botox for migraines. (The use of Botox for chronic migraine—a condition in which someone suffers from at least 15 headaches a month, at least eight of which are migraines—was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010. Consult your doctor if you are interested in learning more, and be sure to read up on the side effects and full prescribing info here.)
Now, she’s partnering with Abbvi for its Center Stage With Chronic Migraine program. “I have found a treatment that works.” She says Botox started working right away. “I don’t have to retire because I found a treatment that works for me. Talking with my doctor [and] finding out that this was available to me, finding out that it works was such a blessing.”
Through the whole ordeal, she wants people to know that it’s important to be your own biggest advocate. “I’m so passionate about talking about it, especially as someone who identifies as a woman. There’s such shame in, you know, I’m a steal magnolia where I’m from, you don’t talk about your pain you suck it up. But there are times no matter how much I avoid all of the triggers that I have, that are going to bring it on, it’s still going to happen.” She says though Botox for migraines is not a treatment but rather a preventative measure, it has made an immeasurable impact on her life. “This is preventative it is not a cure, but it has helped me not retire.”
If you are interested in learning more about Botox for chronic migraines, be sure to consult your doctor.
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