My migraines started with a vengeance in my 40s. It is not usual for them to start in midlife, but the headaches I had been suffering since my 20s, I now realise, were probably low-level migraines, that have steadily got worse. This condition has totally shut down my ability to lead a normal life – I was forced to leave a senior office job, and was at first diagnosed with stress, then chronic fatigue syndrome.

I gave up coffee and sugar. On the advice of a nutritionist, I even went vegan. It made no difference. There was even a stint with a cognitive behavioural therapist, who tried to change my reaction to noise and help me to relax. All it did was make me feel like a freak.

My doctor at first diagnosed me with a sinus headache. Then, a few years ago, I was finally referred to a neurologist. I am now taking amytriptyline, an antidepressant that is said to have a calming effect on the central nervous system.

The pills have managed to dull the pain a bit, but they have side-effects. I wake up groggy and I’ve started grinding my teeth at night. They have also caused constipation and dry mouth, so I can only take a low dose.

I was greatly helped by Botox injections – these are thought to block the chemicals responsible for pain from being released to the brain, which helps to relax the muscles and lessen the pain. Then, the pandemic put paid to my regular three-monthly appointments.

One day in May last year, I had three Zoom meetings back to back. In one call, I was in the middle of explaining something, when I was hit by a terrible, stabbing pain on the right side of my head. It was so bad, I had to make my excuses and crawl into bed, where I laid motionless, with a terrible feeling of malaise and only interspersed by occasional trips to the kitchen for a glass of water.

This was a whole new level of agony for me – like shards of glass piercing my brain. It was so severe I nearly lost my balance and staggered against the wardrobe door. I thought I was going to collapse.

Dr Chris Blatchley is a headache specialist at the London Migraine Clinic. He feels that the most important factors are the rise of stress in the past two years, coupled with the rise in screen-time: the social media, Zoom calls, and home-schooling. “Our brains are not designed to cope with such a huge amount of screen time,” he says. “Factor in hours sitting at home hunched over our computers – migraine can cause pain in the neck and shoulders – the detrimental impact of stress and irregular eating and sleeping patterns, and you are creating a perfect migraine storm.”