- Six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman never physically "felt amazing or great" while competing.
- As a high-level athlete, she felt immense pressure to "power through" at her own expense.
Aly Raisman won six Olympic medals — three golds, two silvers, and a bronze — during her illustrious gymnastics career with Team USA. But even amidst her many successes, Raisman always felt something was off when she hit the gym.
Looking back, the now-29-year-old "wouldn't say I felt amazing or great" while participating in the major competitions that made her a household name.
She recalls regularly experiencing "nausea, fatigue, head pain, scalp pain and sensitivity, and neck pain" when she'd hit the mat. But as a high-level athlete with the hopes of a nation pinned to her performances, she felt she had no choice but "to push through and power through."
"When I was competing there was only five girls that make the team, so I felt so much pressure," Raisman told Insider in an Interview about her partnership with Ubrelvy. "Whether I was not feeling well or whether it was an ankle injury, I was taught that the best thing to do is to not say anything."
Raisman has sought out answers in the years since her gymnastics career came to an end
After retiring from gymnastics in 2020, Raisman began to take her symptoms, which have worsened over time, more seriously and seek professional help.
After a series of invalidating consultations with various doctors, Raisman was "finally able to meet with the neurologist who really put the pieces together."
That neurologist, Dr. Andrew Blumenfeld, informed her that she had been experiencing the symptoms of an incurable neurological disease called migraine. Most commonly known for causing severe head pain, migraine can also result in nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound, according to The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
More than 10% of the world's population is thought to experience migraine, and 17.1% of American women — compared to just 5.6% of American men — have reported migraine symptoms, per JAMA. Even still, a 2020 study from The European Journal of Neurology suggests the condition is often misdiagnosed due to "poor awareness of it amongst patients and physicians."
It's little surprise, then, that Raisman herself had been misdiagnosed with "anxiety or depression" on several occasions before meeting Blumenfeld — the director of the Headache Center of Southern California who has also partnered with Ubrelvy. Even worse, she said some professionals had told her "there's nothing wrong with you."
"It made me feel, honestly, really bad," Raisman said. "It was not validating at all."
Thanks to Blumenfeld, Raisman now knows that she's prone to "light sensitivity" and, with the benefit of hindsight, has come to understand that "competing in a stadium where there's bright lights" literally made her sick.
"I didn't really realize until more recently that that's what it was," Raisman said, adding later: "I wish that I had had those tools and the understanding of it that I do now."
One of those tools is Ubrelvy, a prescription medication taken at the start of a migraine attack that can mitigate and alleviate symptoms. Raisman has partnered with AbbVie, the maker of Ubrelvy, to raise awareness of migraine and help others find the relief she has.
Prioritizing self-care has helped Raisman recognize the dangers of pushing through pain
Pushing through the pain may have worsened her condition. In the years since she stepped away from the mat, Raisman learned from Blumenfeld that migraine symptoms can worsen over time when left untreated.
That's true to Raisman's own experience. She has seen her symptoms progressively increase in severity, which she blames in part on ignoring her body and pushing pain aside through her years of competitive gymnastics.
"I had to take a hard look at the way that I was powering through things and recognize that it's not helping me anymore," Raisman said.
She noted that she strongly recommends against pushing through pain and discomfort "because it definitely didn't help me and it has not helped me feel better in the long run."
"I've had to unlearn a lot of that unhealthy mindset and really learn to take care of myself," Raisman added.
Her advice, as she previously told Insider, is to "give yourself the same care and compassion that you would give to somebody else."
"It can be really easy to not take time for ourselves, but it's really important to give ourselves the attention that we need."