Jessie James Decker Opens Up About Navigating Migraines

Jessie James Decker is used to being open with fans, from her music and motherhood journey to her marriage and life behind the scenes. Now she’s teaming up with AbbVie for the Love In Mind initiative, where the country star peels back the curtain even further, opening up about how living with migraines has quietly impacted her relationship, date nights, and moments of intimacy with her husband, Eric Decker. While migraine is often brushed off as “just a headache,” Jessie James Decker made it clear that for her, it has been anything but, and at times, it has forced her to put love on pause. 

“I can absolutely relate,” Jessie said during the press conference, in which The Blast was in attendance, while discussing how migraine has affected her ability to show up fully in her marriage. “Scheduling those date nights, especially when you’ve got so much going on. I’ve got four kids, and our schedules are super crazy… That time is so precious.”

But for Jessie, those carefully planned moments don’t always go as expected. “There have been those nights where a migraine will just hit, and I just feel like I can’t go,” she admitted. “I’m not gonna be the best version of myself. I’m not gonna feel good.”

Instead of getting dressed and heading out, Jessie says she’s often left lying in a dark room, wrestling not just with pain, but guilt. “It’s always disappointing,” she shared. “You sit there lying in your room in the dark, and you’re like, ‘I just feel so guilty that I can’t go on this date.’”

For Jessie, a migraine isn’t something she can push through or ignore, especially when it flares. “Whenever I have a migraine, I have to just shut it down, listen to myself, listen to my body,” she explained. Thankfully, she says, having a partner who understands has made all the difference.

“I’m lucky to have a partner who understands and is there for me,” Jessie said, noting that her husband, Eric Decker, has learned to recognize the early signs before a migraine fully takes hold. “He can usually catch when it’s gonna happen and he’s that support system that I need.”

That support didn’t come overnight.

Jessie revealed that she first noticed something wasn’t right as a teenager, when headaches triggered by sports and physical activity felt different, and far more intense, than what others described. “I noticed really early on that something wasn’t normal,” she recalled. “I didn’t know how to explain it or articulate what was going on.”

It wasn’t until later, after meeting her husband, who was then in his rookie year in the NFL, that she was encouraged to take her symptoms seriously. “He would say, ‘You have headaches a lot. Have you ever checked into that?’” Jessie shared. “I kept pushing it off. I didn’t want to deal with the process.”

Eventually, she did, undergoing evaluations and scans before receiving a migraine diagnosis that, while daunting, also brought relief. “I felt so validated in that moment,” she said. “It was like a light bulb went off. These aren’t just headaches. This is real. This is a disease.”

Even with treatment and better management, Jessie says migraine remains a constant presence, one that can interrupt not just her schedule, but her sense of closeness and connection. “There are moments where you just can’t be intimate or present,” she admitted. “And that’s hard, especially when you already feel like you’re missing out.”

That reality is echoed in findings from the Love In Mind study, commissioned by AbbVie and conducted by the Harris Poll, which examined 606 US adults diagnosed with migraine to further explore the impact of migraine on relationships. In fact, 73% agreed their migraine makes them feel like a burden in romantic relationships.

What makes it even more complicated, Jessie says, is that migraine is invisible and often misunderstood. “Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be validated,” she stressed. “Just because it’s not a wound or a broken bone doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

In fact, Jessie revealed that for years she downplayed her condition, sometimes even blaming other illnesses instead. “I would say I had the flu because I didn’t feel like people would take migraine seriously,” she admitted. “Don’t do that. It’s justified.”

Now, Jessie says she’s learned to listen to her body, speak up for herself, and lean on communication, something she believes is essential in marriage. “Communication is everything,” she said. “You don’t understand unless you talk about it. We respect each other, and that’s huge.”

While migraine may still interrupt plans, Jessie hopes sharing her story helps validate others who feel the same guilt, frustration, or isolation, especially in relationships. “Living with migraine is tough,” she said. “Every day is a new battle. But listen to your body, take yourself seriously, and don’t make excuses for something that’s real.”

For Jessie James Decker, love hasn’t disappeared in the dark moments, but it has required understanding, patience, and a partner willing to meet her there. And for anyone living with migraine, she wants one thing to be clear: your pain deserves to be seen.