‘I lose my vision, not able to speak properly’: Andrew Bogut’s private battle
For the first time, former NBA champion and Sydney Kings star Andrew Bogut has lifted the lid on a “real horror show” that has plagued him since childhood.
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Andrew Bogut has revealed details of the chronic migraines that have caused him to temporarily lose his vision and voice.
Bogut suffers from at least seven migraines a year, which force him to lie down in a dark room while he vomits.
The Sydney Kings marquee man has battled with the condition since a young age when he cracked his head open on a picket fence.
The migraines are also hereditary with Bogut saying that his grandmother and father have experienced bouts of bad headaches.
Bogut will have to deal with the migraines during the NBL season, which starts for the Kings against the Taipans in Cairns on Friday night.
“They are a prick of a thing,” Bogut told The Daily Telegraph.
“It isn’t the migraine that bothers me as much — I also lose my vision for a little bit and some of my sensory things like not being able to speak properly.
“I just need to go into a dark, quiet room to take some medication and lay down for two or three hours.
“Sometimes they happen at the worst possible time when you’ve got something you’ve got to get to.
“Sometimes they happen when you are just at home.
“They are not curable by any means. They are kind of a snake oil sickness because everyone can say that they’ve got something that works for them but it hasn’t been proven.”
Fortunately, the migraines haven’t stopped Bogut from playing an NBL game, he almost missed Sydney’s home game against Cairns in round three last year but pushed through.
Migraines also affected his long and successful stint in the NBA.
“I had to take my meds and go and lie down in a quiet room and then run out and play,” he said.
“They suck but it has only been about five matches that I’ve missed.
“People don’t understand them because I literally go into panic.
“Sometimes the migraine is a 10 out of 10, other times it doesn’t come on as strongly but you just have to wait until you can see again and get your senses back.
“You throw up a little bit and then usually I’m ready to go.”
Bogut’s migraines are serious but he admitted they have tapered off compared to when he was a child.
“I had some real horror shows when I was a kid,” he said.
“There were days when I got put out of school and I had 12 to 24 hours out of action but now I can bounce back from them.
“But as a kid it is scarier because you don’t know what it is.
“It could be a tumour but once you figure out that it is a migraine you know how to treat it a bit better.”
Cairns Taipans v Sydney Kings
Cairns Convention Centre
Friday 7.30pm
TV: Live on ESPN & SBS