The Painful Health Condition Kat Dennings Lives With

Shortly after Kat Dennings transformed into a professional actor, the star began suffering from a health condition. In an October 2024 interview with Healthline, she opened up about her struggle with migraines that began when she was a tween. "When [my mom] first took me to the doctor, we were told I would grow out of it, but news flash — I didn't," Dennings remembered. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the doctor would've been right in most cases. People often do get fewer migraines, or none at all, with age. When the headaches stick around the way Dennings' have, they're categorized as a rare condition called chronic migraines. As the name suggests, these headaches don't go away as easily and reportedly affect a very small chunk of the human population.

Over the years, the "2 Broke Girls" star has figured out different ways to mitigate the migraines. "When things are bad, my go-to solution is lying in a dark room with ice on my neck," she said. "Sometimes I'll use this migraine helmet that helps apply pressure to my head, or I drink a cold slushy. It doesn't get rid of the pain, but it helps." But she also noted that her own treatment for migraines might not work for others, which was why seeing a doctor was important to find help tailored to their unique situations. "Everyone's migraine pain is different. I have a friend whose migraines are so bad she has to go to the ER. But just because I don't experience that doesn't mean mine aren't valid and painful," she added.

The unfortunate truth about Kat Dennings' line of work is that it can actually exacerbate her condition. As she told Flow Space in 2024, film sets can bring on severe headaches. "For me, light and sound are triggers. I can feel it building, and it's a real challenge with what I do for work," she said. "I've pushed through so much migraine pain that no one even knew about." Tragically, Dennings often kept the details of her pain to herself and tried to just work through the her chronic migraine headaches. "I've always pushed through the pain because I don't want to let people down and wasn't sure if people would understand if I took time off because of it," she said. The "Thor" star also noted that she often felt self-conscious about backing out of social commitments whenever a headache hit. "It feels like you're lying when you cancel plans because of a migraine.

Nowadays, Dennings is a lot more transparent about her migraines and their sometimes debilitating effects. What's more, she continues to use her platform to raise awareness about her condition. Sometimes that means going dark on social media. Partnering with the Migraine Blackout campaign, she removed herself from Instagram to, ironically, bring more attention to her cause. "It's sometimes hard to advocate for yourself, and I have to remind myself to speak up and be honest about what I'm feeling and what treatments are or aren't working," she told Healthline. "Raising awareness about the real burden of migraine and helping improve access to care is why I wanted to join Migraine Blackout."