Ulrike Nerreter and her twin sister Sabine endured years of crippling pain from migraines.

The 39-year-old German singers, who live in London, were in their teens when they began suffering severe headaches up to twice a month. These steadily became worse, making them feel sick, shaky and blurring their vision.

The pair had signed a contract with former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller but quit showbusiness in 2000 because the symptoms were so bad their performances were affected.

Ms Nerreter said: "In showbusiness, you need to be on peak performance 100 per cent of the time and this was a catastrophe." The sisters tried aspirin, anti-nausea tablets and complementary therapies such as hypnotherapy. They would even spend up to 18 days a month in a darkened room.

But nothing worked until they saw a documentary about the surgical cure and went for a consultation.

It is now 18 months since the twins underwent operations which they say have been a success.

Ms Nerreter said: "The situation can't be compared with what we went through before. Life is fun again and we have enough energy to go back to our old love - music."

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