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Headache Diaries - A Tool for You and Your Doctor

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Migraine Headache
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Nicky (coquitlam55)
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2005
Posts : 505
Posted 10/4/2005 8:27 AM (GMT -8)

Hello Everyone,

Sara created a great post and I'm moving it to it's own because of what a great tool it is - the Headache Diary. My neurologist has me keep one and it lets us see trends (i.e medications that work, don't work, days of the week that I get medications and / or times of the day) and it shows any doctor that I'm not a medication seeker but a chronic headache sufferer. It also lets me differentiate between migraines and rebound headaches.

My neurologist provided me with the diary he prefers and I rate my headaches on a scale of 1 to 3 - 1 minor, 2 moderate and 3 debilitating. 3 are migraines, 1 and 2 are generally rebound or tension headaches. I've included a sample at the end of the message.

Even though it may seem cumbersome to record all of the information, it really can help you and your doctor figure things out. I've included a copy of my headache diary at the end. I have it saved as an Excel Spreadsheet. Feel free to email me using the left icon under my name if you would like a copy.

Following is Sara's original post with a lot more valuable information. Check out the links, some of them have more information about how important it is to keep a headache diary. I just found an interesting site...its www.myheadachediary.com you have to register to use it, but when you have a headache you input some information like the date and time, what type of headache you have, how much sleep you had the day prior to the headache, what you ate before the onset, pain intensity, warning signs and symptoms, possible triggers, treatment and how the treatment worked on a 1-10 scale, you then submit the information and it calculates the data.


I created a few test entries so I could see what the reports look like. They are great. They show pie charts with what  percentage is highest for each...for example it said that 66% of the time irregular sleep patterns trigger migraines for me and that 100% of the time fatigue and mood changes were signs of a migraine to come...

I think the only INCONVENIENT thing is that I don't feel like being on the computer most of the time when I am in the midst of the a migraine!

Just thought you all might want to check this out...I have a few other great headache diaries too...

http://headaches.about.com/n-diary.htm

http://www.achenet.org/resources/diary.php

http://www.headaches.org/consumer/educationalmodules/migraine_module/headache_diary.pdf

http://www.excedrin.com/PDF/Headache_Diary.pdf

http://www.migrainehelp.com/pdf/MigraineDiary.pdf

http://www.fmpe.org/en/documents/handouts/handout_migraines.pdf

Post Edited By Moderator (Admin) : 10/7/2005 9:13:18 AM (GMT-6)

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tysmyboo
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2004
Posts : 921
Posted 10/4/2005 11:14 AM (GMT -8)

That's Great!!!

I posted so many different ones because I think that different things fit for different people, like for me if I print and actually write...I write so darn big that I need space and my triggers are generally the same so I don't need too many options there, and my medications don't differ too much. I like to keep more of a detailed entry for mine...so I know more of the why's I guess.

I try to keep everything in one place too, like specifically everything I've eaten, what time I went to bed and woke up, how my day was at work-stress level-etc.

Hopefully this helps someone. I think that the diaries/journals are great one way or another!

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Admin
Forum Administrator
Joined : Jan 2003
Posts : 10208
Posted 10/7/2005 7:12 AM (GMT -8)
Nicky, I had to remove the table because it was causing display problems on this post. Sorry :(
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Nicky (coquitlam55)
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2005
Posts : 505
Posted 10/7/2005 7:53 PM (GMT -8)
That's okay Peter. Sorry for any inconvenience.

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