Knowing I have a tendency to forget to take my diary with me when it's in notebook form, I first looked at apps for my phone.
I lost interest pretty quickly, but the one I did actually look into (Headache Diary Lite) kind of sucks. When inputting the info for a new headache, it asks for specifics like time, type, duration and severity, which is great. But then it asks what the root cause was, and gives options like alcohol, allergies, menstruation, etc., to choose from. Isn't the point of a headache diary to track pretty much everything you do in a day to figure out what might be causing them? If I already knew what the root cause was, I wouldn't be needing a diary in the first place!
So, I'm sticking with old school pen and paper diaries, and so far being much more diligent about it than I have in the past. So far, each entry goes a little something like this:
- What all did I eat today (preferably in order)?
- Did I wear my splint (mouthguard) last night?
- How many hours of sleep did I get?
- How many ounces of water did I drink today?
- Did I work today? For how long?
- Did I get a headache / migraine? When, how severe was it, and what did I take?
- What other things did I do out of the ordinary today?
The headaches I generally wake up with haven't been the same these past few days, so I haven't noticed any patterns yet, but I'm sure I will soon.
The other great thing about keeping a list of everything I've eaten is that I'm now very aware of all the crap I put in my body everyday, and can start motivating myself a little easier to eat better. It's making shedding that pesky winter weight much easier!
Do you keep a headache diary? What kinds of things do you include in your entries?
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