What do you put in a migraine journal?

Question

I want to start a migraine journal to find out what is triggering my migraines. What kids of information do I put in there?

Answer 1

Migraine journals are kept to help determine not only the triggers, but can also help determine if you are having a common or classic migraine or one of the migraine variants.

To determine your triggers write down:

1. The time you went to sleep, the time you woke up,and how you slept.  If you happen to have sleep apnea did you use some form of breathing assistance device. (sleep factors are important triggers for migraines)

2.  Any significant stress issues which preceded or coincided with your migraine ( again stress is a common trigger)

3.  Visual stimulants prior to and coinciding with your migraine, such as television, computer use, bright sunlight, driving at night, fluorescent lights, etc. (visual stimulants may trigger migraines)

4.  Environmental factors - such as strong odors like paint or perfume, or industrial odors or cleaning materials.   Dust, or other irritants. (Environmental irritants, especially odors may trigger migraines)

5.  Foods- is is well known that there are food triggers, and some affect some people and do not others.  While some specialists recommend avoiding all possible triggers, others recommend tracking possible triggers in a journal so they can be eliminated. here is a website to get a good partial list of food triggers: http://www.headaches.org/education/Heada...

Also you should record information about the migraine episode itself.

1. If there is an aura, describe the aura, and provide the time of onset, and the time it stops.

2.  Record the time the headache starts.

3.  Record the location of maximum headache pain.  Describe the quality of the pain (ie. sharp or throbbing or dull).  Descibe the severity of the headache at it's most severe. (try to use a pain scale of 1 to 10 1 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you can imagine)

4.  Record any symptoms you have associated with the migraine, such as numbness of an extremity, or loss of vision, or nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light or sound, confusion, loss of consciousness, seizure, etc,

5. Record any methods you employ to resolve the headache, such as medications (include dose, and number of times the medication was taken to resolve the problem) rest, biofeedback, hypnosis, oxygen etc.

6. Record time headache resolved, and any residual problems, such as residual confusion, or difficulty speaking or walking.

The more thorough you can make your headache journal, the easier it is for the specialist to diagnose and treat your headaches.

If a person just gives a report of having a migraine, but doesn't give a full description, they could get an improper diagnosis, and be given a medication to treat the migraines which could make their condition worse,

Hope this information helps.

Answer 2

What you eat, when you sleep, what kind of day you had, did you wear perfume, what kind of laundry soap you use.

I kept a migraine journal and it got very specific since I couldn't narrow down just one trigger.  It took a while, but we got it figured out.

Watch the food you eat for MSG (if you don't know already) since it's a common trigger for migraines.  

Best of luck!

Answer 3

How much sleep you got the night before. If you are tired or worried about something (your mood) what you were doing when you got the migrain and maybe the light and noise in the area.