|
Track Your Headache - Keep A Diary To Find The Real Cause Of Headache |
|
|
|
Which do you prefer, diary or journal? The denotation
of the words is basically the same, but let’s face it, there are major
connotative differences. Diary kind of sounds like something a teenaged
girl keeps track of her crushes in, while a journal sounds like
something a novelist keeps track of her ideas in. Whatever you decide to
call it really doesn’t matter, what does matter is that you seriously
consider keeping one.
Migraines headaches have triggers. For most people, narrowing
down what that trigger is and successfully avoiding it can seriously curtail the
frequency or severity. In some cases it may even lead to never having a migraine
again.
Although the hardware involved is generally up to your
preference, keep in mind that you may be wanting to show your entries to
a doctor, so unless have the kind of penmanship that people tend to
notice and comment upon, it’s highly recommended that you enter the
information into the computer so you can print it out.
The trick in keeping a migraine journal is sticking with it. You’re on the lookout
for patterns. Patterns that will ultimately link together to form an
answer to your question: Why do I get headaches when I do? It may take
weeks or even months to reach this answer. Give it time since patterns
and correlation’s don’t occur overnight. Keep at it and be specific. Try
to write the information down as soon as a headache occurs.
So what goes into a headache diary or journal? The following are
guidelines, but each individual journal will probably differ. You may
notice things that affect your headaches that other people don’t. And
even if you notice something that you think couldn’t possibly have any
effect on your pain, go ahead and record it. You never know, right?
Your headache diary should definitely include information about:
When the head pains started, including whether there is a pattern to what
time of day they generally onset
The frequency with which your headaches occur
Any other accompanying symptoms such as nausea or visual disturbances
The duration of the headache and if there anything that seems to affect how long
the attacks last
Exact location of the pain
What kind of pain you feel: throbbing, piercing, aching
What you eat, trying to notice if there is a consistency in the ingredients
What time you eat
What medications you are taking, including any vitamins and other health-related products
Any exercise you do, when and for how long
How much sleep you get
Weather conditions, especially any significant changes in barometric pressure
Women should record all details of their menstrual cycle, especially anything
you may have done differently preceding the attack
Any lifestyle that occurred during the ten hours prior to the onset of the headache.
Some things to be aware of, especially, are things that might have
contributed to increasing your stress levels, any change in bowel
movement, any change in sleeping patterns, etc.
Be very aware of alcohol consumption and caffeine consumption. Both alcohol and caffeine
play a huge part in triggering headaches. Record not only how much
alcohol you may have ingested, but also what kind, i.e., beer, wine or
hard liquor. In addition, realize that caffeine is not limited to
coffee, tea and soft drinks. Sports drinks are loaded with caffeine, as
is many candies and gums
Don’t worry about getting too explicit, but keep track of your sex life. Women
especially need to keep track of whether they achieved orgasm or not in close proximity
to the onset of a migraine
When you travel, notice whether certain geographic locations spur headaches or relieve them
If you’re the type who feels that keeping a handwritten notebook is just way too medieval
and you just absolutely have to engage with technology in order to do something like this, you are
in such luck. Eheadahcejournal.com allows users, for a price, to keep an anonymous online track of
their headaches. Additionally, the software will allow you to make nifty
little charts and reports that you can print out to help in narrowing
down exactly when, why and how your headaches get triggered.
|
