Why You Should Keep a Migraine Blog

Why Keep a Migraine Blog 

If you don't suffer from this conditions you may think, "huh? a blog about your headaches?", right?

In reality, a migraine is a whole lot more than a headache. It's an overall neurological storm washing over your brain, and hence on your body too. Most sufferers go through nausea, vomiting, intense pain and then a slew of other possible migraine symptoms. To put it mildly, it's debilitating and just puts you out of the world of the living for anything from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks.

So, if you suffer from migraines, or know someone who does, please send them to this page - I think it can help fellow patients. 

There are some fairly good drugs these days that can actually help stop an attack if taken early enough. However, they are not effective for everyone, especially when not taken early enough. In order to recognize a migraine early enough, you need to be aware of your early symptoms. You can also anticipate migraines by knowing your own personal migraine triggers. Each person has different triggers, which can be anything from a certain type of food to specific weather conditions.

The best way to be prepared, getting timely treatment, and potentially even preventing a migraine attack is by knowing your triggers and early symptoms. The way to do that is to keep a detailed log of your every episode, what lead to it, its type and symptoms and the way it ended. And in the day and age of the internet, the best way for keeping logs is having your own blog. You could potentially be helping other migraineurs by sharing your own experiences online.

How To Get a Blog

 The easiest way is head over to www.blogger.com and log in. If you have a Google ID (or a gmail account), you can use your existing username and password. Otherwise, follow the quick and painless registration. It's totally free and you won't even get ads on your pages.

What to Record in Your Migraine Blog 

Every time you go through a migraine episode, have an entry about it in your blog. Make sure you cover the following -

Enter a detailed report of your actions during that day. Any special events or changes in routine should be covered. Women should note the time of the month for them.

Make a list of the things you ate and drank 24 hours before (take special note of chocolate, cheese and wine/beer).

Note the weather on that day and the day before (especially changes in the weather, thunderstorms and dry spells).

Record your mood prior to the migraine attack (some people go through depression, others feel elated).

Write about all details of the course of your migraine, from its onset, the main phase, the ending stage and what you felt when it was all over.

Mention any medications that were used, when you took them and how effective they were. Don't forget to write about any side effects.

Making Sense of it All

Depending on how often migraines hit you, your blog is going to be built up gradually and you will soon (or hopefully, not very soon…) have a detailed record of several migraine episodes. Sometimes, just writing about it will be enough, other times, you may want to go back, read and analyze the posts. Either way, you should be able to note your own triggers, some of which you might be able to avoid in the future, hopefully preventing additional attacks. You will also get to know your condition better, with your own idiosyncratic version of this fascinating, if painful, neurological syndrome.