In my last Migraine Diary post, I mentioned that I kept that setup for six months, and it served me well as a starting point. After those first six months I took a break from it. Although the world was in various stages of lockdown, our family and household became really busy, with lots of transition happening, and well … sometimes something’s gotta give.
Fast forward to November of that year, 2020. I picked up the migraine diary again, and thought about some ways I could improve my system.
Goals for the SEcond version
- To see how changes in weather, temperature and barometric pressure contributed to my migraine.
- To have a better way, visually, of tracking my sleep.
- Most importantly, to track how well my current meds were working.
I thought that documenting a full week at a time, vertically, would be more helpful, so I would see more of a pattern rather than day by day snapshots. And I started keeping migraine-related notes in my daily planner, transferring them to the migraine diary at night, as part of my evening journaling routine.
To be fair, this next set-up was pretty time-consuming to draw out every week. But it was sort of a transitional thing, while I looked for a planner with the same basic layout that I could use for the longer term. And, I wanted to use up the rest of the notebook before abandoning it.
So I used this system for twelve weeks before I got the end of the notebook. In the last couple of weeks I started tracking caffeine intake, but besides that the set-up remained the same.
Key Takeaways from this version
- I really liked the vertical layout.
- Seeing the temperature and barometer changes in this format was really helpful.
- I realized that the sleep tracking was an important element.
That was my first completed Migraine Diary. When I look back through it now I realize even more what a useful tool it was at the time. And what a helpful resource it is for me now. I can see all the ways I’ve improved my habits and routines since then. The symptoms I no longer struggle with. The confidence I have when advocating for myself healthcare-wise.
If this is all I had ever done for my migraine, it would have been absolutely worth it.
Stationery in the Photo
- notebook
- pen
- highlighters (grey and yellow)
- wooden alpha-numeric stamps
- pencil case (a makeup pouch from society6)
P.S. Still a big fan of this genmaicha, which I’m drinking as I blog today … an overcast, quiet, somewhat rainy day.
