A migraine diary your neurologist can actually use.
A useful migraine diary records start and end time, severity, pain location, aura, medications, and suspected triggers for each attack. Migsy is the iPhone app that captures those fields in a few taps and turns them into history, stats, and a doctor-ready report.
Why paper diaries fail
Attacks happen when you cannot find the notebook. You forget the start time, skip mild days, and show up to clinic with a week of gaps. An iPhone diary that is already in your pocket is only useful if logging is short enough to do while lights still hurt.
Fields worth logging
- When it started and when it ended (or that it is still going).
- Severity on a simple scale, plus where the pain sits.
- Aura and other symptoms, even if the pain is mild.
- Acute and preventive medications, dose, and whether pain dropped.
- Context you already notice: sleep, stress, hormones, food, weather.
Migsy is built around those fields. You can read the longer walkthrough in how to track migraine.
Diary vs weather vs reports
The diary is the log. Barometric pressure is extra context for the next 24 hours. A doctor-ready report is the summary you print or share, not a replacement for the daily habit.
If you already use Migraine Buddy, the difference is mostly workflow: Migsy is iPhone-only, neurologist-built, and has no in-app social feed.
Not medical advice
Keeping a diary does not diagnose migraine or change treatment by itself. Use it with a clinician. Call emergency services if you think you need urgent care.
Frequently asked questions
What should I record in a migraine diary?
For every attack, record start and end time, pain intensity, where the pain sits, aura or other symptoms, medications taken and whether they helped, and suspected triggers such as sleep, stress, food, hormones, or weather. Consistency matters more than writing a novel.
Is a migraine diary the same as a headache diary?
People search both phrases. Clinicians usually want a dated log of attacks with severity and treatment, whether you call it a migraine diary or a headache diary. Migsy is built for migraine attacks and also works as a structured headache log on iPhone.
How long should I track before I see patterns?
Most people need four to eight weeks of consistent logs before weather, hormones, and sleep patterns are visible. Two to three months is a more useful handoff to a neurologist.
Does the diary require a subscription?
Migsy is free to download on iPhone. Ongoing tracking — history, stats, calendar, doctor-ready reports, and weather risk — requires Migsy Pro, billed through Apple. A free trial is offered in the app; check the current price on the paywall before you subscribe.