Add headache details after an attack

Once a headache has ended, record where it started, where it spread and what came with it, as your own history to share with a clinician.

Open headache details

Headache details are added on iPhone, after the attack is over. Open Timeline and tap the episode. It offers Add headache details when two things are true: the episode has ended, and Head is one of its places. After you save any answer, the same button reads Edit headache details.

An episode that is still open does not offer it. End the episode first with End episode, on Today or in its Timeline entry. Nothing here is asked while you are logging pain.

The web app and Android do not have headache details. They do not show these questions or your answers to them. Use iPhone to add or read them.

What you can record

Every question is optional. Answer the ones you remember and leave the rest. Save stays unavailable until you change at least one answer.

The form has three parts. The first is seven on-off switches under Headache details: Light bothered me, Sound bothered me, Nausea, Aura or warning signs before it started, Screens bothered me, It interrupted work and It disrupted sleep. Once you save any of these, the switches you left off are saved as no.

The second part asks about the attack:

Did you vomit? — Yes or No.
What did the pain feel like? — Throbbing or pulsing, Pressing or tight, Stabbing or Something else. You can pick more than one.
Did walking, stairs or bending make it worse? — Yes or No.
Before or during it, did you have any of these? — Zigzags, flashing lights or blind spots, Tingling or numbness, Trouble finding or saying words or Something else. You can pick more than one. If you pick any, How long did that last? follows: Under 5 minutes, 5 to 60 minutes or Over an hour.

A safety notice sits under the question about what you had before or during the attack. It is there whatever you choose.

The third part is where the pain was:

Where did it start? — Forehead, Left temple, Right temple, Behind left eye, Behind right eye, Crown, Back of head or Neck. You can pick more than one. Left and right are your own left and right.
Where did it spread? appears once you pick a starting place. It offers the same list.
How long until it spread? appears once you pick a place it spread to: Under 15 minutes, 15 to 60 minutes, 1 to 4 hours or 4 hours or more. It is an approximate band, not an exact time.

You can also pick these places on a drawing. Under Where did it start? or Where did it spread?, tap Choose on a head drawing, then switch between Front, Left side, Right side and Back. Tap an area to select it, and tap it again to clear it. Left side means your left. A tap between areas selects nothing and says so. The drawing and the list are the same choices, so use whichever is easier.

These places are kept apart from the episode's own place, so the episode still counts as a head episode wherever you say it started or spread.

Change or remove an answer

Open the episode again and tap Edit headache details. Tap a chosen answer again to clear it. Clearing every starting place also clears where it spread and how long that took. Clearing every option in the question about what you had before or during it also clears how long that lasted.

The seven switches can also be changed with Edit entry on any episode with Head as a place, including one that is still open. The other questions are only in headache details.

Read back what you recorded

Tap the episode in Timeline. A Headache details section lists your answers. Once you have saved the switches, all seven show as Yes or No. The other answers show only if you gave them: Vomited, Pain quality, Worse with routine activity, Aura, Started, Spread to and Time to spread. A question you skipped is left out, not shown as no.

Save without a connection

You can save headache details with no connection. The answers are kept on the iPhone straight away and sent to your account when the app next starts, or when you return to it, and can reach the server.

Your answers are your own account of the attack, kept for you and for a clinician you choose to share them with. Nothing in the app reads them to name a type of headache or to make a diagnosis.

The clinician PDF has a section called Headache episodes, as reported by the patient. It lists each head episode in the report's dates where you answered any question in the second or third part of the form, and prints those answers. It prints only what you recorded: a question you skipped is left out, not shown as no. Some answers are printed in shorter words, such as "pulsating" for Throbbing or pulsing. The data bundle carries the same answers.

On iPhone, both are under Clinician export in Review. If that section shows Premium feature, the export needs Premium. The PDF is built from your account, so answers saved offline appear once they have been sent.