My experiences so far with Migraine Diary Apps for iPhone

Over the last few months I have been trying out a bunch of migraine diary apps. I am seeing a new specialist in a couple of months, and I thought I'd try these apps to export some records for him. I think the apps have potential to be useful, but I have had issues finding one with an optimal feature set. A lot of them just seem to cease development or don't implement suggestions from reviews either. Anyway, I thought I'd give some input on what I have found.

As far as a simple diary to track migraines, there is one simply called "Migraine" that is very good. It has the most intuitive interface out of all the ones I tried. It can export reports summarizes the options it tracks. It's the easiest to use out of every app I tried, and has most of the 'core' info a diary should have.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/migraine/id453512235?mt=8

As far as actually learning something about your migraines though, there is one called ecoHeadache that so far blows away everything I have tried. It not only has extensive diary features, but a good medication and therapy database that you can easily update. It keeps track of the how well each medication and therapy worked for each attack, and creates stats on how well they are working. It also has a triggers section, symptoms, and pretty much everything else you can think of. Other apps I tried do tough on these features, but on nowhere close to this level. So on top of keeping records for the specialist, I really think I can learn something from using this app. I am actually kind of excited about it.

Another big plus is it's one of the few apps that allows you to input headache durations in days, not just hours. I am not sure why so many apps are missing this feature when so many people's migraines last longer than 24 hours.

http://itunes.apple.com/ve/app/headache-diary-ecoheadache/id395317927?mt=8

All the other apps I tried sort of fell somewhere between the 2 I mention here. A lot of the free ones were too barebones, and the interfaces really varied as far as intuitiveness. A lot of the pay ones didn't have a feature set that matched the ecoHeadache one, and cost more. A lot of the apps just had a 'dated' looking interface as well. The 2 above appear a little more 'modern' looking and easier on the eyes.

Anyway I don't know if this will be helpful to anyone or not. I just thought I'd share.

Hey there,

Thanks for this post. I've been looking for a decent way of documenting my migraines for a while, however, I've only got an iPad, not an iPhone and am quite happy with my blackberry. There is absolutely nothing of any use in the Blackberry apps. Any idea for an iPad alternative?

If it works in the iPhone it will work on the iPad. The operating system is identical. The only difference you will find is that a program written for the iPhone generally won't take up the whole iPad screen unless you hit 2x in the corner which will blow it up to fit the whole screen.