When a migraine hits, the last thing you want is a complicated app. We have tried to make this as simple as possible, with quick ways to log when you are in pain, and a full wizard for when you are ready to add the details.
You can also come back later and add more information. Nothing is set in stone.
The steps below are the same on iPhone and on Android. The only place they differ is the watch section near the end, where we call out iPhone (Apple Watch + Garmin) and Android (Garmin only).
Three ways to log
MigraineMe gives you three different ways to log, from the fastest to the most thorough. They live in two different places, and they each cover a slightly different set of things.
1. The Quick Log strip on the home screen. Just below the risk gauge sits a row of five small round buttons: Migraine, Trigger, Prodrome, Medicine, Relief. Tap one and a sheet of your starred favourites appears so you can pick the specific one, or tap the skip option (for example "Skip, just log Migraine") and it saves instantly with the time set to right now. This is the fastest way to record one thing. It is also the only place where you can mark that a Migraine has started in one tap without going through the full wizard. The migraine is saved with a starting severity of 5, and you can fine-tune the details later from the Journal. While a migraine is open, this strip is replaced by a Migraine in progress card (more on that below).
2. The Quick Log grid on the Log tab. Tap the Log tab at the bottom of the screen. Below the big Log Migraine card and the Daily Check-In card you will see six cards: Migraine (for a single symptom), Prodrome, Trigger, Medicine, Relief, and a split card with Activity on one half and Missed on the other. If you are not in pain or in a hurry, but you do not need the full wizard either, this is your go-to. Each card opens a small screen with a few extra fields: for medicines you can add the amount and how much it helped, and for reliefs you can add a start and end time.
3. The full Log Migraine wizard. The big card at the top of the Log tab. This is a 14-step guided form for recording a full attack: timing, a free-text description ("Paint the picture"), symptoms, pain and where it hurt, prodromes, triggers, medicines, reliefs, locations, activities, postdromes, missed activities, notes, and a final review. Use this when you have the time and want the app to learn properly from your attack.
The rest of this article walks through option 3, the full wizard. For options 1 and 2, see the dedicated short articles for each kind of quick log.
The quick way (during a migraine)
- Open MigraineMe.
- Tap the Log tab at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the big Log Migraine card at the top.
- The first step, Timing, shows an It's happening right now card at the top. Tap it to log an attack starting now in one tap, and add details later.
- If it started earlier instead, use the Started date and time below, then tap Next and carry on as far as you like. Every step can be skipped.
That is it. You can lie down. The rest can wait.
Marking the migraine as ended
While a migraine is open, the home screen shows a Migraine in progress card in place of the Quick Log strip.
- Open MigraineMe. The card is right at the top of the Home tab, with the time the attack started.
- Tap End now when the migraine eases off.
- You can also use the round buttons on the card (Pain, Medicine, Relief, Symptom, and More for the rest) to add to the attack while it is running.
You can also end it from the Journal: find the migraine, tap the small ⋯ menu on its card, tap Edit, set the end time, then go through to Review and tap Save.
You can also end an ongoing migraine from your watch. See "Using the watch" below.
Adding the full details (when you are ready)
If you are up to it, you can tell MigraineMe much more. This is what helps the app spot your patterns. You can do this during the migraine or hours, even days, later.
- Open the app.
- Tap the Journal tab.
- Find the migraine and tap the small ⋯ menu on its card, then tap Edit.
- An edit screen opens with the core details (severity, start and end time, aura, notes), then steps for Triggers, Medicines and Reliefs, and a final Review. Change whatever you like and tap Save at the end.
- To add things the edit screen does not cover (pain locations on the head diagram, extra symptoms, postdrome symptoms, locations or activities), use the + Add button on the migraine's Journal card and pick what you want to add.
If you are logging the attack fresh through the wizard instead, these are the steps you will walk through:
- Paint the picture: describe the migraine in your own words. You can tap the Voice button and speak instead of typing. When you are done, tap Find matches and MigraineMe will try to fill in the next sections for you. You can always correct what it picks.
- Symptoms: tap the words that fit (throbbing, pounding, pressure, nausea, sensitivity to light, and so on).
- Pain: slide the bar to show how bad the pain was, from 0 (no pain) to 10 (severe). Then tap the dots on the head picture to mark where it hurt.
- Prodromes: these are early warning signs you noticed before the pain started, like a stiff neck or seeing flashing lights.
- Triggers: what you think set it off. Tap the ones that apply.
- Medicines: what you took, how much, and how much relief it gave.
- Reliefs: what helped (a dark room, an ice pack, sleep).
- Locations: where you were when it started.
- Activities: what you were doing.
- Postdromes: the recovery symptoms that lingered after the pain eased.
- Missed activities: what the attack made you skip or cancel.
- Notes: anything else you want to remember.
Finish on the Review step and tap Save Log (or Update Log if you are editing an existing entry).
You do not have to fill in every section. Even just adding the symptoms helps.
Using the watch (if you have one)
On iPhone
If you have an Apple Watch with MigraineMe installed, or a Garmin paired through MigraineMe, the watch shows six quick-log buttons on the home screen.
On Android
Android does not pair with an Apple Watch. The only watch supported on Android is Garmin, paired through MigraineMe using a 6-digit code. Once paired, the watch behaves the same as on iPhone.
What the watch can do
Starting a migraine from the watch
- Open MigraineMe on the watch.
- Tap the Migraine button (one of the six on the watch home screen).
- Pick a label that fits, or use the skip option at the top of the favourites list to save it without picking a label.
- A new migraine is saved with severity 5 as a starting point. You can fine-tune the details on your phone later.
Bumping severity or ending the migraine
Once a migraine is in progress, the watch home screen shows a small "Migraine in progress" card.
- Tap the plus or minus buttons to nudge the severity up or down.
- Tap End when the migraine eases off.
Quick-logging other things
The five other buttons on the watch home (Trigger, Prodrome, Medicine, Relief, Activity) work the same way: tap, pick a label, done. These are standalone log entries, not linked to a specific migraine.
Editing a mistake
Made a mistake? Tapped the wrong day? No problem.
- Tap the Journal tab.
- On the migraine's card, tap the small ⋯ menu, then Edit.
- Change whatever you need to change.
- Go through to the Review step and tap Save.
Deleting a migraine
- Tap the Journal tab.
- Find the migraine in the list.
- Tap the small ⋯ menu on its card, then tap Delete.
- A box pops up titled "Delete entry?". Tap Delete to confirm.
The migraine is gone, but the things it taught the app about your patterns are kept.
