Headache/Migraine tracking

[tarajo70]

It would be great to track my migraines and fibro pain in the fitbit app in a way i can export to provide to my dr.  having the pain/flare data and sleep/activity data in one place would be fantastic

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[SantiR]

Nice suggestion, thanks for sharing. We look forward to hearing what other community members think.

[Preactive]

I think that would be great. One suggestion to go along with is to record/track what medication is taken during the episodes. 

That way you can have a real conversation about pain management with the medical professionals. 

Also giving some feedback of general anonymous trends in the local area.  That could be due to pollen releases and spore releases from rainy and sunny day cycles. I know that gets me a lot!  

I know that headaches slow me down and when I get migraines it fatigues the hell out of me and it takes a day or two to recover.

[BahamasGirl365]

I would love to see this as an option too!

On any fitbit device or the app would be prefered!

[evansdasd]

This would be a great feature.  Tracking pain is difficult since pain scales are somewhat subjective.  There's the standard pain scale used by most doctors, physical therapists, etc.  They ask you to describe how you're feeling on a scale of one to ten.  When I have a migraine, I might consider this a 10 on the pain scale, where others might consider it a 7.  And if a have a moderate migraine, it's hard to tell whether it might be a 6, a 7, or and 8 since these are subjective.  Also, sometimes I have headaches that are headaches and not migraines, but sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the two, and sometimes a headache is a pre-cursor to a migraine.

I used a simpler scale in keeping track of migraines that might work.  I used a scale of 0-3:

0 = no pain

1 = mild to moderate headache for which no pain medication is required.  (However, this might be a good time to rest.)

2 = headache or migraine for which over the counter medication is used as treatment (Tylenol, ibuprofen, etc.) 

3 = Full-blown migraine requiring prescription medication.  

I use this scale to track my migraines.  It's much simpler than trying to figure out than the 1-10 pain scale. This might also be adaptable to other types of chronic pain.  I would welcome this feature on the FitBit.  It could be added to the log similar to cups of water per day, etc.

[evansdasd]

I have a suggestion for a Fitbit app feature.  As someone who suffers from migraines, there are times when having a high heart rate from exercise can trigger a migraine.  For example, I could go on a long walk and maintain a steady heart rate in the 120s and have no problem.  However, I could go for a jog and have my heart rate in the 140s and this will inevitably lead to a migraine. So here's my suggestion:

Add an alert when a selected heart rate is reached.  For example, I could select a heart rate of 135. When I reach that level, the screen would light up with the heart rate showing for a few seconds.  (Similar to when I reach my daily step goal.) 

There would be two variations of this feature:

(1)  Minimum heart rate:  This would show heart rate when I want to maintain a heart rate above a minimum level, such as sustained aerobic activity.

(2)  Maximum heart rate:  This would show heart rate when I want to slow down when I reach a maximum level.  For example, if I reached a heart rate of 135, I would know that I would need to slow down and relax so I wouldn't trigger a migraine (or something worse.)

I'd appreciate feedback on this suggestion.

[Airdra]

This is a great idea!

I'm a migraine and headache sufferer and this would be a great feature for me to try and work out how often my migraines and headaches occur and to help me pin down potential triggers (would be great to add notes on the day like 'pollen index high, stressful day at work etc' and also compare with activity for the day such as how much exercise, how much water consumed, how much food/what food was consumed in addition to how severe the pain is).

I felt that I could log it through the female tile but it's not related and would be best in a separate tile.

[evansdasd]

Thanks for the feedback. I was trying to figure out what the female tile was and why I didn’t see it. Then it dawned on me.

Hopefully they’ll add a pain/headache tracker.

[brinstar]

I would like this feature implemented. I get between 1 - 3 migraines per month, each lasting between 1 - 4 days. I would like to be able to track this in the app.

[Tabitha77]

I agree with the suggestion.  I log my pain each day on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being very painful and 1 not painful and I also log my steps/activity each day.  Each month I discuss my pain levels and the activity/steps that I have undertaken and whether the activity has decreased or increased my pain level.  Using the countdown function on my Fitbit Charge 3 I make sure that only do 10 minutes of activity at a time then a rest-time in order to manage my pain. It would be useful if we could have a graph that showed steps/activity and pain level to help manage my pain. The fitbit charge 3 has been brilliant so far encouraging me to have a healthy lifestyle.

[Jusutus]

Yes. Pain tracking would be a nice feature. I need pain intensity 1,2,3. Also what medecation taken, (triptan,ibuprofen,ect.) Women might need input from menstrual cycle.  Hope i see this in future.

[Libby_01]

I also have fibro and think that pain tracking would be amazing to help myself and my doctor understand my pain levels 

[Normae]

A pain tracking option would be great, especially if combined with something in the app that allows you to input if you took any medication for it. I know that currently some people are actually using an exercise option on their fitbits as an easy way to keep track of when their pain occurs but something specifically set up for it would be a lot better. 

[Tim1023]

Great idea! I use a separate headache tracker, but it would be great to be able to combine.

Tracking headaches and activities beforehand seems to be one of the most effective methods for managing migraines and has been a great help to me.

[Ladyfaye]

Suffering from fibromyalgia, this pain tracker option would be a huge help to me.  Would we be able to run some kind of report to give to our physician?  If this could be combined with some kind of weather tracker, it would help even more since it can also have an impact on pain.  Fatigue would be very important to track as well for my condition.

Or, is there an app doing all of that that would be compatible with Fitbit.  Thank you for taking this suggestion under consideration.

[Pingucb]

I currently use a separate app to log pain levels, and medication taken, across the day. Having this within Fitbit would be fantastic, to allow links with sleep levels, heart rate and exercise levels. 

This would need to be customisable to log specific types of pain and save favourite medications. 

[Cbreav]

Having this feature on fitbit will literally change lives. A pain journal combined with FitBit data is more than just Pain journal, it offers context that people can more easily share with Doctors to get better support and treatment.

Let's not limit this migraines, there are many types of chronic pain. 

@FitbitDevelopers there are many great pain tracking apps. Take some inspiration from them and deliver this inside the fitbit App. 

[Betty63]

Not just headache.. but illness.. cold ..flu..I am 63 yo with a heart issue which is why I bought the Fitbit.   A journal of how I feel would be valuable when talking to my doctor

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release this feature. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.

[BriLyman]

I would love if you could add so we can track pain daily on our Fitbit app Like how we track water daily 

[EdsonFitbit]

Hi @BriLyman, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about tracking pain level daily on Fitbit app. This feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here as it is not currently planned.

[kristypower]

Just like the sleep cycle is automaticly logged by the device, we would like there to be pain tracking added in the future that states the intensity/severity and where the pain is. These stats can then be given to our doctors for analysis as not everyone can explain their pain levels and may not be getting the right dose on their meds.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @kristypower, thanks for sharing your suggestion about having the option to track pain. This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[MichaelJO]

I would like to be able to log my pain level just like I do my stress level in the Android app.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @MichaelJO, thanks for sharing this suggestion about being able to log your pain levels on the Fitbit app with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

[TaniaRyl]

It is important for people suffering from migraines to keep a headache calendar. this helps the doctor make a more accurate prescription.