Make the pattern
easier to see.

I started Cefalea because, when a headache takes over, remembering exactly when it began, what I took, and what happened around it is harder than it sounds.

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No account. No ads. Your entries stay on your device unless you choose to share them with Apple Health.

Why I made it

This began as something I needed for myself.

I live with chronic headaches. Specialists in psychiatry, neurology, and family medicine encouraged me to record the headaches and the timing of medication, so appointments could begin with something more useful than memory.

I first used an early version before the pandemic. I never finished it because I assumed it was only for me. It may not be—and that is why I am returning to it now.

Stockholm, on vacation

A terrible headache does not wait for a convenient moment.

One of my worst episodes happened while I was away in Stockholm. In moments like that, even basic details become slippery: the exact start time, when medication was taken, whether it helped, and what else might have changed that day.

Cefalea exists to hold those details when I cannot.

What the app does

A record,
not a diagnosis.

Cefalea keeps the act of recording deliberately small. It does not tell you what caused a headache or replace medical care.

01

Start with time

Begin a session when the headache starts, or add it later. Duration and intensity stay attached to the episode.

02

Remember the context

Record symptoms, possible triggers, medication, and the time you took it—without forcing every detail at once.

03

Bring a clearer history

Review frequency and patterns over time, then export the record you choose to discuss with your clinician.

Possible triggers, carefully

My notes helped me ask better questions.

Over time, I noticed associations in my own history—including some foods and artificial colorings such as caramel coloring and red dyes. Those observations matter to me, but an association in a diary is not proof of cause.

Trigger memories can be unreliable, and migraine varies greatly from person to person. Cefalea records what happened; it does not turn personal correlations into medical conclusions.

Privacy first

As every AI-generated product would say.

But here, it’s serious. This is your health data.

No account.

No ads.

No analytics.

No developer access to your entries.

Your diary is stored on your device. Apple Health sharing is optional and happens only when you choose it.

Built with evidence in view

What the research can—and cannot—support.

These papers inform the focus on prospective recording, medication timing, useful outcome measures, and caution around trigger claims.

  1. E-diary use in clinical headache practice

    A prospective observational study found meaningful differences between recalled and diary-recorded migraine days and acute medication use.

    van Casteren et al., 2021 · PMID 33938248
  2. Electronic diary for headaches, triggers, and medication use

    Evaluated frequency, intensity, duration, and medication usage as diary outcomes, including reliability and ease of use.

    Bandarian-Balooch et al., 2017 · PMID 28925498
  3. Prospective diary versus four-week recall

    Monthly recall estimates were lower than prospective diary measures and should not be treated as interchangeable.

    Reese et al., 2020 · PMID 32799667
  4. Reliability of assessing migraine trigger factors

    Retrospective trigger estimates often disagreed with prospective diary records—one reason the app avoids declaring causes.

    Wöber et al., 2015 · PMID 26228627

A necessary boundary

Your record can support a conversation. It cannot replace one.

Cefalea is a personal record-keeping tool, not a medical device and not a source of diagnosis or treatment advice. New, sudden, severe, or changing headache symptoms deserve professional medical assessment.

Cefalea app icon

Made for one person first

Maybe it can help someone else, too.

I am finishing Cefalea with the care I wanted when I first needed it: private, calm, transparent, and grounded in real evidence.

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