Migraine forecast is a measure of how likely it is for a migraine attack to occur at a certain time. As an analogy, it is conceptually similar to “how likely it is going to rain tomorrow”.
Migraine Alert uses information about what you were doing and what weather you were exposed to when you had a migraine and when you did not have one. Based on this information, advanced computer algorithms find patterns that determine your forecast.
We currently support iOS and you can download Migraine Alert from the App Store. In the future we will also support Android. If you wish to be notified when the Android app is available, send us an email at migrainealert@somobilehealth.com
You must first install the app on an iPhone first, so that we are able to retrieve your location information. Once this is done, you can also install the app on an iPad - some people find it easier to use the app on a bigger screen. If you install the app only on iPad, no forecast or weather trends information can be generated, since we cannot depend on an iPad to give location information in all cases.
There are two ways to create an account with Migraine Alert. You can use an email and password combination or your Facebook credentials. You should use only one of them to create an account.
It is not recommended you create more than one account. Your migraine information is stored with the account you are using to log in. If you do not see your migraines you recorded earlier, you may have created multiple accounts. If you would like to consolidate them into a single account, “Contact Us” through the Settings menu in the app.
The app analyzes your recorded migraines and builds a migraine pattern that is unique to you. Factors such as weather affect everyone differently and we determine this difference based on migraines you record.
Record your migraine as soon as it ends. If you record it as soon as it ends, you will be more likely to remember the circumstances when it occurred. You can record a migraine before it ends, but you need to come back after it ended and change the end time. It is important that you record each migraine that you experience.
From the history screen, tap a date on the calendar to start entering migraine. You can also tap the “+” button to enter a migraine for Today.
On the Record Migraine screen the “Save” button under the battery indicator will be grayed out to indicate that you have yet to enter the minimal information required to save a migraine.
When you have entered Start Time, End Time, Intensity, Acute Drug and Triggers, the Save button will turn orange. Press it and you are done.
To record migraine while it is in progress, select a temporary end time and come back to edit the migraine to the correct end time once the migraine ends. We recommend that you record your migraine as soon as you can, after it has ended.
If you use multiple drugs for acute medication, select the most important drug as “Acute Drug”. If the most important drug cannot be identified or if it is not present on the list, select “Other”.
After approximately fifteen migraines Migraine Alert will present you with your personal migraine forecast. Sometimes, we may determine that the high quality of forecast requires additional migraines. In these rare cases, we will present your forecast after looking at additional recorded migraines.
You should continue to record migraines after your forecast is available, because continued migraines allow the app to learn about the change in patterns that lead to your migraines and those that don’t. Our computer algorithms are continuously learning about your migraine patterns. If you do not record a migraine, the algorithm learns that the weather and activities similar to those on the migraine day are less likely to lead to a migraine in future. This will adversely affect the accuracy of your forecasts.
Before you record enough migraines for your personal forecast, the app shows you a forecast of another person in your area. While this is not as accurate as your own forecast, it gives you a glimpse of what another person in a similar situation would experience.
Yes, you will continue to receive your personal migraine forecast when you travel. If you were required to switch-off your location tracking (such as when in ‘Airplane’ mode) due to travel restrictions, please make sure you switch location back to ‘On’ as soon as you are able to do so.
The App uses locations to track what weather you were exposed to on a continuous basis. Locations enable us to build a history of your weather exposure automatically and with higher accuracy than what is possible with manual entry.
The app needs location set to “Always”, because the likelihood of migraine attack is affected by the weather exposure you have throughout the day, including when you are not having a migraine. The weather exposure, in turn, is determined by where you have been throughout the day.
This depends on the version of iOS on your phone. For iOS 11.x, go to the Settings app, scroll down to and tap Migraine Alert and select “Always” for Location.
We use notifications to inform you on important suggestions related to the app usage and inform you of any technical issues. We keep notifications as infrequent as possible.
The Refresh button provides the most recent forecast when you have an Internet connection. The app calculates and changes the forecast every four hours. You can refresh multiple times a day. If you enter data from multiple devices, on an iPad for example, viewing that data on your iPhone may need you to press the refresh button.
Weather Trends display significant changes in the weather you experienced in the past week as well as tomorrow. These changes can be viewed in an aggregate fashion to get information such as, “How many hours is the pressure expected to be lower than usual tomorrow?” It can also be viewed on an hourly basis to get trends such as “Is it going to be colder than usual during my morning jog tomorrow”? We show these changes if they are statistically significant, as they may have a bearing on your chances of developing a migraine. Your forecast automatically considers changes such as these and many more factors.
If the app responds to touching, it is expecting you to login or register, please do so. If there an orange wheel is visible, please make sure you are connected to the Internet. If the app is still stuck, please delete the app and reinstall. Your data is secure. If the problem still persists, please email us, preferably through the same email you used to Register and Login.
The picture below provides the explanation.