A useful headache note describes the pain, its timing and what changed that day. It does not have to decide whether the cause was a food, a hormone shift, blood pressure or something in the gut. The GAPS sources discuss all of those subjects, but a checklist cannot diagnose them.[1][2]
If you have been trying to remember a week of headaches during an appointment, a few dated lines can make that conversation easier. Begin with the latest episode and the details you know.
Notice When the Pattern Changes
Do not wait to complete a diary for a sudden, extremely painful headache or new weakness, speech difficulty, confusion, seizure, vision loss or a headache with fever and a stiff neck. Those changes need urgent assessment. A migraine attack during pregnancy or soon after birth also needs prompt medical advice.[3][4]
The 2020 GAPS entry itself names serious causes, including infection, bleeding and trauma, before discussing common headaches. Its gut-to-head explanation does not establish the cause of a new episode.[1]
Describe What the Pain Feels Like
The book contrasts band-like, whole-head pressure with migraine’s often one-sided, throbbing pain and possible nausea, vomiting or light and smell sensitivity. It also describes visual aura in some people. Those descriptions can help you explain what happened without assigning yourself a diagnosis.[1]
| What to Write Down | Useful Details |
|---|---|
| Onset and duration | When it began, how quickly it developed and when it eased. |
| Pain | Where it hurt, whether it pulsed or felt like pressure, and how it affected normal activities. |
| Other symptoms | Nausea, vomiting, sensory changes or visual symptoms, including when they occurred. |
| Food and digestion | Meals, new foods, fermented products, bowel symptoms and timing. |
| Cycle, sleep and stress | Cycle dates if known, sleep changes and unusual demands that day. |
| Treatment and measurements | What medicine or other care was used, its timing, response and actual blood-pressure readings if available. |
Keep Aura Separate From the Artery-Spasm Description
The migraine FAQ describes an arterial spasm lasting minutes in its proposed mechanism. That is not a description of a warning phase a reader can identify by feel. If you notice visual or other neurological symptoms, record what happened and how long it lasted rather than using them to infer an artery spasm.[2]
If an established migraine pattern changes, bring the change to your clinician. The headache overview explains the book’s distinctions and the mechanism guide follows its vascular, gut and liver account.
Record Cycle Dates Without Guessing at Hormones
Campbell-McBride discusses headaches around menstruation or ovulation and offers a progesterone-related explanation for part of the second-half-of-cycle pattern. A headache diary can show dates; it cannot measure progesterone, confirm ovulation or show that gut microbes have become more active.[2]
Write the cycle day if you know it, the headache time and any other relevant change. Do not give a day a precise hormonal label just because a headache happened then. The same practical approach works when your headaches do not follow a menstrual pattern.
Keep Food and Relief Notes Specific
The GAPS sources discuss reactions around fermented foods and improvement after bowel emptying. If either happened, note the preparation or event and the timing. Relief after one event does not prove a toxin source, and a reaction after an aged food does not by itself diagnose histamine intolerance.[1][2]
The food and stages guide distinguishes the FAQ’s histamine watch list from its separate cheese-and-tyramine answer. Keep prescribed medication details in the record too. Do not change or withhold treatment to create a cleaner comparison.
Use Actual Blood-Pressure Information
The official FAQs discuss low blood pressure in one migraine mechanism and high blood pressure with magnesium in another answer. Headache, faintness or a racing heart cannot tell you which account applies. Record actual measurements, the setting and your current treatment rather than converting the symptoms into a mineral or blood-pressure diagnosis.[2]
Bring One Clear Question
A short note can be enough: “This began after lunch, lasted through the evening and felt different from my usual headache.” Add the relevant food, medicine, cycle or sleep details you already have. You do not need to resolve the cause before asking for help.
My Care Team Log is intended to hold those dated observations, appointments and follow-up questions. A notebook works. Use the headache overview when you want to connect the record with the wider GAPS discussion.
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), A–Z, Headaches.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Official GAPS FAQs, Headaches, questions 1 and 2.
- NHS. Headaches, when to get medical help.
- NHS. Migraine, symptoms and urgent assessment.
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