Tracking System Activated

Aside from my blog, I've been wanting to find a way to better track my moods. I mean, I know how I'm feeling and all that but sometimes, especially when I've been in manic mode for a while, the days become a blur and if you ask me how I felt two weeks ago I'll probably just stare at you blankly. When I talk to my shrink and he asks me how I've been I can give him the highlights and the dark periods but they are somewhat vague as it's normally three months in between appointments. It's not that I can't give him an overall picture, it's just that I can't give him specifics.

I also think that being able to look back on a month or longer would be extremely helpful for me. This way I can look back and maybe see what triggered something or whatever else I may need and/or want to remember.

So I did some hunting. I found one site that sounded perfect, but when I went to register it constantly told me that the username I chose was already in use. And trust me, I was picking some pretty fucked up and random user names after about the fifth attempt. Every single one was "taken". So I figured that the damn site was busted. I tried again a little while later and got the same results. So I decided to find a different one. I really wanted an online tracker. It's just easier and makes more sense to me.

Finally I stumbled upon this website. (I figured I'd provide the link in case any of you were looking into or searching for the same thing.)

I had no problem registering and so I started playing around with the website. Not only can I track my moods, but I can have reminders to enter my daily log sent to my e-mail or my cell. I picked my cell phone because sometimes I forget to check my e-mail, in which case it does me no good to send the reminder there. I also allows me to set up reminders for doctor appointments. Rock on.

I can also enter in the medications I'm on so that in the future, if I need to switch medications for whatever reason, I can see if I acted any differently on whatever medication. Hopefully that will not happen, but it's a nice little feature and best to be safe than sorry.

When I entered today's "log" it gave me choices as far as what my mood had been. And if I felt multiple things in one day I can select mixed mood selections. Very helpful. It asks if I had any anxiety or irritability. It asks how much sleep I got the night before and whether or not I took my medication. Hell, it even asks if I'm menstruating. This will come in hand when it's "that time of the month" to see if there are any noticeable changes that I may not realize without actually honing in one it. After that I can type out a little paragraph or two to describe how my day went or what my moods were exactly, etc.

In other words, so far, I think this site is pretty kick ass and will be a helpful little tool. (By the way, I'm not getting paid by the website or anything, I'm just really excited about it and I'm a nerd so it's another tech tool thing.)

After a while I'm sure I won't even need the reminder sent to my phone. It'll just become part of my nightly routine.