A word from the Founder:
Hi, I'm Ciarán. I've lived with Covid ME for nearly 3 years now, so I built the thing I wish had existed from the start.
Most tools for managing chronic illness are built by people who've never had to. They're designed around a baseline of capacity that many of us don't have on a good day, let alone a bad one. BEDHEAD is an analog pacing journal. no commitment, no notifications, nothing to keep up with. I made it for people with ME, fibromyalgia, POTS, and other conditions where fatigue, delayed symptoms, and post-exertional malaise make most "wellness tools" actively counterproductive. We don't need a to-do list, we need somewhere to figure out what's actually helping and what's hurting. My background is in Psychology, Embodied Cognition, and Data & Analytics, and I tried to let those shape the structure, creating feedback loops that help you learn to listen to your own needs. The goal was a journal that helps you pace your energy and track symptoms without demanding more from you than you have.
The Problem
Millions of people are living with enigmatic, poorly supported conditions like ME/CFS, Long COVID, fibromyalgia, POTS, MCAS, and unexplained fatigue. These conditions don’t fit into tidy boxes — and neither do the tools that claim to help.
Most symptom trackers are too clinical, have a boring UX, or are too focused. Most wellness planners are actually just to-do lists that glorify productivity. And health apps? Most are digital energy sinks that are too hard to navigate and don't encourage repeat use through engagement.
Our Philosophy
Pacing is a learned skill, but one that is not taught. You’re adapting to a body that no longer runs on default settings and with a capacity that changes everyday. This journal provides an interface for you to learn how to read your body's needs and warning signs.
What Makes the BEDHEAD Pacing Journal Different
- Daily to-do style system that rewards rest over output, helping develop pacing strategies naturally
- Icon-based tracking of mood, sleep, hydration, bowel health & more
- Optional symptom correlation tools to find delayed patterns (especially useful for PEM conditions)
- Monthly “Beditations” offer guided low-effort stretches and mindfulness techniques as well as high-reward activity suggestions
- Free online supplement & vitamin index to help you find the right nutritious aids
Why Now?
Because the tools out there aren’t built by us. This one is. The BEDHEAD Pacing Journal is designed to serve as a flagship product, to prove that we can make humane tools built intentionally, tested thoughtfully, filled with compassion as well as structure, to help people pick themselves up when the system fails them.
We're here to help you be your own metric, to spot your limits as they shift and to know when to say "screw it" and live a little anyway.
We are currently in the R&D phase, finalizing content and looking for people to take part in preliminary trials. If you want to contribute/test or join the waitlist for when we launch you can sign up to the mailing list on the Home Page!