Tracking Symptoms

Tracking symptoms through a symptom journal can be incredibly helpful, for both you and your doctor. Detailed symptom tracking provides a wealth of information, and can help identify potential triggers that aggravate your symptoms. 

Benefits:

• Allows you to actively engage in your healthcare

• Can help you become more mindful of potential triggers to your symptoms, which is valuable information you can then provide to your doctor

• Makes it easier to identify any cyclical recurrences in symptoms (which can point toward symptoms aggravated by hormonal changes)

• Provides targeted information that can help guide you and your doctor in creating a thorough and effective treatment plan

Symptom journals are particularly helpful for patients with chronic health conditions. For many chronic conditions, particular activities, foods, or sleep patterns can cause worsening of symptoms or “flares” in the condition. Documenting these occurrences and what may have led to them can help inform you of potential behavior changes to make to support your continued health and symptom management. 

There are a myriad of tracking apps and programs - if those work for you, go for it! If that sounds too complicated, something as simple as keeping a daily log in a notebook or your phone’s notepad is sufficient.  We recommend tracking what your symptom is and the days/times it occurs, noting any behavior that may impact your symptoms (food you ate, how much sleep you got the night before etc.), and of course, tracing consistently to gain the best understanding of your symptoms.