Symptoms are changes in your body that signal the presence of an underlying medical condition. A symptom journal is a record of your symptoms and how they change over time. Maintaining a symptom journal can help you and your doctor identify patterns, monitor your condition, and make treatment decisions.
What are the benefits of maintaining a symptom journal?
There are many benefits to maintaining a symptom journal, including:
Improved communication with your healthcare team
A symptom journal can help you and your doctor identifies patterns and better understand your condition. Monitoring your condition: Tracking your symptoms over time can help you and your doctor see how your condition is progressing and make necessary changes to your treatment plan. Making treatment decisions: A symptom journal can help you and your doctor decide which treatments are working and which are not.
Identifying patterns in your symptoms
For conditions such as migraines, arthritis, or irritable bowel syndrome, a symptom journal can help you identify patterns in your symptoms. This information can be used to trigger a preventative treatment plan or avoid potential triggers. An example of a trigger for migraines might be certain foods, bright lights, or stress.
Tracking the effectiveness of treatments
A symptom journal can help you see how well treatments are working. This information can be used to choose the most effective treatments and make lifestyle changes that can improve your quality of life. For example, you can track the effectiveness of medications, physical therapies, or relaxation techniques and see if there are any improvements over time.
Monitoring your condition over time
Maintaining a symptom journal is an excellent way to keep track of your condition. For example, if you are managing diabetes with diet and exercise, your journal can help you see if your blood sugar levels are improving. If they aren’t, you and your doctor could potentially make changes to your diet or exercise routine.[1]
How to start a symptom journal
You may want to use a notebook, an app, or an online tool. Whichever method you choose, be sure to include the following information and why:
What should I track?
What is the date?
What time did the symptom start?
What is the symptom? (e.g., headache, fatigue, nausea)
What is the severity of the symptom? (e.g., mild, moderate, severe)
What are the associated symptoms? (e.g., aura, light sensitivity, dizziness)
What did you eat that day?
What medications did you take that day?
What was your stress level that day?
What was your activity level that day?
You may also want to include other information that you think might be relevant. The important thing is to be as detailed as possible so that you can identify patterns. If you are unsure about what information to include, talk to your doctor. They will be able to help you determine what is most important for tracking your symptoms.
Symptom Diary for Outpatient Care
If you are seeking medical care from an outpatient provider, it is important to bring a symptom diary with you to your appointment. This will help your doctor or other healthcare provider understand what symptoms you have been experiencing and how often they occur.[2]
The best time to keep a symptom journal
It is important to be as consistent as possible when tracking your symptoms. Try to journal every day, or at least every time you experience a symptom. It is also helpful to track your symptoms at the same time each day. This will make it easier to identify patterns. The reason for this is that our bodies have natural rhythms, and symptoms often follow these patterns.
Some people find it helpful to set a reminder on their phone or calendar to journal their symptoms. Others find it helpful to keep their journal in a visible spot so they remember to fill it out. Choose whatever method will work best for you.[3][4]
Journaling with CareClinic
If you have a chronic illness or condition, you may find it helpful to journal your symptoms using the CareClinic app. This app allows you to track your symptoms, medications, appointments, and more in one place. It also provides you with tools to help you identify patterns and trends in your symptoms.
To get started, download the app and create an account (for storing backup and syncing between devices). Then, you can begin adding entries to your journal. You can track as many or as few symptoms as you like. You can also add photos, videos, and other files to your journal entries.
Once you have been journaling for a while, you can use the app’s analytics tools to look for patterns in your data. For example, you may be able to see that your symptoms are worse on days when you don’t get enough sleep. Or, you may notice that your symptoms tend to improve after you take a certain medication.
Identifying patterns in your data can help you and your healthcare provider develop a treatment plan that is tailored to your needs. It can also help you take a more active role in managing your health.
You can also record your mood and pain using standardized pain scales. Other measurements such as your vitals can be recorded using the measurements tracker. In addition to using the diary to record information about your symptoms, you can just as easily use the built-in quantitative symptom tracker with severity scales built-in.
If you are interested in trying CareClinic, you can download the app for free from the App Store or Google Play.[5]
How do you track symptoms during flare ups?
When you are experiencing a flare up, it is especially important to track your symptoms. This will help you and your healthcare provider identify the triggers for your flare ups and develop a plan to manage them. A flare-up is defined as a period of time when your symptoms become worse than usual for a period of time (potentially 3 days).[6][7][8]
References
- “The Benefits of Symptom Journaling — SageMED”. https://www.sagemed.co/blog/the-benefits-of-symptom-journaling
- “The Use of Symptom Diaries in Outpatient Care | AAFP”. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/fpm/issues/2013/0500/p24.html
- “5 Tips for Keeping a Symptom Diary for Headaches, Stomach Problems & More | Houston Methodist On Health”. https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2023/may/5-tips-for-keeping-a-symptom-diary-for-headaches-digestive-problems-more/
- “How to Actually Stick to a Journaling Routine”. https://time.com/6266437/journaling-routine-health-benefits/
- “Tracker, Reminder – CareClinic on the App Store”. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tracker-reminder-careclinic/id1455648231
- “RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS FLARE-UPS: WHAT TO KNOW AND HOW TO COPE | Mya Care”. https://myacare.com/blog/rheumatoid-arthritis-flareups-what-to-know-and-how-to-cope
- “Inflammation and IBD Symptoms – IBD Journey – Symptom Management – Inflammation and IBD Symptoms”. https://crohnsandcolitis.ca/About-Crohn-s-Colitis/IBD-Journey/Symptom-Management/What-is-a-Flare-and-the-Link-Between-Inflammation
- “Coping with flares – Musculoskeletal Health Australia (MHA)”. https://muscha.org/coping-with-flares/
- “The effect of symptom‐tracking apps on symptom reporting – MacKrill – 2020 – British Journal of Health Psychology – Wiley Online Library”. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjhp.12459
- “Systematic review of smartphone-based passive sensing for health and wellbeing – PMC”. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5793918/
