So before I started blogging, I was keeping a daily journal of my daily diet, activities, exercise, symptoms, and pain levels.  I must admit, I’ve been bad these past 2 weeks (more blogging than journaling!).  But I will get back into it : for ME!  I don’t do the whole “Dear Diary” thing I did when I was a kid, and the entries are only about a page long each, but it sure get’s the job done!

If you haven’t tried it, it’s fascinating!  You keep track of your daily meals, beverages, snacks, activities (if they’re beyond your normal day), exercise (if anyyy), symptoms, and pain levels (and locations), and if needed: what pain killers (and doses) you had to take that day.  Below is an example of a “Pain Diagram”, where you log the location and severity of pain.  I doodle in my journal, or just note something like: “Pain: 4/10; Location: lower back.”  My pain scale is 1 – 10, 1 being the lowest, 10 the most intense.

If you haven’t tried it, you may want to.  Keep track of what you alter, in case it actually does help reduce your symptoms. You can track what it may have been! Cut something out, give it a few weeks and see how your journal entries may have changed.

Being able to go back through the journal to see what foods or activities may have affected the day, or the day after, is a very fun way to read your body and gauge your reactions (and recovery times) to certain things.

If you DO journal already to track your symptoms and progress, what systems do you use? Find that it helps?

Yours,

Lisa