Keeping your food, symptom and stool diary

Keeping a diary isn’t always easy, but…it can come in very handy, especially if you are still learning to manage a health condition. If you are someone that already keeps a daily diary or journal, it may be easy to add this information in to your entries. However, if you’re not someone used to keeping a diary, then you can find other ways to do it, for example, you can use the downloadable attachment here, and complete that each day before filing it away, or you can create your own version that applies more specifically for you. Not only will this help you identify trigger foods or patterns in your symptoms but it could also be a great tool to help your doctors monitor and manage your health.

NOTES:

Be honest! Write what you really ate and drank….snacks, junk and alcohol included…you need to see the whole picture, exactly as it is.

Take it to doctor’s appointments with you even if you don’t need to use it. You never know when the info could come in handy.

If you have a bullet journal, you can get really creative with this. I’ve given you guys a free downloadable and printable version of what I use. Now, unfortunately you do need to print it to get the best use out of it. I would recommend filing them each day in a binder to keep a continuous diary. How much additional information you record is totally up to you. However women may benefit also by tracking their menstrual cycle, too.

DD Tracker Printable

I’ve put together a little Diverticular Disease/Diverticulosis Tracker. You can use this to monitor what you eat, how you feel and even keep tabs on your bowel movements. I hope this proves to be helpful. The file even has it’s very own instructions that show you exactly how to use it. Just click on the download button below for FREE and you can print it out right away.
Support the creator and buy her a coffee by making a donation here: paypal.me/haylaki

Food Diary: The food sections allow space for you to write about what you ate and drank for the day.

Water Intake: You can cross out or tick the glass of water to show how much you drink each day.

Bowel Movements: The stool section provides boxes for you to keep a record of your bowel movements. There is space to write a time and or comment and a number that corresponds to the Bristol stool chart.

Symptoms/other notes: here you can mention any other feelings or symptoms you experience even if you feel they aren’t relevant. For example, headache, joint pain, nausea, delicate mood, etc. or even record that you took pain medication or anything that you don’t usually take. In addition, you could note anything else there you wish.

Medication: It’s always worth making a note of any medication you had to take, whether it seems related or not. But taking medication such as painkillers or antacids is a good way to keep a record of how often your symptoms bother you enough to reach for the medicine cupboard.

Tracker Previews

Let me know what you think and even share with me what you record in your diary to help you…do you do anything differently?