Write things down when they happen, with the date and time, on the notes page, and copy what matters onto the next-visit list before the appointment. The list leads with your main concern and numbers your questions, so the most important one gets asked first.
Appointments go fast, and the details that matter, like when a symptom started, how long it lasted, or what dose you gave, are hard to remember in the room. These two pages keep them. Print them, or save them as a PDF.
One line per entry, written when it happens: the date and time, the kind, and what happened in your words. Kinds: symptom · medicine and dose · sleep · meal · test · change we tried · question · note. For example: Mon 2:30 pm · symptom · bloated, 2, about an hour after lunch.
Questions that come up go on this page and on the next-visit list.kasanelife.com/printables/visit-notes
Date it, and keep your notes behind it.kasanelife.com/printables/visit-notes
What to write between visits
The National Institute on Aging lists the questions doctors ask about any symptom: when it started, what time of day it happens, how long it lasts, how often, whether it's getting better or worse, and whether it stops you doing your usual things (NIA). A line with the date and time, written when it happens, answers most of them.
- Medicines and doses, when you take or give them. AHRQ suggests bringing "all the medicines you take" to the appointment, because doses are easy to misremember (AHRQ). Our medication list keeps the full list in one place.
- Questions as they come up. Write them on the notes page and add them to the list, so a 3am worry makes it to the visit.
- What you tried and how it went. Each change, roughly how long, and what happened, including "no clear effect."
Before and after the visit
Put your questions in order and ask the most important first (NIA). If your notes go back months or years, here's how to turn them into one page, and for gut symptoms, what to bring to a gastroenterologist.
After the visit, add the date, what the doctor said, any tests ordered, and the plan, the same day, so the next list starts from there. For keeping it all together, see the medical binder.
In Kasane, each person on your care team gets their own "For the next visit" list. This page is the paper version.
Don't wait for the appointment if
Some symptoms need help before you finish any list. Call 911 or go to an emergency room for severe difficulty breathing, severe stomach pain that came on suddenly, or vomiting blood (NHS). For anything that worries you about a child, call your pediatrician or nurse line that day.