Tracking days feel worse/better

[DanaF]

Does anyone know how to track what they ate of ingested the days that they are good/bad etc. Is there a method. I know that the last two days I barely went to the bathroom whereas the rest of the month was terrible. Not sure if it's hormones or what's going on. Only change I can think of is that I didn't drink decaf coffee which I usually drink. That can't be it- anyone have any thoughts?

[traceann]

Hey Dana,, I just posted under your other thread my ideas for tracking, lol. I will cut and paste it here too! ;)

What I did was faithfully keep my Voiding/Pain diary. I wrote everything down - when I went, how much it was appx and rated the pain on the pain scale here on the site; I recorded where I was in my cycle (at the top of my page for the day I noted that there), if hubby and I had sex that day, what I ate and what time I ate it, when I took my meds and what med I took, etc. That was the biggest help to me in figuring out just what the heck I ate/did etc that caused me problems.

It was tough at first for me to remember to record stuff, but after awhile it was automatic. I carried around a little notebook spiral-bound at the top with me in my purse everywhere. Each time I did something, I'd jot it down in my own special shorthand. Then at the end of the day, I transferred all the recordings into a little bit larger spiral-bound assignment notebook (had space for date at the top of the page etc.), that way it was legible, lol. I ran it from midnight to midnight. I even recorded if I was constipated, my moods, if we travelled, etc. It sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, it wasn't. It only took a couple minutes each night to transfer my notes, that's it. Very easy. I tried the diary form here on the site, but ended up having to make one up that I could stick to easily for me. Worked really well too!!

Hope this helps, as for me it was the only way to figure out what was going on!!


Hugs!!!
:)

[m123]

That's a great idea! I'm going to start doing that.

[sbbear]

Hi there,

Every night before I go to bed I track the days events; new foods, sex, physical activity, general health (ie. had a headache today), etc.. I have faithfully done this for the past nearly 4 years and it is a wonderful tool to look back at the days I felt crappy and what precipitated it. At the end of each month I track Good days, fair days and flare days. It is a great way to keep a perspective on just how many good days I have now!!!! It is very empowering!!!

take care,

Sue :)

[traceann]

I agree Sue, it's a wonderful tool! I was able to see very very slight improvements I may never have really noticed. Like one or two less trips to the potty every day. It may seem small, but it was enough to keep my encouraged and moving along! But, had I not been tallying my numbers everyday, I would have never known. Cripes, I wasn't even aware of just how much I was going - I knew it was a lot, but I never realized it was over 30 times a day! Yikes!

Hugs!