Hello,
Just wondering if anyone keeps a pain diary or a pain app? I find that even though I have been in pain, I might not be in pain on the day that I meet the doctor, and find it hard to recall how often/frequently I have been in pain since my last visit. If anybody uses any technique to keep track of their pain, I'd love some suggestions that I can try as well.
Thanks.
Jaya
The NRAS app to track your DAS score has a diary function as part of it....
nras.org.uk/know-your-das-m...
Ah I didn't know that, thanks! 
I keep a diary on my computer, as I have a system where I can talk to it rather than type, appointments are so few and far between it is difficult to remember what and when, I do it on a daily basis, always been an OCD person !! I can then just print it off when I go to see them.
My Daily RA is great, they send you a text every evening asking how you felt today on scale of 1 - 5. You can also log into the app to put in notes to go along with it
everydayhealth.com/register...
Thanks, i'll check it out
I do, I use a cheap page a day diary and just jot down quickly how I feel. I do it most days, nothing elaborate, just things like hands ache, feel creaky, elbows sore, feet ache, can’t bend over this morning etc.
By nature I’m quite a positive, optimistic person and I tend to I try and ignore it when I’m feeling awful which means when I go to the doctor and am asked how I’m feeling I tend to say OK then I get home and realise I’m not. So now before I go I have a quick look through my diary and jot down how I’ve been feeling.
I did the same when my overactive thyroid was being treated, at that time I noted the various drugs I was taking and how I felt from day to day and my blood test results. I found that to be very useful because as well as reminding me of how I felt at that time, I was able to use those notes to get my drugs altered. It also helped me see how far I had come in my treatment and that although sometimes I felt terrible I realised that on the past I had felt an awful lot worse.
I do the same when I go to the doctor and remember later about the things I should have mentioned. It takes a lot of commitment to maintaining a diary. I'm glad it works for you. I have tried it in the past, and get lazy 1 or 2 weeks into the process. I also find that I overplay or underplay my pain depending on my mood and find myself very unreliable! :/
Tend to do the same. I’m definitely not dedicated to doing it and I have loads of empty pages, I probably only do it when I actually have pain so that the blanks mean I’m generally ok.
I think keeping my comments brief means and they are just things like ‘sore thumbs’ or ‘feet hurt when I get out of bed’ I don't try to describe the pain so I don’t tend to over or underplay how I feel, when I saw the rheumy the other day I just said I had sore elbows and he asked what sort of sore, so I explained it to him.
I found it really useful when my thyroid was being treated because it affected everything and I felt really ill back then. My RA is just a sort of ongoing grind in the background.
I’ve got IBS too so when it feels like someone is wringing out my gut, that goes in as well, basically pain of some sort is what reminds me to jot something down and if there’s nothing there then I’m probably fine.
I kept one for the first year and half. Then forgot to write in it after that. I spend so much time in Dr offices getting poked and proded I just forgot to keep it going. Good luck to you keeping one
I did one for about 6 months then gave up. I now put bullet points on my fone note book of anything different. I read them to my rhmy when I see him. Will look up the nras link tho as didnt know about it.
Thanks
Pretty much what I do but on a diary. Bullet po8nts are all there is time for. If you go into too much detail you’ll lose the consultant.
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