Silly questions but, I have noticed a lot of people mentioning keeping track of symptoms and on other pages also keeping track of blood tests results on . Has anyone got templates or similar to do this, I am not very good with tech and am driving myself crazy losing bits of paper and information, need to get organised in easy to understand spreadsheets or similar? Also posted on PA page
Any ideas , suggestions much appreciated
I just use a spreadsheet for blood results but it’s a bit messy. I keep trying different apps to keep track of symptoms but I only ever last a couple of days 😕
posts that mention spreadsheets
Might have some good examples
healthunlocked.com/search/p...
Thanks SlowDragon
It’s not a silly question. Can you use excel? I am no computer buff but I got someone who is to set it up how I want it. I can then fill it in myself. Trial and error. Like you I am driving myself crazy handling paper or anything nowadays. It seriously upsets me. Something I was perfectly capable of once upon a time. Apparently its official title is defunct ‘executive functioning’. Something else doctors don’t worry about on behalf of their patients. I am finding it pretty serious and debilitating causing totally unnecessary stress. It potentially can land you in real trouble with official form filling etc. Or at least that’s what I feel I am subjected to.
I used to be a RMN, in charge of acute ward 32 patients sometimes it got very erm "interesting" later CPN carrying a 32/34 caseload on 4 days when full timers carried 22/ 23. The admin was crippling but always on top of it, they did sack me eventually,manager spent 6 months going through all my care plans , assessments, trying to find a reason to get rid of me. In the end I gave them the rope and they hung me. Now have trouble keeping track of my knickers and socks never mind admin 🤯😱🤣
I so mirror your observations. I dream about getting help but the house is totally out of control and I could not even organise myself enough to direct anyone to help. I am drowning in it, truth be known. And yet there is the odd day where I feel almost my old self. I told someone else it’s the approach of the end of the line when I feel able to buy some cleaning materials. They are never used. I wonder if people tell their doctors this stuff? I have worried there might be a vindictive ‘dementia’ diagnosis. There has been a lot of damage accrued over the years of no diagnosis, late diagnosis, rudeness to GPs, incapable of earning a living etc because they just can’t get to grips with what goes on in the life of an inadequately treated hypothyroid.
It's strange really, never been psychotic house proud type, had an Aunty long story. But before kids and upto number 4/5 house was ok, homely 🤣. Hubby used to hate that I would come in from work and couldn't sit and eat/relax till everything was sorted, all kids stuff ready for next day. I know now it was probably autistic me building props to support my ADHD head, chaos is my default , autistic me likes control, ADHD me acts in a way others think is chaotic but it has a type of control, organised chaos. It has gotten to the point where it is so overwhelming nothing gets done and the fancy cleaning products disappear into a "safe place" never to be found again
So there’s a reason for my filthy cluttered house I’m so ashamed of!
I spend all my time collecting and collating information on diet, diy, thyroid, exercise, finances etc etc and I can’t bring myself to get started on any of it!
Never linked that with being hypothyroid.
Like Polo I have never been psychotic about housework. I seemed to have bursts of energy I could rely on for when I’d let the housework go to a certain level. I can’t rely on any such thing now, so …… although anger does a pretty good job as a displacement activity. I worked in administration of one sort or another most of my working life. I used to have a spot on the local radio helping people fill in government forms etc. Now I worry myself to death over such things. As a civil servant I worked in many different departments. One was the court system and I saw so many people fined, even jailed over their tax affairs etc. I have a pretty unhealthy attitude to paperwork now. It’s pretty much terror. It’s almost monomania. Not quite, because thyroid issues are my real monomania.
When trying to explain this sort of thing to others whose body isn't trying to finish them off you can almost hear their eyeballs rolling. Fighting the infamous DWP for my children for years , through MR's, Appeals, Tribunals really gives you a taste of the less pleasant side of bureaucracy, a system where claimants are not afforded the presumption of innocence . I could claim now for myself but can't face the humiliation, I would not hold my counsel and would end up in gaol. Yes paperwork , Dante's 10th, a whole new level of Hell
Yes it’s truly curious why people feel like that (especially doctors) because I think it just raises the tension even more. I fob people off (if they dare ask how I am doing) because it’s a real spoiler. However when I go to the doc(rarely) I think it’s reasonable to want to talk and be heard. Hah! No chance. Yes presumption of innocence absent. Most tribunals are run by untrained civil servants etc. Anything medical must have a doctor’s opinion (you know how much we can rely on that source) but unfortunately the doctors have a tick box in front of them created by untrained civil servants. It’s circular. Get over your humiliation. Read the forms carefully. If you are in doubt that you are comprehending them (even if you are sure) get someone not suffering from brain fog to go over your answers. It’s like everything else government. Nobody knows the connections. You have IT who don’t speak to legal, neither of whom speak to medics and an untrained civil servant trying to join it all up. It’s a soupy mess.
I'm computer literate but for " keeping track" I prefer a good old fashioned Day a Page diary.
I have them going back decades!!
Did somebody just say..."dinosaur"!
Yes I do this too but really I need to see the thing visually. Otherwise I don’t really get the whole picture. A graph or something needs to be extracted from the info. However I have noticed that my sleep time is shortening again (down to four hours) and same with temperature lowering over the same period. I assume this is down to becoming more hypo.
Keep it simple.
Make a table with several columns on a piece of paper. Some variation of the following will do:
-Date
-Blood test results alongside the source
-Medication (for thyroid)
-Medication (for anything else)
-Supplements
-Diet
-Lifestyle
-Symptoms further broken down to ongoing symptoms, resolved symptoms and new symptoms
Be as thorough or not as you like. For example,I like to keep a track of menstrual cycles and changes too (but I’ve been doing that prediagnosis for many years any way).
If this method isn’t suitable, a journal entry can be both insightful and therapeutic.
Hope that helps.
I’m on the side of the literate dinosaurs…use a lined notebook just put in date and then whatever I’m recording BP, HR, blood sugar, change of meds, when bloods taken or other tests/scans and symptoms. Can take some time to look back to find a particular event, but one of those 4 coloured pens can be useful to cross reference…but as the book is easy to hand there is little excuse not to miss entering unusual/ atypical info. for eg missed a dose of something. Every few months a go thru it looking for patterns, improvements or worsening of symptoms and record mini synopsis if necessary.
Coloured pen/s....now that is a good idea for "filing"!
I use different squiggly symbols at the top of the page..
I'm old ( in years, not mind!!) and reserve the right to be a tad eccentric....at least that's my excuse!!
Am replying both for the original poster, Polo22 and for anyone else coming along later.
If you have an Apple iPhone and/or an iPad, and especially if you have an Apple Watch, Apple have been adding more and more facilities to their Health features.
These include symptom recording and tracking, medicine tracking and reminding, and on and on!
Obviously, if you go down this path, you are rather committing to Apple. Switching to, say, Android might not be straightforward.
The small screen size of phones (yes, even the big ones like Plus and Max) is limiting. But they have recently extended facilities to iPads as well.
More information here:
This is NOT meant to be an advert for Apple. Just that if you have any Apple devices, you might wish to look into what they can do. And there are many non-Apple health apps for IOS/iPadOS - many of of which have Android versions as well.
Keep away from surgery 
Results Tracking/Charting Software
Keep me in your thoughts
Getting ON , - but trying to Keep Healthy..!
