If you have started a disability claim, you have been told to keep a symptom log. You have probably not been told what a useful entry looks like, how often to write one, or what to hand over when someone asks for it.
These guides answer that. They are about the mechanics of keeping a record: what to write down, when, and in what form. They are free, there is nothing to sign up for, and they will still be here whether or not you ever install anything.
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What to Write in a Symptom Log Entry
Five things every entry needs, and the one almost everybody leaves out.
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How Often to Log, and What a Gap Looks Like
Every day, briefly. Here is why that beats writing a lot on the bad days.
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What to Hand a Service Officer, and in What Format
One dated document in date order beats a shoebox, a notebook, and forty screenshots.
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What 'Prostrating' Means, and How to Record One Honestly
You will see the word. The worst thing you can do is start writing your log to match it.
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Logging for Someone Else, as a Caregiver
What you observe is worth recording. It is a different kind of evidence, and it needs to be labelled as one.
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What a Year of Records Shows That Three Weeks Cannot
Not more of the same thing. A different kind of thing entirely.
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Logging the Things You Need Help With
Washing, dressing, the bathroom. The entries people skip, and why a record without them is only half a record.
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Logging Medications, and Whether They Helped
A list of prescriptions is not a record. What changed after you took them is.
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What a Symptom Log Cannot Do
The limits, stated plainly. A record is powerful in a narrow way, and useless outside it.