How can keeping a diary help with Parkinson’s?
Keeping a diary can be very helpful in monitoring how the symptoms of Parkinson’s affect you and how you respond to your medications. A written record can be an accurate reflection of your life with Parkinson’s over a period of weeks, months or years and can help in highlighting:
- the pattern of symptoms you experience
- the effectiveness of the medications you take and how long they last
- any side effects of medications
- any changes in your emotions or behaviour that may be related to medications.
Writing down your own individual experiences on a day-to-day basis can also help you effectively communicate any changes to your symptoms or your feelings with your doctor. This can be very useful, particularly as appointments are often too short for doctors to ask lots of questions, and your visit may be on a day when your symptoms do not follow their general pattern. Being able to review how you have been over a period of time can help your doctor:
- understand how effective medications are for you personally
- pinpoint any particular difficulties or patterns of symptoms
- decide on any necessary adjustments in medication dosage.
Furthermore, maintaining a diary can also help you track your response to medications if any adjustments have been made, to see how effective these changes have been and to determine if further adjustments are necessary.
Of course, carers can play an important part in keeping a diary, helping to prompt you to note useful information on a regular basis. Do let your carer know you are keeping a diary - they too may wish to make contributions.
