A seven day symptom log your GP will read
The columns that matter, the ones that do not, and how to turn a week of notes into one page a GP can take in at a glance.
Keep it for seven days, put a time on every entry, and lay a one page summary on top. A GP looking at gut symptoms asks what they are, whether they come and go, how often, when they happen and how long you’ve had them, so those are the five things your log has to answer at a glance.
A diary full of feelings and short on times won’t get you far. “Awful after lunch” tells nobody much. “13:10 jacket potato with beans, 15:30 bloated, 7 out of 10, eased by 19:00” tells a GP a great deal.
What should a symptom log include?
One line per thing that happens, with the time first. These are the columns worth keeping:
| Column | An entry might read | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|---|
| Time | 07:40 | Food intolerance symptoms usually start a few hours after eating, so the gap between eating and symptoms matters |
| What you ate or drank | Toast, butter, tea with milk | The ingredients, not the name of the dish, so a pattern can show |
| Symptom and score out of 10 | Bloated, 6 | A score turns “bad” into something you can compare across the week |
| Bowels | Loose, urgent, once | How often and what it was like, in plain words |
| Sleep and shift | 5 hours, after a night shift | So you can see whether bad days line up with bad nights |
| Stress | Deadline, 7 | A trigger worth seeing next to the food |
| Cycle | Day 24 | Some bloating and cramping tracks the menstrual cycle |
| Medicines | Morning tablets, 08:00 | Medicines can affect your gut, so every one goes in |
For the bowels column, a GP may show you the Bristol Stool Form Scale, a numbered chart of poo shapes, and you can use its numbers if you prefer them to words.
Leave out what doesn’t help. Calories and how “good” you were that day add nothing to a gut log, and they can turn a record into a judgement. Weight is different: if you’re losing it without trying, that goes on the summary page and into a call to your GP.
Why seven days?
Because it’s long enough to catch a weekday and a weekend, and short enough to finish. There’s no official rule. Keeping a food and symptoms diary is a normal part of working out what might be triggering symptoms, and a dietitian or GP may ask you for one anyway.
Some patterns need longer. If your symptoms seem to follow your period, the NHS suggests keeping a diary for at least 2 menstrual cycles and taking it to a GP. And because lactose can cause symptoms anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours after food or drink containing it, a log without times can miss the link entirely.
How do I make it readable for a GP?
Give them one page first, with the seven days underneath. The summary page holds:
- your main symptoms, and on how many of the seven days each one happened
- when it started, months or years ago, and whether it has changed since
- the time of day it’s worst, and anything that reliably makes it better or worse
- what you’ve already tried, and whether it helped
- every medicine you take, including vitamins and supplements
- your two or three most important questions, most important first
The questions line is the NHS’s own advice for any appointment: write down your 2 or 3 most important questions, take your notes with you, and tick each point off as you go. What to tell your GP about gut symptoms has more on the conversation itself.
Should I change my diet while I keep the log?
Not in the first week. Log what you normally eat first, so the GP sees your ordinary pattern. After that, if you make changes, make one change at a time and keep the diary going, so you can see what helped.
Two reasons not to cut foods yet. Taking foods out without the advice of a GP or dietitian risks missing out on nutrients. And if coeliac disease hasn’t been tested for, you need gluten in your diet when the blood test is done, because avoiding it could lead to an inaccurate result. If bread is your main suspect, read does bread make you bloated before you change anything.
A log also isn’t a test. It shows patterns. It can’t tell you why they happen, and nor can the home intolerance kits sold online, which I’ve looked at in do food intolerance tests work.
What should I do with the finished log?
Book the appointment, if you haven’t already, and take the log on paper or on your phone. The free log at the end of this page has the columns already drawn and fills in on a phone. If bloating is your main symptom and you’re not sure what to do next, the bloating quiz takes about a minute.
When should I stop logging and get help now?
If any of these happen, the log stops mattering. These are in the NHS’s own words, and they go to a GP, NHS 111 or 999.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:
- “you have lost a lot of weight for no reason”
- “you’re bleeding from your bottom or have bloody diarrhoea”
- “you find a hard lump or swelling in your tummy”
- “you have shortness of breath, noticeable heartbeats (palpitations) and skin that’s paler than usual”
Call 999 or go to A&E if: “a stomach ache came on very suddenly or is severe”, “it hurts when you touch your stomach”, “you’re vomiting blood or your vomit looks like ground coffee”, or “you cannot poo or fart”.
And if you think you might have IBS and have had symptoms for over 4 weeks, book a GP appointment now and keep the log in the meantime. The log is something to bring, never a reason to wait.
Questions people ask
How long should I keep a food and symptom diary before seeing my GP?
There is no fixed rule, and seven days of timed entries is a practical start. Keep going longer if your symptoms follow your period, since the NHS suggests a symptom diary for at least 2 menstrual cycles in that case. Never delay an appointment to finish a diary if you have an urgent symptom.
What should a food and symptom diary include?
The time of each meal, drink and symptom, what you ate rather than the name of the dish, how bad each symptom was, your bowel movements, sleep, stress, your cycle and any medicines. The NHS says you may be asked to keep a food and symptoms diary to help work out what may be triggering symptoms.
Should I cut foods out while I keep the diary?
No. Log first, change later, one thing at a time. The NHS says not to cut foods out of your diet without the advice of a GP or dietitian, and cutting out gluten before a coeliac test can make the result inaccurate.
Will my GP read a week of notes?
More readily if you give them one page first. A short summary of your main symptoms, how many days they happened, what you have tried and your questions is quicker to read than seven full days, and the detail is there underneath if they want it.
- NHS, Getting diagnosed with IBS. www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/diagnosis
- NHS, Food intolerance. www.nhs.uk/conditions/food-intolerance/
- NHS, Lactose intolerance. www.nhs.uk/conditions/lactose-intolerance/
- NHS, PMS (premenstrual syndrome). www.nhs.uk/conditions/pre-menstrual-syndrome/
- NHS, What to ask your doctor or other healthcare professional. www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/what-to-ask-your-doctor/
- NHS, Diet, lifestyle and medicines for IBS. www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/diet-life
- NICE, Irritable bowel syndrome in adults, diagnosis and management (CG61), recommendations. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg61/chapter/Recommendations
- British Dietetic Association, Irritable bowel syndrome and diet, Food Fact Sheet. www.bda.uk.com/resource/irritable-bowel-syndrome-diet.html
- NHS, Coeliac disease, diagnosis. www.nhs.uk/conditions/coeliac-disease/diagnosis/
- NHS, Symptoms of IBS. www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/symptoms/
- NHS, Stomach ache. www.nhs.uk/conditions/stomach-ache/
Clinically checked by Laura, RN.