Ten Keys to Successful Coping 

5: Learn to Predict the "Unpredictable" 

By Bruce Campbell

In the last article I described the benefits of the daily practice of pre-emptive resting. One or two brief rests a day can reduce symptoms and increase energy. In this article I would like to discuss another daily practice which offers a big payoff: a few minutes of record keeping.

Keeping written records of symptoms and daily activities can be a powerful tool for gaining control over chronic illness.  A health log offers a way to understand fluctuations in symptoms, to discover what we do that makes our illness worse and those things that make us feel better.  If you've been confused by the ups and downs of your illness, logging can help you make sense of what have seemed unpredictable swings in your symptoms.  Also, logging can be a source of motivation and inspiration; seeing written proof of improvement can provide hope.

Both people profiled in Key 1 declared record keeping to be crucial to their improvement. Dean Anderson says that he kept detailed records of everything in order to find what promoted remission and what triggered relapse. JoWynn Johns used logging to help her identify what reduced symptoms. She reasoned that if some days were better than others, she ought to be able to discover the conditions that made her feel better. Like Dean, she kept daily records that revealed the connections between her symptoms and other aspects of her life

I used a variety of logs during the time I was ill. Most took only a few minutes a day to fill out. I felt deeply rewarded by the effort, as I have written elsewhere. Record keeping enabled me to recognize fluctuations in symptoms by showing me that my CFIDS was worse in the morning and better in the evening, and that the effects of exertion were cumulative during a week. Also, logging showed me the connection between standing and symptoms, documented how much exercise was safe, and showed me my vulnerability to stress.

Perhaps the most rewarding use of logging was the two hours I spent at the end of 1998 trying to understand my relapses. First, I reviewed my records for the year to identify my relapses, finding eight. (I defined a relapse as symptoms so intense that I spent at least one day in bed.) Second, I looked for common causes, finding that almost all of the relapses were associated either with travel or with having a secondary illness. Third, I developed strategies to minimize the effects of travel and secondary illnesses.  The result: zero relapses since. 

Sample Logs 

Here are three types of logs to give you an idea of how you might use record keeping. You could use one or more of them or develop your own system.

Envelope Log: A simple log to help you determine whether you are staying within your limits is the Envelope Log. (For a blank log, see Envelope Log.) To use it, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for three elements: energy level (available energy), activity level (expended energy) and symptom level.  On this scale, 1 represents, respectively, no energy, no activity or no symptoms, and 10 represents the energy you had when healthy, a high activity level or the worst symptoms you can imagine.

You can fill this out once a day or more frequently.  Using it three times a day can help you see variations in your energy level and symptom level during the day.  You might find, for example, that your energy improves and your symptoms decline as the day goes on or vice versa.

An example of an Envelope Log is shown in Envelope Log Sample. The student who filled it out said it helped her recognize her cycles of push and crash. As the chart indicates, she kept her activity level within her energy envelope on Monday and Tuesday. As a result, her symptom level dropped as the day progressed.  Feeling good on Wednesday morning, she tried to make up for the days spent resting by “catching up.”  The result of her overactivity was a severe level of symptoms that started in the afternoon and lasted through most of Thursday. The cycle was repeated again over Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On the first two days, she rested up, so that by Friday evening she had only a mild level of symptoms.  But she tried to make up for lost time on Saturday by doing errands in the afternoon, which intensified her symptoms for a period of more than a day. 

Symptom Log: Another starting point for logging is the Symptom Log.  This chart consists of a list of symptoms common to many CFIDS  and fibromyalgia patients. (See Symptom Log for a blank form.) There is also space on the log for several additional symptoms.  To use the log, make entries one or more times a day, using one column for each set of entries.   

You might use this log to define your overall level of symptoms, to determine which symptoms are most important, to document daily swings in symptoms or to recognize the interactions among symptoms.

Activity Log: Another approach is to keep records on your activities and to associate activities with symptom levels. This log enables you to link causes (your activities) with effects (your symptoms). (See Activity Log for a blank form.)  Activities you might want to track include: amount and quality of sleep and rest, exercise, specific activities (cooking, errands, TV, reading, socializing), emotions and stress. The blank form shown begins with a column for the overall rating for the day. The other columns provide space for recording number of hours of sleep (entered for the day the sleep ended), daytime rest and daytime naps (hours of daytime sleep); amount of exercise; activities; and symptoms (rated from 1 to 10). 

Two Guidelines for Logging

If you are interested in using health logs, you might keep in mind the following two guidelines.  To have a useful diary, make your log:  

1) Easily Doable: If your diary is easy to use, you are more likely to fill it out.  A common rule of thumb is that a log should take only a few minutes a day to fill out.

2) Meaningful to You: Use logging to help you answer questions that are important to you.  Whether you use an existing form or develop your own system, tailor the records to your situation.

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