Clementine’s Top 8 Pivotal Symptom Questions Your Doctor Never Asks
Updated: Sep 16
words to know
cause and effect—a relationship between events where one instance (the cause) leads to another (the effect)
control journal—a progress monitoring tool for tracking your tasks, habits, moods, and symptoms as you work toward personal goals
symptom—a physical or mental sign thought to indicate a value or state of malady, particularly one that is evident to the patient
related commonplace topics
boundaries
ecology
incentive
truth
Lately, my health control journal has motivated gentle change in my life. Monitoring symptoms reveals patterns, and I can keep my behaviors aligned with my intentions. Yet, somehow, I feel my symptom tracking has become a miserable study in cause and effect. Fatigue, pain, loss of appetite—where does it all stem from? Environment, relationships, schedule? Ill-fated goats keep taking to the bridge, only to become the next snack for the troll of elusive reasons.
I noticed that the symptom inventory at my doctor does not include critical Everyday Living issues either. Rather than focusing only on isolated symptoms, I want to bring in context. I feel this is the gap in my care plan.
Maybe my physical symptoms make a deceptively static picture of me. What are the limits of conventional symptom reporting? These are the major clarifying questions my doctor never asks about life dynamics:
Is my personal space cluttered or dirty?
Have I missed a haircut or other grooming tasks?
Are my financial logs unreconciled or bills past due?
Has my school/work attendance been unsteady lately?
Are my pantry staples out of stock or fridge perishables expired?
Are any of my important tools or appliances broken or neglected?
Are my clothes or shoes in poor condition or woefully out of date?
Do I have any obstacles to physical activity, including adequate, reliable transportation or financial constraints?
Simply tricking a tracking troll out of the underlying issues leads to a dangerous briar of misconceptions. During a doctor’s appointment, I want to discuss how to actually reach the greener pasture of accurate diagnosis and treatment. Expanding the confines of my health control journal, I now include broader factors like interest, socializing, and overall work capacity. I hope a more proactive and holistic quest for health answers will improve function and alleviate suffering.
