Take charge of your acid reflux with this convenient heartburn diary
Keeping track of your heartburn or acid reflux symptoms can be an important first step to finding relief. Specific foods and medications can affect different people at different times. Writing down your symptoms along with what you were doing or what you ate before they started may show you and your doctor what’s triggering your acid reflux symptoms.
Use this Heartburn Diary to keep track of what you eat, when you get heartburn and what provides relief.
While you can fill it out here before you print it, it’s probably more useful to print it now and fill it out as your symptoms occur.
Make the most of this tracker:
- Record what you ate, what symptoms you experienced and how they affected you (e.g., kept you from sleeping).
- Include all symptoms you experience, even if you’re not sure they’re related to acid reflux.
- Keep the diary close at hand so you can write down your symptoms as they occur.
- Don’t forget to include any heartburn symptoms you feel at night, and when the symptoms may be worse.
- Write down everything you put in your mouth, including medicines, gum, drinks or cigarettes.
- Sometimes emotions or moods like feeling stressed or upset can trigger heartburn, so write these down too.
- Bring the diary with you the next time you see your doctor and use it when describing your symptoms.
How can keeping a heartburn diary help?
Heartburn or acid reflux is the main symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), but there are many other symptoms you may not even suspect. For example, did you know acid reflux can cause coughing? Acid reflux can be painful, but it is treatable. Simple lifestyle changes (sometimes with medicines) can make a big difference.
Keeping a heartburn diary is a great first step to taking control of your acid reflux by helping you connect the dots between what you do and when you get heartburn. After a few days of keeping track, you and your doctor can look for patterns and find the best solution for you.
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