How to Write your Asthma Diary


You’ll chart your progress in an asthma diary, an essential tool for monitoring your asthma. An asthma diary is easy to set up. You can buy any inexpensive notebook or three-ring binder at an office supply store. The advantage of using a binder is that you can make photocopies of blank copies of your weekly charts instead of redrawing them each time you need one.

The diary will help you become familiar with subtleties of your asthma symptoms. If you notice that your asthma is worsening, then you should call your doctor sooner rather than later when you are at greater risk of a severe asthma attack. I have found that many people with asthma wait until it’s too late. Minor symptoms are much easier to control than a severe asthma attack.

Asthma Diary

In fact, any doctor, including myself, wants you to seek help when asthma symptoms are in their early stages instead of waiting for things to become critical. If you are concerned about your airway status, then call your doctor. Let him or her know what your peak-flow readings have been and your symptoms. You’ll have this information because you’ve recorded it in your asthma diary. At the very least, you can get some feedback¡ªand feel reassured. Don’t think of the phone call as an inconvenience to your doctor.

Here’s a rough outline of what your asthma diary should look like (your health care provider may have sample asthma diaries for you to use). Here’s an explanation of some of the elements of the asthma diary.

1. Each page in your asthma diary covers one week.

2. You should fill in the blanks next to “My predicted peak flow,” “My personal best peak flow,” “My green (OK) Zone (80 to 100 percent of personal best),” “My yellow (Caution) zone (50 to 80 percent of personal best),” and “My red (Danger) zone (below 50 percent of personal best, according to your asthma management plan that you and your doctor have designed.”

Filed Under: Health & Personal Care

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About the Author: Andrew Reinert is a health care professional who loves to share different tips on health and personal care. He is a regular contributor to MegaHowTo and lives in Canada.

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