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Talking About Symptoms With Your Health Care Team Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

These frequently asked questions complement the Prepared Patient feature article Talking About Symptoms With Your Health Care Team.

Health care providers rely on us to accurately describe symptoms of our illness or injury. What should we tell them?

  • Share a basic description of your problem—one to two sentences is ideal.
  • Tell them when you experience symptoms and how often they occur.
  • Let them know if anything makes the symptoms better or worse.
  • Tell them if you have ever experienced the symptoms before, and under what circumstances.
  • Tell them if anyone else in your family or workplace is experiencing the same symptoms.

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I’m having a hard time describing my symptoms. How do I find the right words?

  • Try using descriptive words. Is your pain dull, throbbing or piercing?
  • Be specific about how your symptoms affect your daily life. Rather than “I’m tired all the time,” try “I’m too tired to walk to the mailbox” or “I’m sleeping for 12 hours a day.”
  • Keeping a diary of your symptoms can help you to be specific and accurate about the frequency of your symptoms.
  • Talk about what you’re feeling, not what you think your diagnosis is.
  • Try talking about your symptoms in different ways. Not everyone describes symptoms the same way, and you may have to try several times to get your story across.

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I feel uncomfortable talking to my doctor. What do I do?

It can be hard to talk to doctors about our symptoms if they’re embarrassing or deeply personal, if they are about sexual activities or concerns, or if you fear you may be judged or criticized. But doctors deal with intimate personal information all the time. Whatever your problem is, the doctor has probably seen or heard it before. If you really can’t talk to your doctor about your problem, it’s probably time to think about finding a new doctor who you can trust.

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I don’t think my doctor is taking my symptoms seriously enough. What can I do?

Be clear and persistent! A recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine found numerous studies showing that doctors often downgrade the severity of patients' self-reported symptoms, particularly when it comes to medication side effects. This is case when keeping a symptom diary can come in handy—specific data can help both you and your health care team.

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Published by
Health Behavior News Service

Prepared Patient FAQs are created by CFAH Staff based on content in related Prepared Patient articles.

Prepared Patient is published by the Health Behavior News Service.

TERMS OF USE: Any reproduction, partial use or adaptation of Prepared Patient features requires credit to the “Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health.”

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