How to use Trends?

The Trends section graphs your symptom ratings and other variables to allow you to visualize your condition.  But how does it work?

​

First, what information are graphed and why?

​

• Overall Symptom Rating- This allows you to visualize any flares in your symptoms.  The symptom ratings are graphed in orange and each spike in the graph represents a flare.  The height and width of the spike shows how severe the flare was and how long it lasted.

​

• Daily Medications- This allows you to keep track of the various medications you take on a daily basis.  They are graphed in dark colors along the bottom of the graph so you can keep track of the dates you take certain medications.  If you're trying out different medications like Plaquenil or Cellcept, you can try to figure out how well they have worked for you by comparing the number of flares (orange spikes) you had with and without the medications.

​​

• Flare Medications- The number of pills of a flare medication you take on any given day is graphed alongside the symptom ratings in a lighter color scheme.  This is for those of us that take Prednisone and need to keep track of the amount we take so that we can taper our dosages accordingly and report them to our doctors.  Seeing the amount of a medication alongside our symptom ratings could also help us see if certain flare medications work better than others.

​​

• Comorbidities- Similar to the way you would track daily medications, comorbidities are graphed along the bottom by dates.  You can keep track of when they occur in relation to your flares and medication intake.  (For example, if you notice that you always have an UTI after a spike in Prednisone intake, then you can infer that Prednisone makes you more susceptible to UTIs and take extra precautions while on the medication.)

​​

When does the Trends section come in handy?

​

• Looking up Entries- You can tap on the graph and a date bubble will pop up to show you the exact date you had a bad flare.  What’s more?  You can tap on the date bubble again to go to the entry for that date and look over the aggravators and your notes for that day.

​​

• Reporting Flares to Doctors- When managing a chronic conditions, doctors often ask: "when was the last time you had a flare", "when did you last take Prednisone, how much and for how long", or "how often did you not feel well in the past year"?  Well, now you can simply go to Trends, look at the last time there was a spike in symptom rating or Prednisone intake and tap on the graph to identify the dates. 

​

• Visualizing Progress- You can also view your condition in the past month, 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years to see how you have been over time, count the number of flares in the past year, or look for seasonal trends in symptoms.

​

​