Helping your Social Security disability case by keeping a diary
Although some of our Illinois Social Security disability clients find the idea of keeping a diary to be unusual and strange, starting a record or symptom diary of your condition can be very helpful for your case.
The advantages of keeping a symptom diary
At the appeal of your Social Security disability claim, it will be important for you to be able to describe your disability and its symptoms accurately. However, it can be difficult to remember all the details.
Keeping a record is useful because it helps provide specific and detailed information about your disability. A symptom diary will give you a history of your problems, so you will be able to describe the details of what happened, and how frequently you had these problems.
Also, particularly for episodic impairments such as seizures and headaches, a record of your history can help quantify the problems caused by the symptoms.
Suggestions for types of symptom diaries that you might keep
Frequently, it is only necessary to have one type of symptom diary. However, the type that is appropriate for you will vary depending on your symptoms. Here are some brief descriptions of different types of symptom diaries that people have used:
- A fever diary. Some diseases produce a fever. For example, this can be a common symptom with inflammatory bowel disease, chronic colitis, regional enteritis, immune disorders, and undifferentiated connective tissue disorders. You can record your temperature each day in a fever diary.
- A fatigue diary. Some conditions cause fatigue. For example, chemotherapy, fibromyalgia, depression, ischemic heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and immune system diseases. You can use a fatigue diary to record how severe your fatigue is (use a scale of 1 to 10) and how long you need to lie down or rest.
- A headache diary. Headaches are a common problem with many diseases and injuries. A headache diary can show the days that you have headaches, and record how severe they are (use a scale of 1 to 10).
- A pain diary. A pain diary can record when the pain starts, how long it lasts, and how intense it is.
- A sleep diary. Sleep problems may be caused by strong medications, or be a condition of something such as depression, digestive disorders, or chronic pain. A sleep chart can show which nights you have trouble sleeping, or the amount of times that you wake up during the night.
- An asthma diary. You can use an asthma diary to keep track of the frequency and severity of your symptoms. You might also record what triggered the attack, and how you treated it.
Get help from an Illinois Social Security lawyer
Have an Illinois Social Security disability lawyer help you understand the process and prepare you for your appeal hearing.
If you are not already represented by an Illinois Social Security disability lawyer, consider asking for our evaluation of your claim. Give us a brief description of your claim using the form on this page, or you may e-mail or call one of our offices.
KATZ FRIEDMAN
Eagle, Eisenstein, Johnson & Bareck
Illinois Social Security disability attorneys
77 W. Washington, 20th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602
Additional offices to serve Illinois Social Security disability claimants in Wheaton, Rockford, DeKalb, Bloomington, Quincy, Decatur, Mattoon, Mt. Vernon, Danville, and Aurora.
