When I got the diagnosis, I decided that I would not get crazy about it. My life and I are not defined by an illness. Then I realized that it doesn't work that way. I can't wrap my entire life around it, but I can't ignore it either. Eating healthy, exercising, and taking the medication is not enough. Something that I see as a common practice is using a diary to track symptoms, stress levels, habits, foods, etc. It's very important to see trends to figure out the triggers that may cause flare-ups or the worsening of symptoms. It's valuable not only for you but also for your doctor.
How do you create a diary? You can find digital ones on Etsy and other similar websites. The problem with these is that they are printable but not editable. Imagine all those pages! You would take an entire binder to your doctor's appointments, and your doctor will not have time to review them all. You can also buy journals on Amazon. They are cool and pretty, but again, it's not practical, not to mention the fact that you may need to add something important, but you won't be able to do it in a pre-made journal. And then there are the phone apps. Nutrilio is a good one, but seeing detailed insights requires a subscription.
I just created an Excel sheet and a Word document for notes. It's one page per month that your provider can easily look through, and you can add whatever you want.
Right now, I'm tracking the following:
Symptoms on a scale of 5
Stress levels and types
Sleeping habits and hours
Whether I exercised/meditated
Other factors, such as PMS
What I eat. I literally track every single type of food because I can't do an elimination diet.
So far, it seems like foods don't affect me, or at least I can't notice the difference. My big trigger is stress.
Great work here!