How to track your cycle.
Thirty seconds a day. The point isn't data for its own sake — it's knowing your own normal so well that a real change is obvious, describable, and impossible to dismiss.
Log four things. That's all.
On bleeding days, log all four. On other days, only log if something happened. A log you'll actually keep beats a thorough one you'll abandon.
FLOW
Products used
How many pads or tampons, and how many soaked through. Note clots bigger than a coin.
PAIN
Score, 0–10
Worst point of the day, and where it hurt. 0 is nothing; 10 is emergency-room level.
RELIEF
What you tried
Painkiller and dose, heat, rest — and whether it actually worked.
IMPACT
What it cost you
Missed work, cancelled plans, lost sleep — the detail doctors act on most.
Count flow in products, not guesses — "5 pads, 2 soaked through" means something to a doctor; "pretty heavy" doesn't.
A whole day is one line.
A REAL ENTRY LOOKS LIKE THIS
tue mar 4 · day 2 · 5 pads, 2 soaked · pain 7 → 4 after ibuprofen 400 · left work early
wed mar 5 · day 3 · 3 pads · pain 3, heat helped · fine
thu mar 6 — (nothing to report, no entry)
Where you keep it doesn't matter — a notes file, a paper diary, or a cycle app. One caution on apps: they hold sensitive data, so check what's shared before you pick one. A plain notes file does the job and answers to no one.
The fuller version, if you want it.
Four fields are the floor. If you're building a case for an appointment, these six are what a doctor can actually use.
- First and last day of bleeding — this alone gives you cycle length
- How heavy, counted: pads or tampons per day on the worst day, and how full each was
- Clots, and roughly what size (a pea, a grape, a golf ball)
- Worst pain that day, 0–10, and what you couldn't do because of it
- What you took, how much, and whether it helped
- Anything happening outside the bleeding days — spotting, pain with sex, pain when peeing
Do it on your worst two days if that's all you have the energy for. Partial notes beat a perfect record you gave up on in month one.
Reading it: when a note becomes a signal.
Once a month, skim the last two or three cycles. You're looking for one thing: a pattern that repeats. One bad day is a day; the same bad day every cycle is a signal.
Pain scores of 7+ that painkillers barely move, or scores creeping up cycle over cycle
"Soaked through" appearing most days of your period, or periods running past 7 days
Impact notes piling up — missed work, cancelled plans, lost sleep, every cycle
Bleeding on days you shouldn't be bleeding — between periods, or after sex
A cycle that wobbles a few days, cramps that heat settles, moods that lift with bleeding
When a pattern moves up a level, your notes move with it — they become the one-pager you bring to the appointment.
What to watch, and when it changes.
'Keep an eye on it' is useless without a line to watch for. So each one here comes with the point at which it stops being a watch-and-wait.
Endometriosis, fibroids, or PCOS in your family
All three cluster in families. Having a mother or sister with endometriosis raises your own odds meaningfully — which doesn't mean you'll get it, but does mean your period pain deserves a lower threshold for being taken seriously.
Book something if: Mention it at your next appointment, whatever the appointment is for. It changes how your symptoms get read.
A cycle that changed without an obvious reason
New stress, weight change, illness, travel, and starting or stopping hormonal birth control all shift cycles, and shifts like that usually settle within a few months.
Book something if: It hasn't settled after three cycles, or it keeps drifting further from your normal.
A previous STI, especially chlamydia or gonorrhea
Both can cause scarring in the tubes, sometimes with no symptoms at the time. It doesn't mean damage was done — it means new pelvic pain in your history deserves context.
Book something if: You have new pelvic pain, pain during sex, or you're having trouble conceiving.
Spotting on a new birth control method
Breakthrough bleeding in the first three to six months on a new hormonal method is expected while your body adjusts. It's the most common reason people quit a method that would have worked for them.
Book something if: It's still happening after six months, it gets heavier, or it starts after a long stretch of no spotting.
Mood changes that line up with your cycle
Some shift before a period is typical. When the low is severe, arrives reliably in the week or two before bleeding, and lifts once the period starts, that pattern has a name — premenstrual dysphoric disorder — and specific treatments.
Book something if: It affects your relationships, work, or school — or at any point if you're having thoughts of harming yourself, which is not a wait-and-see symptom.
Something just feels off
You have more data on your own body than any doctor gets in fifteen minutes. 'I can't explain it, but this isn't my normal' is a legitimate reason to be checked, and people who say it are often right.
Book something if: The feeling doesn't go away. Track it for a cycle or two so you have something concrete to point at, then book.
Not sure what's normal in the first place?
How your cycle works →A log isn't for worrying.
It's so you never have to say "it just hurts."