Menopause symptom diary: a free one-month sheet to print

This printable diary, also called a symptom tracker, is for perimenopause as well as menopause. It is two pages. The first has a row for each of 31 days, with a column for each symptom and room for a short note. The second sums up the month for an appointment: the symptoms that bother you most, your periods, any hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or other medicines, and your questions.

I develop MenoLog, an iPhone app for the same kind of record, and a later section compares paper with the app. The diary works without it: no app, no account and no email address. It is a personal record, not medical advice, a diagnosis or a scored test.

How to fill it in

Once a day

Pick a moment you will remember, such as just before bed, and fill in the row for that day. If a month has fewer than 31 days, leave the extra rows empty. If you start partway through a month, write the dates at the top and count the rows as day 1, day 2 and so on.

The three levels

1 is mild, 2 is moderate and 3 is high. These are your own impressions, so what matters is using them the same way all month. For Sleep, Mood and Energy, rate the trouble and not the thing itself: 3 under Sleep means a bad night, and 3 under Energy means very little of it.

Empty boxes

Leave a box empty if you did not note that symptom. There is no level for none, so a day without a symptom also stays empty. If that matters, say so in the note column; you can also write 0 under How many flashes. If someone reads the sheet with you, it helps to say what an empty box means: nothing was written down, which is not the same as nothing happening.

Hot flashes appear twice

Some people call them hot flushes. The first column is a level for how much they troubled you that day. The second is how many you counted, which you can leave empty if you lost track.

Your own symptoms

The eight named symptom columns are the ones built into MenoLog, not a complete list. The NHS page on menopause symptoms also lists changes to periods, UTIs, palpitations, worse headaches or migraines, muscle aches and joint pain, among others. Write whatever applies to you in the two Your own boxes at the top of the grid.

The note column

Use it for the time of day and anything that stands out. In a February 2024 press release, The Menopause Society suggests going to a visit with a list of your symptoms, how often they happen and at what time of day, and with your questions written down. The rows show how often. The note column and the second page are for the rest.

Before the appointment

Fill in the second page last. Count the days with a level for the symptoms that bother you most, add up the flashes, and add any questions you thought of during the month. Then take both pages with you, and a copy if you want to keep one.

What this diary is not

It is not a validated questionnaire such as the Greene Climacteric Scale or the Menopause Rating Scale, and it does not reproduce either of them. It gives no score and no way to tell what a number means. The NICE guideline on the subject is NG23, Menopause: identification and management. In November 2026 its page showed a last update of 15 April 2026.

You also do not need a finished diary to get help. The same NHS page gives these reasons to contact a GP (a family doctor): you think you have symptoms of menopause or perimenopause and want to know your options, you have symptoms like a fast heartbeat (palpitations), you still have periods but are now bleeding more than before, or you have had no period for 12 months or more and have any vaginal bleeding, even if it happened only once or is only spotting.

Other free diaries

The NHS page links to a symptoms tracker on the Rock My Menopause website. The Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research at the University of British Columbia publishes a Daily Menopause Diary, in print and digital versions, for women who have not had a period for at least 12 months.

Paper or phone?

Paper works. It needs no phone or charger, it sits on a bedside table, and handing it over at an appointment takes no setup. It is also a single copy that you add up by hand, and if you lose it, the month is gone.

MenoLog is for people who would rather keep this record on an iPhone, and the diary's columns come from it: the same eight symptoms, the same three levels, symptoms of your own, a note for each day and HRT notes with the medication name, format and dose or schedule. You tap once each time a hot flash starts and the time is recorded. Records are stored on your iPhone, there is no account, and you choose what leaves the phone.

It differs from this sheet in a few ways. It has no field for periods, so you would add "Period" as a symptom of your own or use the daily note. A symptom you do not tap stays "Not logged", and its reports say that unrecorded days do not mean symptom-free days. It also does not print this sheet.

MenoLog is free to download for iPhone with iOS 17 or later. Daily logging, your own symptoms, hot flash counts, full history, HRT notes, trends, reminders and backups are free. The on-screen report summary and the date-by-date PDF for sharing are one optional purchase, paid once with no subscription. The App Store shows the price for your country. The app does not diagnose, treat or replace professional medical care.