A side effect tracker that shows the pattern, not just the bad day

Your prescriber asks how the last month went. You remember a rough Tuesday, maybe two. Was it worse after the step up, or was that the week you ate late every night? You say "mostly fine, a bit of nausea," and the conversation moves on — even though it was a little more than a bit.

Side effects are easy to under-report, because by the appointment, you've usually forgotten the worst of them.

What do the labels say to expect?

The Wegovy label lists nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache and fatigue among the most common side effects, and says the gastrointestinal reactions were most often reported during dose escalation. The Zepbound label's list of common side effects is similar, and also includes indigestion (dyspepsia), reflux and injection site reactions.

That timing is the important part. A symptom that shows up two days after a dose increase and fades by the end of the week tells a different story from one that's there every day regardless. Our GLP-1 side effects guide goes through them one by one.

Why track severity, not just yes or no?

Because "nausea: yes" four weeks running hides the shape. Was it a 2 out of 10 that faded, or a 7 that kept you off food? Your prescriber weighs those very differently when deciding whether to stay at a dose or move on.

A rough scale is enough. You're not measuring anything precisely — you're making this week comparable to last week.

What you log	What it lets you see
Which symptom	Whether it's the same one each time
How strong (a slider)	Whether it's easing, steady or building
Which day	Whether it clusters after dose days
Anything unusual that day	Late meal, poor sleep, a missed dose

How do I keep a side effect log without it becoming a chore?

A few habits that make it stick:

1. Log when you notice it, not at the end of the day. Ten seconds now beats a fuzzy recollection later.
2. Pay closer attention after dose days. Watching the few days after each shot shows whether your symptoms follow the dose.
3. Note the weeks after any dose increase. The Wegovy label says gastrointestinal reactions were most often reported during dose escalation.
4. Add the non-obvious ones. Food noise and a suppressed appetite count too — they're part of how the medication is working for you.
5. Log the good days now and then. A low reading is data too; it shows the side effect easing.

When is it more than something to log?

A log is for patterns, not emergencies.

How does Holt handle it?

Holt's Side Effects screen has severity sliders for nausea, constipation, heartburn, food noise, suppressed appetite and fatigue, and you can create custom side effects for anything else you want to watch. Each entry is dated, and Holt lines your side effects up against your dose days, so it's easy to see whether a symptom keeps landing two days after a shot.

What we'd track

1. Your three or four most noticeable symptoms, with a severity each time.
2. The first two weeks at each new dose, a bit more closely than usual.
3. Anything that changed that day — a late meal, poor sleep, a missed dose.
4. Food noise and appetite, so your report shows the full picture.

When it's time for an appointment, the Doctor Visit Report turns all of this into a PDF — 30 days, 90 days or your full history — with your doses alongside your symptoms and suggested questions to ask. No more "mostly fine" when it wasn't.

Track side effects in Holt