Things to talk about at the doctor:
Not all of these will apply to you – if there has been no change and you are comfortable with how things are, you don’t need to bring it up.
1. Sleep:
- How much sleep do you normally get?
- Is this amount working for you? (Would you like to sleep more? Less? Get more uninterrupted sleep?)
- Has there been any change in your sleeping pattern recently?
2. Alcohol:
- If you normally drink alcohol, how much would you normally drink in a week?
- Has there been any change in how you’re drinking? (This is especially important to mention if you’ve been drinking much more than usual.)
3. Food:
- Are you on any specific diet? (This could be weight or amount- related, or it could be due to food restrictions)
- Has your diet changed recently?
- Has the amount of food you’re eating changed recently? (If you’re not sure, then it probably hasn’t changed enough to be important) How much water do you normally drink each day? (A guess is fine)
4. Using the toilet:
- Have you needed to pee or poo much more often, or much less often? Has it hurt to pee or poo?
- Has there been any other change in your poo?
5. Medication:
- Are you on any medications at the moment? Which ones?
- Have you started a new medication recently, or stopped taking a medication?
- Have you changed the amounts of any medication you’re taking? Do you think you’re experiencing any side effects from your medication?
6. Pain:
- Are you in pain right now?
- Have you been in regular pain recently?
- Where is the pain located?
- How bad is the pain – is it stopping you from being able to work? Can you move around while you’re in pain? Is it bad enough that you can’t talk, or can’t breathe normally while it’s happening?
- Is there something that you’ve noticed causes the pain? For example, are you pain after you eat food, or at a particular time of day, or after you do physical exercise?
- Have you been getting lots of headaches?
7. Feeling sick:
- Have you been feeling nauseous, or dizzy, or like you need to throw up?
- Have you been feeling uncomfortable or distressed, and you don’t know why?
8. Mental health:
- Have you been feeling depressed, sad, or flat?
- Have you been feeling anxious or panicky?
- Have you been getting angry or frustrated easily, or feeling more irritable than usual?
- Have you been feeling very tired, even though you’ve been getting enough sleep?
9. Periods:
- If you normally get a period each month, has there been any change? Are your periods painful?
10. Wellbeing:
- Is there anything going on in your life that might affect your health? This could be problems with your friends, family, or people you live with, problems at work or school, or something else that is making you upset
This resource was written by an autistic author (2022).
