Flare record worksheet

A de-identified, printable, cloud-friendly, and Claude-ready record for a gout flare or near-flare.

Updated 2026-05-20 draft

Use this during a flare, soon after a flare, or after a near-flare while the details are still fresh.

Do not include names, photos, addresses, clinician names, or account details unless you need them for your own private record. Use a record label instead.

Quick safety check

Mark any that apply:

  • First hot, swollen joint or first possible gout flare
  • Fever, chills, feeling very ill, wound, spreading redness, or concern for infection
  • Trauma, fall, puncture, or injury
  • Severe illness, immune suppression, or high-risk medical context
  • Pattern is not normal for me
  • Pain is extreme, rapidly worsening, or the joint cannot be used

If any are checked, treat this as a same-day medical question, not just a familiar-flare record.

Record label

  • Record label:
  • Approximate date or date range:
  • Time symptoms first appeared:
  • Time pain made me act:
  • Filled out during flare, soon after, or later:

Joint pattern

  • Joint:
  • Side:
  • Same joint as before? yes / no / unsure
  • Usual pattern for me? yes / no / unsure
  • New symptom or new joint:
  • Normal baseline for this joint:

Symptom climb

SignalAt first noticeAt action pointPeakNow
Pain 0-10
Heat
Swelling
Redness
Stiffness
Touch sensitivity
Shoe, sock, bedding, or pressure intolerance
Walking or joint use

Prior 48 hours

Check what changed. Leave guesses blank if you do not know.

  • Alcohol:
  • Concentrated fructose or unusually sweet drinks/foods:
  • Dehydration, heat, sauna, sweating, or travel:
  • Fasting, ketosis, rapid weight change, or skipped meals:
  • Poor sleep or major schedule disruption:
  • Illness, infection, vaccine, surgery, dental work, or injury:
  • Hard exercise, long walk, new shoes, pressure, or mechanical stress:
  • Medication change:
  • Supplement change:
  • Hormone context or hormone medication change:
  • New product, topical, cannabis product, or sleep aid:
  • Stress or recovery strain:
  • No obvious change:

Rescue and response

Only record what you actually used.

InterventionTime usedWhy usedHelped?Side effects or problems
Clinician-written rescue medication
OTC medication
Cold, elevation, pressure relief, footwear, or bedding change
Topical or cannabis product where legal
Supplement or food experiment
Rest, hydration, sleep support, or activity step-back
  • Time to meaningful relief:
  • What "meaningful relief" meant:
  • What did not help:
  • Anything that made it worse:

Rebound or lingering symptoms

  • Did pain come back after improving? yes / no / unsure
  • What happened before rebound:
  • Next-morning response:
  • Lingering heat, swelling, stiffness, or sensitivity:
  • Function limits:

Labs, if available

  • Serum urate or uric acid value:
  • Date or timing relative to flare:
  • Was this during flare, soon after flare, or between flares?
  • Kidney function marker if known:
  • Medication state at the time:

Clinician-ready summary

One paragraph:

Questions to bring forward:

Claude prompt

I am filling out a de-identified gout flare record. Ask me one question at a time. Do not ask for names, addresses, photos, clinician names, or account details. At the end, summarize the flare in a clinician-ready paragraph, list what changed in the prior 48 hours, separate likely signals from weak guesses, and give me concrete follow-up questions to bring to a visit. Do not diagnose me or invent missing details.

Source trail

Evidence label: standard-care tracking support plus mechanism-aware pattern capture.

Current-care anchors

  • NICE NG219 gout recommendations
  • American College of Rheumatology patient and guideline sources

Mechanism sources

Source check: 2026-05-20.