How to keep an HRT log

Updated 20 October 2026 · Written by the Peri team at Openverse from the sources listed below. Not reviewed by a clinician.

An HRT log is a simple record of what you’re prescribed, what you take and how you feel, so your review appointment starts from facts. It’s for recording, not for adjusting treatment.

What an HRT log is for

An HRT log records what you were prescribed, what you actually took or applied, and how you felt. It helps you and your prescriber judge whether a treatment is working and whether side effects are settling.

The NHS says a GP will usually recommend a review appointment 3 months after you start HRT or change the type, and then usually one review a year.¹ NICE recommends reviewing treatment at 3 months and then annually.⁴ A log means you arrive at that review with dates rather than impressions.

Write these down once

Copy these from your prescription label or leaflet, and update them whenever something changes:

• Product name, exactly as on the label.
• Form: for example tablet, patch, gel, spray, vaginal ring, pessary or cream.³
• Prescribed dose and schedule, copied word for word.
• Start date, and the date and details of any change.
• Each part as its own entry. If your HRT includes a separate progestogen, such as tablets or a hormonal coil, log it separately from the oestrogen.³
• Your next review date.

Each dose or change

• The date and roughly what time you took or applied it.
• Whether it was missed or late.
• For patches, which site you used and anything unusual, such as a patch coming off or skin irritation. Use the sites and change schedule described in your leaflet.

Keep it to a tick and a time. The detail goes in the daily symptom notes.

Track symptoms and bleeding alongside

Keep your symptom diary going with the same 1 to 5 scale you used before starting, so before and after are comparable.

The NHS notes that side effects are usually mild and often improve within the first 3 months.¹² Possible side effects include headaches, breast tenderness, nausea, leg cramps, mood changes and spotting.² Side effects can also look like menopause symptoms, so it may not be the HRT causing them.² Record what you notice and let your clinician interpret it.

Bleeding is worth recording precisely. Irregular bleeding or spotting is common in the first months of HRT and usually settles within 6 months.² NICE notes it is common during the first 6 months of systemic HRT, or within 3 months of changing the dose or preparation, and that you'll be asked about it at your 3-month review.⁴ See tracking period changes for what to note.

When to contact a GP sooner

Questions for your review

The NHS suggests questions like these when you talk to a GP about HRT:¹

• How will HRT help me, and how soon might I feel better?
• What are the benefits and the risks for me?
• Is HRT the only treatment I can have for my symptoms?
• How long will I need to take it?
• How will I know which type works best for me?

Our appointment summary has space for your own questions.

How Peri handles this

In Peri you add each treatment with its type (patch, gel, pill, ring, cream, injection, implant, progesterone or other), the dose text from your prescription, and how often you take it. You then log each dose as taken or missed, record the patch site, and can turn on dose reminders. The free plan includes one medication entry; Premium allows unlimited medications.

With Premium, Peri can compare a symptom from up to 90 days before your start date with the days since. It needs at least 14 days of data since you started, and enough logs of the same symptom on both sides. It only shows a change if it's large enough to notice. This compares your own records: it can't show that HRT caused a change, and Peri never suggests starting, stopping or changing a dose.

Prefer paper? Use the printable HRT log.