Long COVID Breathlessness: What to Log Day to Day

Updated 29 Oct 2026

Breathlessness with long COVID can come on during a short walk, on the stairs, or while talking, and the details fade by the time you see your GP.

This guide explains what to log about breathlessness: a short entry for each episode, the activity before it, how you recovered, the breathing practice you do, and what to bring to your GP.

Why log breathlessness with long COVID

The NHS lists shortness of breath among the most common symptoms of long COVID, alongside fatigue, joint pain and aching muscles, and brain fog (NHS). It notes some symptoms may get better or come and go, and that you may find your symptoms get worse if you're stressed or have been more active (NHS).

Asthma + Lung UK notes that lung function tests and scans don't always show how breathless you feel, because the way you breathe, your lifestyle, and how you think about breathing also affect breathlessness (Asthma + Lung UK). A daily log captures the part a test may not.

The NHS also advises keeping a diary to track what makes your symptoms better or worse (NHS). For breathlessness, that diary links each episode to what you were doing and how you recovered.

In Long Covid Journey, the Daily check-in holds breathlessness beside fatigue and other symptoms, so you can see them together.

What to record for each breathless episode

Keep the entry short: the time, what you were doing, how breathless you felt on a 0 to 10 scale, and how long it lasted. Add whether you could still talk in full sentences.

Note the setting. Asthma + Lung UK explains that when you're out of breath, you may feel like you need more air, start to breathe faster, and not fully empty your lungs as you breathe out, which takes more effort (Asthma + Lung UK). It also notes a worrying thought can make you feel anxious and breathless (Asthma + Lung UK). Write whether you felt anxious before or during the episode.

Add other symptoms that came with it. The NHS lists chest pain or tightness and noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations) among other long COVID symptoms (NHS). For heart and dizziness signs, see what to track besides a fatigue number.

In Long Covid Journey, the Daily Journal holds a one-line note on what you were doing when breathlessness started.

How to log what helped you recover

Asthma + Lung UK describes positions to help you recover from breathlessness: sitting leaning forward with your elbows on your knees, leaning back or sideways against a wall, sitting leaning forward at a table with your head and arms on pillows, and high side lying (Asthma + Lung UK). After an episode, write which position you used and roughly how long it took to settle.

It also describes techniques, such as pursed-lips breathing, blow as you go breathing for efforts like lifting a heavy bag, and paced breathing, which it notes helps to avoid breath holding while active (Asthma + Lung UK). Asthma + Lung UK advises asking your physiotherapist or healthcare professional about the right techniques for you to use (Asthma + Lung UK).

Log the technique by name, the activity, and whether it helped. Over a few weeks, the log shows which combinations work for you on stairs, walks, or chores.

In Long Covid Journey, the Daily check-in records the episode, and the journal holds which technique you used.

How to log breathing practice and activity

Asthma + Lung UK describes breathing control as breathing gently, using the least effort, and notes it helps to practice when you are sitting, relaxed and not out of breath, so you can use it when you are short of breath or anxious (Asthma + Lung UK). Log each practice session with the time and how long it lasted.

Asthma + Lung UK also notes that moving less means your muscles become weaker, which can make breathing harder (Asthma + Lung UK). The NHS advises getting up and moving around regularly or going for short walks if you can, but being careful when exercising and stopping if you have any symptoms, and not starting exercising again before talking to a GP or specialist (NHS).

Write each walk or activity with its length and how breathless you felt after it. For days that crash after exertion, see what to log on crash days after exertion.

In Long Covid Journey, Weekly Goals can hold a practice aim, and the Flare Tracker marks a crash day.

When to get help and what to bring

The NHS advises calling 999 or going to A&E immediately if you have severe difficulty breathing, such as gasping, choking or not being able to get words out, if your chest feels tight or heavy, if you have pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, if your lips or skin are turning very pale, blue or grey, or if you feel suddenly confused (NHS). These are not for the log; get help first. In the US, call 911 or go to the ER for these signs, and use urgent care or your primary care doctor where the NHS mentions a GP.

The NHS advises seeing a GP if your shortness of breath gets worse when you've been doing your normal activities, or when you lie down, if you feel short of breath and have swollen ankles, or if you've been coughing for 3 weeks or more (NHS). It advises not trying to self-diagnose the cause of shortness of breath (NHS).

Before the visit, prepare a few lines: how many weeks you have logged, how many episodes a week, the activities that bring them on, what helped, and any change over time. The NHS notes a GP may arrange tests such as tests to measure the oxygen levels in your blood, an electrocardiogram (ECG) or an X-ray (NHS). For the wait for a clinic, see what to track while waiting for a specialist.

In Long Covid Journey, the Doctor Report builds a dated summary for a saved doctor.

How Long Covid Journey can help

A notebook can hold one breathless episode. The harder part is keeping episodes, activity, recovery, and other symptoms in one dated record.

Long Covid Journey is a personal long COVID tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It records symptoms, activity, sleep, meals, weight, medicines, and test dates in one dated history, and its insights show which habits and treatments come before easier or harder weeks. Below is what you can use and how each part helps:

• Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, and external factors, including fatigue, breathlessness, and brain fog, so links you would not remember on your own show up side by side.
• Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice on foggy or low-energy days, that add detail a score alone cannot show.
• Flare Tracker — Mark a crash day, so you can tell a one-off bad day from a repeating pattern after effort.
• My Meds — Medicine names and timing, so you can line up a start date or dose change with symptom days.
• My Labs — Result dates for blood tests, heart and lung checks, and other tests, so each result sits next to how you felt that month.
• Weekly Goals — Set one small aim, such as a regular bedtime or a paced walk, and see whether it held and whether symptoms changed.
• Learn — Short education topics on long COVID themes such as pacing, sleep, breathing, and visit preparation.
• AI companions — Clara and specialist companions already see your logged history, which helps with pacing ideas or visit wording.
• My Care Team — A profile for each clinician, plus upcoming appointments and notes for each visit, used before, during, and after appointments.
• Doctor Report — Two views: the Appointment Planning Report helps you prepare what to ask, and Generate Report, opened from a saved doctor, builds a dated summary of your recent progress for that doctor.
• My Assessments — Structured check-ins that add context about you across weeks.
• Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines, so you can line up appetite, meals, and gut symptoms with energy.
• Period Tracker — Cycle dates, so you can see whether fatigue or crash days cluster at a certain point in the cycle.
• Weight Tracker — Weekly weights, useful when appetite is low or weight is changing.

Everything you log builds one history. Guided forms include the key questions, and you can add custom symptoms when you need your own labels. Long Covid Journey is free to download.

Sources

• NHS — Long COVID
• NHS — Shortness of breath
• Asthma + Lung UK — How can I manage my breathlessness?

FAQ