Companion Workbook For Andropause

A useful baseline turns “I feel off” into information you can work with. For 14 days, track five areas: physical symptoms, triggers, sleep, mood, and focus. You’re not trying to diagnose yourself. You’re looking for patterns that can guide a better conversation with a qualified healthcare professional and help you choose one change at a time.

Keep the process simple. Record the same measures each day, use a 0-10 scale, and note what happened before a difficult period. Andropause-related changes, ADHD symptoms, stress, PTSD responses, poor sleep, medication effects, and other health conditions can overlap. A written profile helps separate a rough day from a repeating pattern.

Key takeaway: a baseline is not a judgment; it is a clear starting point for targeted change.Use these five tracking areas:

Symptoms: energy, hot flashes or night sweats, headaches, pain, sexual changes, irritability, and physical tension.

Triggers: conflict, noise, skipped meals, alcohol, caffeine, deadlines, memories, medication timing, or disrupted routines.

Sleep: bedtime, wake time, awakenings, estimated total sleep, and sleep quality from 0-10.

Mood: calm, low, anxious, angry, numb, or unusually activated. Rate the strongest mood from 0-10.

Focus: task-starting, distractibility, time blindness, working memory, and task completion. Rate usable focus from 0-10.

If you have thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, severe confusion, chest pain, or a sudden major change in behavior, seek urgent help rather than waiting for the tracking period to end.

Build Your 14-Day Baseline MapMaterials needed: this workbook, a pen or notes app, and a clock or phone.

Time required: 5 minutes each evening, plus 10 minutes at the end of Day 7 and Day 14.

Use one row per day. Keep the numbers honest, not impressive. A focus score of 3 is useful data. Writing down a 3 instead of pretending it was a 7 is how the map becomes trustworthy.

Your TurnCopy the daily record below into a notebook or notes app. Complete one record each evening.

Record sleep first. Write the time you went to bed, the time you got up, the number of awakenings, and sleep quality from 0-10.

Rate energy, mood stability, and usable focus from 0-10. Use 0 for none or unusable and 10 for strong or steady.

List up to three symptoms. Include a time when possible.

List the strongest trigger or context before a difficult period. If there was no clear trigger, write “unknown.”

Record caffeine, alcohol, exercise, medication or supplement timing, and unusual stress. Do not change prescribed medication without medical guidance.

At the end of each week, circle one repeating pattern and one question to investigate.

Mark the checklist when the record is complete.

Daily Baseline RecordDate: ____

Bedtime: __ Wake time: __

Awakenings: __ Estimated sleep hours: __

Sleep quality, 0-10: __

Energy, 0-10: __

Mood stability, 0-10: __

Usable focus, 0-10: __

Symptoms and times: __________

Strongest trigger or context: __________

Caffeine, alcohol, exercise, medication or supplement timing:

_____________

One thing that helped: ____________

☐ Record complete

Here’s a completed example. Notice that it’s specific without becoming a novel.

Date: Tuesday

Bedtime/Wake time: 11:30 p.m. / 6:15 a.m.

Awakenings: 3; Estimated sleep: 5.5 hours

Sleep quality: 4/10

Energy: 3/10; Mood stability: 5/10; Usable focus: 2/10

Symptoms: night sweat at 2:40 a.m.; morning headache; afternoon irritability

Trigger/context: skipped lunch, then a noisy meeting at 2 p.m.

Caffeine/exercise/medication: two coffees before noon; no exercise; usual medication at 8 a.m.

One thing that helped: 15-minute quiet break and water

☑ Record complete

After Day 7, total the scores for sleep quality, energy, mood stability, and focus. Divide each total by seven. Then repeat after Day 14. Write the averages below.

Week 1 sleep average: __ /10

Week 1 energy average: __ /10

Week 1 mood stability average: __ /10

Week 1 focus average: __ /10

Week 2 sleep average: __ /10

Week 2 energy average: __ /10

Week 2 mood stability average: __ /10

Week 2 focus average: __ /10

Your baseline is complete when you have 14 daily records, two weekly reviews, and four averages for each week. Check each item:

☐ 14 daily records completed

☐ Sleep was recorded on at least 12 days

☐ Symptoms and triggers were recorded on at least 12 days

☐ Week 1 averages calculated

☐ Week 2 averages calculated

☐ One repeating pattern identified

☐ One healthcare question written

Use the Map During Real DaysThe map becomes useful when you connect a rating to a decision....