How to Talk With a Doctor in English About a Condition You Have Had for Years

Eleven years of asthma fits into six sentences if you know which six, and most learners do not. So the appointment goes to the wrong place: they describe this morning's cough, the doctor asks questions that assume a history nobody gave, and the prescription is written from half the facts.

This is how to talk with a doctor in English when the condition is old and the doctor is new: a five-line history card, phrases for a medicine name that will not come, questions about dose and side effects, two dialogues, and ten minutes of practice.

Why a new doctor needs the years, not only today

A doctor who has never met you has no file and no memory of your last prescription. Medication reconciliation starts from a history taken by asking the patient, recorded as name, dose, frequency and route, with the generic and the brand name both written down.

NHS guidance is plain: write down your two or three most important questions, bring a list of all your medicines, and note when symptoms started and what makes them worse. The slot is usually one ten-minute booking, so lead with five things: the name, how long you have had it, what you take and how much, your last test, your triggers. A clinician can interrupt a clear list; nobody can sort out a pile.

The five-line history card

Write it on one side of a sheet, five lines, and keep it in your hand rather than your bag.

Line	What to write	What to say
Diagnosis	The name your old doctor used	I was diagnosed with asthma.
Since when	The year, and whether it has changed	I have had it since 2014, and it was stable until last winter.
Medication and dose	Name, strength, how often, how you take it	I take one puff of a preventer inhaler twice a day.
Last test	What it was, when, and the number	My last lung function test was in March and it was normal.
Triggers	What starts a flare-up, what helps	Cold air and running set off my cough.

Put a number on anything that has a number, and write the card in English yourself even badly: the writing fixes the order in your memory.

When the English name of a medicine will not come

Name the gap in one sentence: I am not sure how to say the name in English, but I have it written down.

Then hand over the paper or the box: a written name beats a pronunciation. Here is the box. This is what I take.

If you have only the sound, spell it: It starts with an L. L-E-V-O-T-H-Y-R-O-X-I-N-E.

If you have no name, describe the object: It is a small white tablet with a yellow stripe. Most prescription tablets carry an imprint code, and a pharmacist can identify an unlabelled one from the imprint, shape and colour.

Name the brand and the generic separately: The box says Euthyrox, but the pharmacy calls it levothyroxine. Bring every container, including drops, creams and inhalers.

Asking about a dose change, side effects and the next test

Open with the facts: My dose is 100 micrograms a day. Is that still the right dose for me?

Date the side effect, which makes it testable: Since the dose went up in June, I have had trouble sleeping, about three nights a week. Could that be the medicine?

Ask for the interval, not just the test: When should I have the next blood test, and who will call me?

Close with a read-back, because a yes-or-no question only gets a yes: So I take half a tablet on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the full tablet the other days. Is that right?

A first appointment for a long-term condition

• Doctor: Good morning. What can I do for you today?
• You: I have moved here from another city, so I need a new doctor for my asthma. I have had it since 2014.
• Doctor: And what are you taking at the moment?
• You: One puff of a preventer twice a day, and a reliever when I need it. Here is the box.
• Doctor: Any flare-ups lately?
• You: Two in three months, both after running in cold air. My last test was normal.
• Doctor: I will prescribe the same inhaler. Do you know how to use it?
• You: Could you watch me do it once? And can I check I understood: same inhaler, two puffs a day, review in six months.

A follow-up to change the medication

• Doctor: How have the last three months been?
• You: Better in the daytime, but I have had a dry cough every night since we increased the dose in June.
• Doctor: Every night?
• You: About five nights a week. The leaflet lists a cough as a side effect, so I wanted to ask.
• Doctor: It does. We could try a different inhaler rather than a lower dose of this one.
• You: What would change, and how long before I know whether it is working?
• Doctor: Two to four weeks. Keep the reliever, and tell me if the cough has not gone.
• You: So I start the new inhaler tomorrow, keep the reliever, and the blood test is in eight weeks. Could you write that down?

Ten minutes of reading aloud before you go in

Reading the card silently is not practice; saying it out loud is.

1. Minutes one and two: read the card aloud twice, whole, without stopping to fix a word.
2. Minutes three and four: say the five lines from memory, in order, restarting whenever you drop one.
3. Minutes five and six: read only your own lines of the first dialogue aloud.
4. Minutes seven and eight: record sixty seconds on your phone and listen for where you stop.
5. Minutes nine and ten: say the three questions you must ask, then the repair line: Sorry, could you say that again more slowly?

Say numbers the long way, as they are said in a consultation: one hundred micrograms, seven point one, two puffs twice a day. If a word still will not come, read it off the card. Reading from a card is normal in a first appointment.

Frequently asked questions

What should I say when I call the clinic to book an appointment in English?

Prepare the same five lines and say them before the questions start: I am calling about my asthma. My name is Ana Ruiz, and my date of birth is the third of May, 1990. Repeat the time back, and never guess at a word you could not hear: I am sorry, the line is not clear. Could you repeat the appointment time?

How do I explain my medication and dose to a new doctor in English?

Use one three-part sentence every time: name, strength, schedule. I take levothyroxine, 100 micrograms, one tablet every morning before breakfast. Then add what you do when you forget a dose and what you have stopped taking, because a doctor who assumes perfect adherence will misread the next test.