Explore typical symptom patterns for common illnesses and chronic-condition flares. This guide cannot diagnose you—but it can help you notice warning signs and prepare for a conversation with your care team.
Important: Babies, pregnancy, older adults, immunocompromised patients, and people with chronic heart, lung, kidney, or metabolic disease may need care sooner.
Many infections share symptoms. Testing, timing, exposures, age, and an exam may be needed to tell them apart.
Runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, headache, mild body aches, and sometimes a low-grade fever. Symptoms often peak within 2–3 days.
Contact TNC if symptoms last longer than expected, improve then worsen, or include ear pain, dehydration, wheezing, or trouble managing a chronic condition.
Often starts suddenly with fever or chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headache, and marked fatigue. Not everyone has fever.
Contact TNC early—especially if pregnant, very young, older, immunocompromised, or living with chronic disease—because antiviral treatment works best when started promptly.
Fever or chills, cough, sore throat, congestion, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, or a new change in taste or smell.
Test when appropriate and contact TNC early if you are at higher risk for severe illness. Seek urgent care for worsening breathing or dehydration.
Fast-onset sore throat, pain with swallowing, fever, swollen front neck glands, red or swollen tonsils, and sometimes white patches. Cough and runny nose make strep less typical.
A test is needed to confirm strep. Arrange a visit rather than using leftover antibiotics.
Facial pressure or pain, congestion, thick nasal drainage, reduced smell, headache, tooth discomfort, or cough. Most begin with a viral infection.
Contact TNC for severe pain, symptoms lasting more than about 10 days without improvement, fever with worsening symptoms, or symptoms that improve and then return.
Cough, fever or chills, shortness of breath, chest pain with breathing or coughing, fatigue, and sometimes confusion, nausea, or vomiting.
Prompt evaluation is important, especially for children, older adults, pregnancy, or chronic heart/lung disease. Call 911 for severe breathing trouble, blue/gray lips, or confusion.
Some long-term conditions cause few or no early symptoms. These patterns can support a conversation, but they cannot confirm a diagnosis.
Usually has no symptoms. Headache, dizziness, or feeling “off” cannot reliably tell you whether blood pressure is high.
The only way to know is to measure it correctly. Bring repeated home readings to TNC; use your personal plan for very high readings or new symptoms.
Increased thirst or urination, increased hunger, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, blurry vision, recurrent infections, tingling, or slow-healing sores. Type 2 diabetes may have no obvious symptoms.
Arrange testing with TNC. Do not diagnose diabetes from symptoms or one home reading alone.
Recurring cough, wheeze, chest tightness, or shortness of breath that may vary with exercise, illness, allergies, weather, smoke, or nighttime.
Ask for an evaluation and personal asthma action plan. Breathing that remains very hard after rescue medicine is an emergency.
Ongoing cough, frequent mucus, shortness of breath with activity, wheezing, chest tightness, or fatigue. Symptoms usually develop gradually.
Schedule an evaluation; breathing tests may be needed. Sudden worsening can be a flare and needs prompt attention.
Shortness of breath with activity or lying flat, swelling of the feet or legs, rapid fluid-related weight gain, fatigue, persistent cough, racing heartbeat, or reduced ability to do usual activities.
New or changing symptoms deserve prompt medical review. Follow the daily-weight and symptom limits set by your heart-care team.
An underactive thyroid may cause fatigue, cold sensitivity, constipation, dry skin, or weight gain. An overactive thyroid may cause heat sensitivity, tremor, anxiety, diarrhea, weight loss, or a fast heartbeat.
Symptoms overlap with many conditions. Blood testing and a clinical review are needed before treatment.
A flare is a noticeable change from your normal baseline. Follow your personal action plan first when one has been prescribed.
More cough, wheeze, chest tightness, nighttime waking, shortness of breath, falling peak-flow readings, or needing rescue medicine more often.
Use your written asthma action plan. Call 911 if medicine is not relieving symptoms, breathing remains very hard, lips look blue/gray, or speaking is difficult.
Suddenly harder breathing, increased cough, chest tightness, fever, more mucus, or mucus becoming yellow or green.
Call your provider promptly. Call 911 for inability to catch your breath or talk, blue/gray lips, confusion, very fast heartbeat, or failure of the prescribed rescue plan.
New or worse shortness of breath, needing more pillows, waking breathless, increasing swelling, racing heartbeat, confusion, or a sudden weight change.
Contact your heart-care team promptly using your action plan. Call 911 for severe breathing trouble, chest pain, fainting, or new confusion.
Shaking, sweating, hunger, anxiety, fast heartbeat, dizziness, headache, weakness, blurry vision, confusion, unusual behavior, clumsiness, or seizure.
Check glucose and follow your prescribed low-glucose plan. Use prescribed glucagon if trained. Call 911 for seizure, unconsciousness, or inability to swallow safely.
Frequent urination, intense thirst, dry mouth, nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, fruity-smelling breath, deep or difficult breathing, marked fatigue, or confusion.
Follow your diabetes sick-day and ketone plan. Vomiting, breathing changes, confusion, or suspected DKA requires emergency evaluation.
Moderate to severe throbbing head pain, nausea, light or sound sensitivity, and sometimes aura. Your established migraines often follow a recognizable pattern.
Use your prescribed migraine plan. A sudden “worst headache,” new weakness, trouble speaking, fainting, fever with stiff neck, or a new headache after injury is an emergency.
Sudden symptoms can range from mild to time-sensitive. Pay attention to severity, speed of change, hydration, breathing, alertness, and unusual pain.
Nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, mild fever, headache, or body aches.
Focus on hydration if your care plan allows. Seek prompt care for blood, severe pain, persistent vomiting, very little urine, faintness, confusion, or signs of dehydration.
Burning with urination, frequent or urgent urination, lower abdominal pressure, cloudy or bloody urine, or strong-smelling urine.
Arrange testing. Fever, chills, back or side pain, nausea, or vomiting may suggest kidney involvement and needs prompt care.
Fever and chills, back/side/groin pain, painful or frequent urination, cloudy or bloody urine, nausea, or vomiting.
Seek care right away. Confusion, rapid breathing, severe weakness, or shortness of breath may indicate sepsis—call 911.
Pain that often begins near the belly button and moves to the lower right abdomen, worsening pain with movement, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, or fever.
Do not try to diagnose or treat this at home. Worsening or severe right-lower abdominal pain needs urgent emergency evaluation.
Mild reactions may cause itching, hives, or localized swelling. A severe reaction may cause throat/tongue swelling, wheezing, breathing trouble, repeated vomiting, dizziness, or collapse.
Use prescribed epinephrine immediately for suspected anaphylaxis and call 911. Do not wait to see whether symptoms improve.
Thirst, dry mouth, darker or reduced urine, headache, fatigue, dizziness, or weakness. Infants may have fewer wet diapers; older adults may become confused.
Seek prompt help for fainting, confusion, inability to keep fluids down, very little urine, rapid breathing/heartbeat, or worsening illness.
Record when symptoms began, severity, temperature or home readings, exposures, medicines tried, hydration, and what makes symptoms better or worse.
Learn more from national medical and public-health organizations.
This symptom checker provides general education only. It does not provide a diagnosis, review patient messages, or replace an examination, testing, your personal action plan, or emergency care.