Taking A Clinical History: Language For Common Symptom Areas
FEVER
- Have you had a temperature?
- I think I'm running a fever
- The patient has a high (elevated) temperature
- His temperature has come down (lowered)
- Doctor, I am burning up
- We are here at the hospital because my son is running a temperature
He was all right when I left him, two hours ago, with no sign of a temperature

All of these are common for patients to use and can be turned into questions.
SICKNESS
- Do you feel queasy?
- Do you feel sick to your stomach?
- I 'm feeling sick to my stomach (likely to vomit)
- Do you feel like vomiting?
- I think I'm going to vomit
- Do you feel dizzy?
- Do you feel lightheaded?
- I am feeling lightheaded (vertigo)
Phrasal Verb
keep (sth) down - to be able to eat or drink something without vomiting:
- On the day after her operation she couldn't keep anything down.

VISION
- I can't see properly
- Everything is fuzzy (not clear)
- People who develop meningitis can get a stiff neck, blurred vision, and headaches.
- I can't see in my left/right eye
- My eye is itchy
- My eye is stinging/burning (irritation)
- What's happened to your eye?