Track the impact of your menstrual cycle on your health

A significant number of Bearable users have requested, upvoted, and given feedback on menstrual cycle features for the app. We’ve heard you and are beginning to work on designing these features. BUT – until they’re released – here are a few workarounds for understanding how your cycle affects your health outcomes like symptoms, mood, sleep, and energy.

👉 Using the existing period tracking section.

Bearable already has the basics covered with a default period tracking group in the Factors section of the app. You can turn this on by clicking the ‘add/edit’ button in the menu in the top right corner and then toggling the “reproductive” section to on.

📅 Tracking phases of your cycle.

This essentially already exists in the default period tracking section. However, you might want to edit the names of the phases to suit your needs. For example:

• • Phase: Menstruating
  • Phase: Follicular
  • Phase: Ovulating
  • Phase: Luteal
  • Phase: Pre-Menstrual

You can then tap these factors depending on where you are in your cycle to see how they correlate with other health outcomes. 

Tracking your phases might also help you to track any correlation with the hormones produced during each phase.

🕰️ Tracking days of your cycle.

Tracking the day of your cycle might be a good idea if you want a more granular look at how your health outcomes are affected by your period.

To track days of your cycle, click the Add/Edit button in the menu in the top right corner of Factors and add a custom factor for each day of your cycle. It’s a bit tedious to input these factors but it should only take minutes at most.

It might also be useful to track factors such as “late period” so as to be able to keep track of any irregularities in your cycle.

Note. You’ll need to track 3 cycles before you’ll see insights for day-of-cycle factors.

🤒 Tracking Menstrual Cycle Symptoms

Each phase comes with its own symptoms and you can either track these under a single symptom group OR as phase-specific symptom groups. To do this, open the symptoms section on your home page, click the ‘add/edit’ button in the menu in the top right corner, then click add symptom group, and name your new symptom group “Menstrual Cycle Symptoms” or begin by adding a phase such as “Menstrual Phase Symptoms”. 

Menstrual & Follicular Phase symptoms can include:

• • cramps 
  • tender breasts
  • bloating
  • mood swings
  • irritability
  • headaches
  • tiredness
  • low back pain

Ovulation phase symptoms can include:

• • a slight rise in basal body temperature
  • thicker discharge 

The Luteal phase which is when you’re likely to experience symptoms of PMS can include:

• • bloating
  • breast swelling, pain, or tenderness
  • mood changes
  • headache
  • weight gain
  • changes in sexual desire
  • food cravings
  • trouble sleeping

🤔 Tracking Menstrual Cycle Related Factors.

You may also want to track the impact of menstrual cycle-related factors on your health outcomes. These might include things like:

• • Contraception type
  • Contraception use
  • Flow
  • Sexual activity
  • Pregnancy and pregnancy tests

You can add these to the Period section of Factors on your homepage using the +Add/Edit button at the bottom of the section.

📊 Viewing menstrual cycle insights.

To view correlations between menstrual cycle factors you can:

1. 1. Visit the insights tab, rotate your phone, click the button in the top right corner to highlight factors on the graph, and plot health outcomes along the x-axis using the buttons below the graph.
   2. Visit the insights tab and scroll down to the factor count (days) section. Tap to open the menstrual cycle or period section and click on any factor to see how it correlates with mood, sleep, symptoms, and energy scores.

✋ Looking For More Info?

1. 1. Check out our support blog for more content like this.
   2. Chat with other Bearable users on our Subreddit and on our discord server
   3. Take a look at our blog to see how Jesse learns about his health with Bearable.