Extend the 10 day period tracker

[MissJules]

At present periods lasting more than 10 days cannot be logged accurately. I have endometriosis. My periods are random and last a lot longer than that. I am on day 43 on this period for example. I can't use your tracker because it won't allow me to log more than 10 days if bleeding. please consider extending this to an unlimited amount so people outside the norm can use this service too. 

[Fiddlesticks]

Agreed - with the implant my incredibly sporadic periods can be anything from 3 days to 3 weeks. I'm doubtful as to whether the prediction feature would ever work for me but I would love to be able to show my doctor this calendar when we discuss my birth control so they can see what's been going on.

Of course, my doctor would point out that these aren't actually "periods" at all they are just "bleeds", but to me if I bleed continuously for x number of days I'm going to call it a period!

[AmandaVega09]

I agree 100% with extending the 10 day limit! I also have endometriosis and it makes my periods highly irregular! I just recently finished with one that lasted somewhere around 8 months! Definitely would love to be able to properly track my body but the current limit makes it impossible.. 😔

[LauraJayneYoga]

Locking the entire female population into a 10 day period makes me wonder how many women were involved in creating this feature... please fix

[LostScientist42]

You would think that for a fitness and well being wearable tech company would know to at the very least consult women about their menstrual cycles instead of locking everyone into an archaic textbook situation.

Every aspect of the cycle should be customisable. This is one of the worst Menstrual Cycle tracking apps I've come across.

[RC4]

I agree, I find it frustrating that the feature allows you to pick from a variety of birth control options--including the implant and IUDs, both of which can cause sporadic and shorter or longer than usual periods, but does not allow you to adjust period length to acknowledge these potential changes. 

I was really excited about this feature, especially because, due to the implant, my periods can be long and sporadic, making them difficult to track and would love to be able to use it to actually track my cycles, but will not be able to unless this feature is adjusted.

[SunsetRunner]

So there’s lots of people out there who have periods that are longer than 10 days. And It sux, and having an app tell you that you’re abnormal all the time is pretty negative when things are already hard.

FitBits response to this message will be “what a great idea, maybe if you vote for it we might one day maybe possibly maybe do something”.

So, please take into consideration that a) this is something only people with ovaries will vote on b) they will only be in a certain age bracket c) there may be a gender bias in your development team/management team, which may lead to an under appreciation of the issue d) it might not be something people feel they can share/vote on in a public forum.

I’m not sure these forums actually ever result in a change being made, but in this case I think it’s clear that the parameters are way too narrow. I’m sure FitBit wants their users to have a positive experience. Making the app functional for the many people out there who aren’t average would certainly help with that. Cause I don’t need an app telling me that periods CAN’T be longer than 10 days

[Cakess]

Yes...I also have an implant & experience much longer periods at time...there should be no limit for length of period. Please make this changed 

[VioletOpal]

A period hugely impacts how I am feeling. I call it Moontime, because that's a pleasanter way of referring to it when I complain. 

Sometimes I have to endure my period for longer than 10 days and when they are that long, I am tired, headachy, bloated, tense and generally crabby.

So when I go to log and get TOLD it cannot be longer than 10 days, well, I feel pretty aggravated.

Who designed the limit? They need to be scolded. Did they want to invoke the wrath of many hormonal women?

They may make it up to me by sending me LOTS of high-quality chocolate!

[Pomegralice]

I love that my Fitbit is an all-in-one solution for health monitoring! I just wish I could use it to track my periods too. The period and cycle limits seem pointless. I’m on day sixteen of my period. It would be such a simple fix for you guys to just remove the limits, and it would help a lot of folks use your app better. 

[Kamts]

I’m hoping that there can be an update to remove the 10 day limit that we are allowed to log for our periods. My period is longer than 10 days due to my birth control, so this limit inhibits an accurate- or even close to accurate- estimate of my period cycle. By removing this limit I will finally be able to use Fitbit for accurate period logging instead of using other apps to track. 

[SantiR]

Good idea, thanks for taking the time to share it with us. Keen to hear what others think?

[dcapriato]

Prolonged bleeding patterns are not that uncommon. I sometimes bled for many weeks at a time. This app would not allow me to easily track and report that to my doctor the way many other period tracking apps do. 

I currently use an IUD, which was recommended to me to help with my irregular bleeding. Since that is such a common recommendation, it stands to reason that there are a fair number of women who experience what I have. 

[Renatagiorg]

I was very excited when I saw that Fitbit now offered the ability to track periods! It’s so convenient to keep track of health related things all in one app. However, this excitement severely declined when the app told me “The maximum length of a logged period is 10 days.” It was honestly infuriating to see that. Birth control can cause drastic fluctuations in menstrual cycles. I was on my period for 14 days last month. And I have had friends that have had even longer periods because of the birth control they use. Please change this!!!!!

[DrB99101]

I would like to suggest a change in the length of a period a woman can track. According to the app, currently the maximum length of a woman's period can only be 10 days. Women with abnormal periods because of medical issues (ex. PCOS) cannot log a period that is longer than 10 days. In order to do so,  a woman has log the full 10 days, wait a day, then start logging a "new period" in order to continue the same cycle. Each woman is different. Some may have a period longer than 10 days but is currently unable to properly track it in the fitbit app.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @DrB99101 and commenters, thanks for sharing this request. That’s an interesting idea and could be useful to other users too. 

We realize that everyone is different and are working to expand period logging beyond 10 days in the future. As we launched female health tracking in our app, we aimed to meet the needs of most women, and existing medical research told us that the majority of women (90%) have periods that are 10 days or less. In the meantime, we encourage customers to log flow intensity details if they have periods longer than 10 days. Learn more here: How do I use the Fitbit app to track my period?.

Thanks for sharing this suggestion, any updates will be posted here.

[Tanyakins]

Hello!

I too have been a little upset that the new Fitbit period tracker has such bizarre limits - my birth control causes me to have varying periods of up to 2 or 3 weeks, so I currently use a third-party app to track them. I would love to see this feature updated to allow for a broader range of irregular menstrual cycles.

[Zaxian]

+1 to this. In the past I have had periods up to 3 weeks long. Seems like a totally unnecessary and arbitrary limit.

[MFKinnear]

I agree, my periods are not consistent and often last over 10 days. Time to remove the restrictions!

[Vickyvixen99]

Whilst I appreciate the inclusion of a period tracker, I am not one of those fortunate women who are super regular and have quick periods. Please can you modify your coding so that I may accurately record my cycle.

[shanaqui]

Speaking as a biologist, a ten-day limit is absurd. Tracking periods is a great feature, but make it actually useful for some of the people who most need it -- those who need to document abnormal periods! As far as I know, there's no theoretical limit to how long a period may last naturally, although other health risks quickly come into play for long periods (anaemia, notably). Arguably, for a health app, you should be allowing people to track even single long periods (i.e. it wouldn't be enough to provide exceptions on request) so they can seek medical help with the proof that they have been tracking it.

[Weezer90]

I have really enjoyed the new feature of tracking my menstrual cycle with fit bit but I have had a cycle issue for several months with my cycle lasting 3 weeks or more. I really would love to be able to track my entire cycle so I can better use this information with my doctor but the app only allows me to log 10 days. Please consider making the cycle logging days limitless for us ladies with unhappy uteruses.

[AnitaLorraine]

I like many other women who use Firbit was pleased to see this new feature...only to be disappointed by its limitations.

Sadly, like I much tech women seem very much to be an after thought with no involment of actual women. Many of us have periods that last longer than 10days, so I cannot fathom why anyone would specify a maximum limit. The fact that this cycle monitoring feature, like all the others, seems to assume pregnancy is somehow relevant is annoying too.

A fix would be great, coupled with better flexibility in general. 

[omega512]

Also a nexplanon user who experiences erratic periods, many of which are 2+ weeks long; like some above have mentioned, I get the impression you might not have enough female devs on this, and I'm honestly kind of underwhelmed by mods' "let's see what other people think" response. >.<

My guess is that this might have happened because the underlying prediction algorithms can only handle periods of a certain length; I get that prediction is hard, and I'm not expecting you to be able to predict mine, that's just icing on the cake. I'm logging in order to have accurate data for myself and my doctor (and maybe some neural networks I'll train on my own in the future, haha), and if fitbit can't provide that, I'll just continue logging in kindara like I've been doing for months. I'd be perfectly happy with a simple removal of the limit, even if it comes with a "warning: prediction errors may increase" disclaimer.

[Donna80]

There really is no need to limit length or interval, especially if you know that could affect 10% of your customers using this feature.

[Donna80]

If you can't do the maths on figures beyond your bounds then simply display a message to say that range isn't supported yet, and if the person proceeds anyway then just don't do the maths.

Let your customers tell you what's more important, your calculations or being able to input accurate dates.