More condition/symptoms on Menstrual Health Tracking

[lexi83]

Some obvious ones I don’t feel are listed in the conditions, things I like to note during my cycle.  A big one which a lot of women suffer with like Bloating and sleep deprivation. 

Some ideas that could be listed in conditions 

bloated (RELEASED!)

sleep deprivation (vote here!)

gassy/windy

back pain (vote here!)

increased appetite (vote here!)

high stress (RELEASED!)

high energy (RELEASED!)

dizziness (vote here!)

decrease appetite (vote here!)

clotting

constipation / diarrhea (vote here!)

PMS (vote here!)

cravings (vote here!)

HCG levels

anxiety (RELEASED!)

the list im sure goes on..

maybe there could be a bit that allows you to write in a notes on whichever days the individual needs. Every woman cycle changes and being able to write a note when those changes happened would be good. 

I think a pregnancy mode is definitely needed also where women can log stages in their pregnancy and also make notes where needed.  And then I think maybe something for after pregnancy breastfeeding etc. 

Moderator Edit: Title for Clarity 

Moderator edit: Updated released symptoms and links to individual symptom suggestions.

[Annwyn]

Absolutely agree with this thread.  Would be great to also include peri-menopausal/menopausal symptoms such as:

Hot flushes
Night sweats
Fatigue – tiredness or a loss of zest
reduced sex drive (libido)
Urinary leakage or urgency
vaginal dryness
problems with memory and concentration 

[kathau]

Love the new female health tracker!

As someone getting into the Fertility Awareness Method I would love for the option to track my waking temperature, cervical positions and the day you know your ovulation happened(with the change of prediction of your next period).

I know the temperature might be difficult to add as you would preferably see it as a graph, maybe an option to see your cycle as a sideways scroll with symptoms underneath? 

The option to add notes would also be great 🙂 

[SunsetRunner]

I agree with the earlier posters. Several areas that should be included in the symptoms section are mood swings (happy/sad, fragile, etc.), cravings (chocolate, everything, etc.), and sleep patterns (need for more sleep, inability to sleep, etc.). The ability to track these things would be very useful as I did not find the current symptom categories applicable. Since everyone is different, it would be very nice to be able to track custom symptoms as well. 

[Lin23]

Thank you for adding Female Health Tracking to Fitbit! I have waited for this for a long time! I am really happy about his being added as it just makes life easier.

I would love to see how this area of Fitbit will evolve to accomodate more users. I would really appreciate it if I were able to see predictions for PMS (I have PMDD) as well as more conditions or symptoms. It would be great if the PMS predictions would show on my actuall calender like the period and fertility period is showing. For me, PMS has huge influence on my day. How you feel, your moods and emotions 100% influences you physical activeness and overall functioning.

I would like to see the following conditions added:

1. Apetite

2. Cravings (sweet, salty, carbs etc)

3. Crying Spells

4. Depression (basic to severe)

5. Diziness

6. Lazy

AND THEN MOODS...

1. Angry

2. Depressed

3. Frustrated

4. Mean

5. Irratable

6. Conflict

7. Confused

8. Mind fog

9. Happy

10. Lethargic 

11. Energized

12. Loss of control

13. Stressed 

14. Calm

15. Hyper

16. Optimistic

17. Moody

18. Tired

19. Aggressive 

This would definitely attract more female users.

[micheleh98]

---

@Lin23 wrote:

Thank you for adding Female Health Tracking to Fitbit! I have waited for this for a long time! I am really happy about his being added as it just makes life easier.

I would love to see how this area of Fitbit will evolve to accomodate more users. I would really appreciate it if I were able to see predictions for PMS (I have PMDD) as well as more conditions or symptoms. It would be great if the PMS predictions would show on my actuall calender like the period and fertility period is showing. For me, PMS has huge influence on my day. How you feel, your moods and emotions 100% influences you physical activeness and overall functioning.

I would like to see the following conditions added:

1. Apetite

2. Cravings (sweet, salty, carbs etc)

3. Crying Spells

4. Depression (basic to severe)

5. Diziness

6. Lazy

AND THEN MOODS...

1. Angry

2. Depressed

3. Frustrated

4. Mean

5. Irratable

6. Conflict

7. Confused

8. Mind fog

9. Happy

10. Lethargic 

11. Energized

12. Loss of control

13. Stressed 

14. Calm

15. Hyper

16. Optimistic

17. Moody

18. Tired

19. Aggressive 

This would definitely attract more female users.

---

For Fitbit to replace the app I am already using, there does need to be more to track. Thinks like cravings, moods, and energy levels, all with ranges. I would also love to be able to do some of this tracking from my Versa. 

[KayceeHill]

The tile is also missing bloating on its list of symptoms. 

---

@Lin23 wrote:

Thank you for adding Female Health Tracking to Fitbit! I have waited for this for a long time! I am really happy about his being added as it just makes life easier.

I would love to see how this area of Fitbit will evolve to accomodate more users. I would really appreciate it if I were able to see predictions for PMS (I have PMDD) as well as more conditions or symptoms. It would be great if the PMS predictions would show on my actuall calender like the period and fertility period is showing. For me, PMS has huge influence on my day. How you feel, your moods and emotions 100% influences you physical activeness and overall functioning.

I would like to see the following conditions added:

1. Apetite

2. Cravings (sweet, salty, carbs etc)

3. Crying Spells

4. Depression (basic to severe)

5. Diziness

6. Lazy

AND THEN MOODS...

1. Angry

2. Depressed

3. Frustrated

4. Mean

5. Irratable

6. Conflict

7. Confused

8. Mind fog

9. Happy

10. Lethargic 

11. Energized

12. Loss of control

13. Stressed 

14. Calm

15. Hyper

16. Optimistic

17. Moody

18. Tired

19. Aggressive 

This would definitely attract more female users.

---

[Calathea77]

Let's all add the symptoms we would need ourselves, so that they can get an idea of which ones are the most popular.  They're never going to add every possible one, so this may help them.

I'm forty, using a copper IUD for contraception so I still have normal menstrual cycles, and have PMDD.  These are the things I really need to track in relation to my menstrual cycle.

- anxiety

- depression

- panic

- breast pain

- headache

- migraine

- pain

I don't want to have to navigate a huge field of different emotional options, that gets confusing and you end up not logging things consistently.  It can also be overwhelming, which does not play well with mental health problems.  So I chose this list carefully to break it down only as much as needed.  There is a difference between being anxious and having a panic attack, and between a headache and a migraine.  I get headaches on and off through the month, I get migraines during my period, and they are entirely different.

Also please don't illustrate them with images of women having these symptoms, it's already looking a bit weird and would look a lot worse if you added mental illness symptoms.  Find something relatively stylised, though don't go as far as Flo, which uses weather icons that make no sense at all!  Clue does a pretty good job with this, that's a place to look for ideas.

Pain is deliberately left as a general one, because there are a lot of chronic pain conditions.  For me it's fibro, that's very common.  Chronic pain disproportionately affects women and often fluctuates with the menstrual cycle.

What I was doing while using this app (I've disabled it until it's fixed enough to be usable) was to use the Cramps marker for fibro pain, as I don't get menstrual cramps.  Fitbit, I already know that people do this with other apps (I do it in Clue), so please be aware that you are likely to get skewed data because of this.

[Meeshmeesh1]

I realise the menstrual cycle tile has just recently been added, but I've already had the chance to test it out (lucky me) and love it. However there still could be significant improvements with the ability to track more (such as if you had constipation or diarrhea that day, you were naucious, any extra notes, you were sick, back pain, took meds, took pregnancy test (+ or -), took other test, travelled, etc). Also I did not see anywhere you could log HCG levels or other things people do when planning pregnancy. 

[Menopause]

Fabulous ideas. Thank you for the thought that went into.the different topics. Michele

[cameljaque]

I agree with  Calathea77 Strider about the areas especially breast tenderness or physical factors as these are also an important part of menopause symptoms.

AS women we go through several stages of menstruation, pregnancy, fertility and menopause (hormones) so getting the areas or topics broken down by areas that change over time would be the most helpful.

We are all looking to track some kind of healthy living style no matter what level we are at. So maybe start there.

---

[TricksyFox]

It would also be great if we could turn off the fertility tracking part without turning off the menstruation tracking. Not everybody who menstruates is fertile for any number of reasons.

[micheleh98]

To add to TricksyFox's comments - Not everyone who menstruates cares about tracking fertility, either. I think the focus should be "opt-in" to tracking, whether it is basic tracking or more advanced options. That's what is keeping me tied to the app that I have been using for the last few years.

---

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello everyone! 

In an effort to keep the Feature Suggestions board as organized as possible, some suggestions have been merged together into this one.

Now we have two different suggestions related to logging symptoms. This one related to physical symptoms and another more focused on logging mood or emotions.

Be sure to support the other suggestion if you find it to be useful!

[mada90]

I love the categorization by prophet1022. I came here to request fatigue/exhaustion and bloating/water retention, but she did a phenomenal job categorizing!!

Hydration Changes (bloating, water retention, dehydration/thirst)

Digestive Changes (gas, constipation, diarrhea)

Mood Changes (anxiety, depression, stress, irritability, anger, crying)

Sleep Changes (insomnia, hypersomnia, nightmares)

Appetite Changes (increased or decreased appetite, cravings, nausea)

Energy Changes (more, less, exhaustion, exercise intolerance)

[lexi83]

@LanuzaFitbit I think the difficulty comes in when the emotional and physical symptoms tend to go hand in hand.  I know for me to separate the 2 isn’t always the case. 1 tends to aid the other.  Hence as to why comments will cover both physical and emotional. 

[crisrossi]

Yes, please add this ASAP, Fitbit team!!!

[Meeshmeesh1]

Replying to micheleh98:

It DID ask you at the beginning of you wanted to track fertility or not. It WAS opt in. Besides, this is not a post about whether the tracking should be available, it's a post about what features it has now that it is available. 

Since Fitbit HAS the menstrual cycle tracking, it should have one good enough to stop using whatever app you were using before. 

Also, tracking fertility is so much more than just seeing when you are most likely to conceive. I get certain symptoms only when I am ovulating, and it is healthy to know what is causing those symptoms. 

You CAN opt out of the fertility tracking, and the menstrual tracking, so there should be no need to complain about people wanting more from those options, as it wouldn't concern you either way. 

As it stands, the menstrual cycle tracker on Fitbit is lacking, but it has great potential if it were slightly more professional. That means, rather than just taking a look at your cervical fluid, add the option to input testing results for BBT. Input emotional pms symptoms, input sore back, diarrhea, constipation, tender breasts, bloating, fatigue, and nausea. 

And Fitbit, input the option to be pregnant! To track pregnancy and day to day symptoms of that, have pregnant work outs, pregnant groups, and temporary goals. 

[Noodlknits]

I’d like to see more options added to female health tracking. More symptoms could include: fatigue, stress, cravings, bloating, etc. also I’d like to have a mood tracker in female health as well, it helps to know how your cycle affects your mood and you can prepare in that way. 

The flo app also includes options under sex such as masturbation and high sex drive, I think it’d be nice to have those as well. 

These are all things that can be affected by the menstrual cycle and being able to track them can help women prepare accordingly and be able to better understand their bodies. 

[micheleh98]

Meeshmeesh1,

I was not complaining. I am asking for more options, just as you did. By opt-in, I meant opt-in to what to track. Give us "ALL" the options and let us decide what to track. The previous poster was referencing not tracking fertility, and I am all for that. If it's something that you need, you should have it as an option. Personally, I just want to know when I am going to get my period so I'm not caught off guard. 

(Also, for the record, I don't recall getting the option to opt-in, it was just suddenly there. And I belong to a FB group that has at least 1 man who suddenly had "female health tracking".)

[Meeshmeesh1]

Micheleh98,

Sorry, I must have misunderstood. 

Also, when I opened the Fitbit app after the update it said "new female health tracking available, answer a few questions to help Fitbit suit you better" and it was a survey of at least 5-10 questions about preferences. 

[StatKat]

I just started using the cycle tracking a couple days ago and I would second the idea of adding some more options, but as always, have to balance the number of options with ease of use in an app that's general-health specific...With that said, I think my top picks would be: 

Maybe create a sort of mood option- could do it with 5 emoji-type faces? Like big frowney, somewhat frowney, neutral, somewhat smiley, very smiley? As I've gotten older, it seems like my mood has become affected by my cycle more than I had realized...If I could predict when I'm going to have cranky days, I could plan my meetings better. HA!

An Energy level option- maybe show it as bars on a battery? or maybe number of lightning bolts? As several other ladies have mentioned- I too find myself strangely exhausted sometimes, not realizing that it's linked to my cycle... and again, it would be awesome to be able to predict when it would happen.

Sleep and heart rate changes are also of interest- but perhaps a better way to handle that would be developing the ability to cross-plot some of the data... this could apply to the other things being collected in the app as well... like being able to plot both your activity level and heart rate trends over time-( so you can see good changes like decreasing resting heart rate with more minutes of exercise per week or month) OR cross-plotting hours of sleep with day of cycle, so we could understand if we tend to have disrupted sleep during certain parts of our cycle. 

[SunsetRunner]

HI, this is a brill Idea and I suggested something similar to fitbit myself...but they suggested I vote for someone who already has votes - so here I am!!!

I had a hysterectomy a few years ago but kept my ovaries which means I still get all the symptoms but no real period, but because I never know when my period is, I can't work out when my next bout of "run-for-the-hills-husband-and-children" episode will be to warn everyone!!!!  If I could log my various symptoms (cravings, moods, tetchy behaviour, tiredness, tender boobies etc), then maybe I might get a pattern which in turn can tell me when my next period will be, and all can be well in the world of me!!!!

Thanks 🙂

[JwoCG]

Agree with adding all of those options. I have stage 4 Endometriosis and part of the reason I track my exercise is to manage my symptoms. It would be great if FITBIT would add other menstrual cycle symptoms mentioned above (in addition to pelvic pain) to help myself and others determine how/when it is best to exercise to effectively manage our symptoms. Thank you.

[Menopause]

Dear Meganeirian

I loved your comments, I'm sorry but I had a really good laugh.  That's exactly what I wanted from this Group -  ONLY WE GET IT!  

I feel for the younger ones with their horrid periods and for the pregnant ladies with the nasty side affects they experience, but this menopause thing is not what I expected to say the least!

As for your family running for the hills... my long suffering husband never knows what's coming next - I swear he thinks he's living with a person with multiple personalities.

Thanks to all the ladies who voted for this 'Older and Wiser' Group (!) - and to everyone who is posting.  I'm learning something from each remark and it's great to feel that someone or many someones are in my boat with me.

Hugs to you all.  Michele 

[TearygirlJay]

Yes! I also suffer from endometriosis. Having the option to add pelvic
pain would be great.