Advertisement

The best menopause apps to download now

Photo credit: Tim Robberts
Photo credit: Tim Robberts

When you’re going through perimenopause, it can often feel like there is no rhyme or rhythm to what you’re experiencing. One day you may wake up in a fog of anxiety, the next you feel hot and achy. Not to mention that your period cycles can become regular and unexpected.

Perimenopause is the run-up to menopause when oestrogen production in the ovaries begins to slow (often in our early 40s). This can last anything from 12 months to a decade, and is often when women experience symptoms like night sweats, hot flushes and anxiety.

Menopause marks 12 months since a woman's last period, when the ovaries have stopped producing eggs. This usually happens in our 50s. The two words are often used interchangeably, so it can get confusing!

Thankfully, in this glorious new age of technology, there are dozens of apps that not only help us make sense of the perimenopausal symptoms we’re experiencing, but also help us manage them – whether that’s getting you out there exercising, reinvigorating your mood, or better enabling you to tune into your body, so you can become more mindful of how you’re feeling day to day.

Here are our favourite apps to help track (and soothe) perimenopause and menopause symptoms and make you feel more in control:

Health & Her Menopause App

For: iOS & Android

Cost: Free

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Tracking symptoms, identifying triggers and providing expert exercises to alleviate symptoms.

What is it? The Health & Her app is a must-have for any woman experiencing perimenopause or menopause. Acting as your digital personal trainer, it tracks information such as your symptoms, symptom triggers and periods to help identify important patterns about your health and body, and offers a range of evidence-based exercises and tools designed to support with symptom management.

Exercises include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help with stress & anxiety, pelvic floor training for sensitive bladders and painful sex, guided meditation for sleep, and lots more. With a crisp, clean aesthetic, friendly and plain-talking language, and easy-to-use features, the Health & Her app helps you understand the often-confusing twists and turns of the perimenopause journey, and supports you every step of the way.

Luminosity

For: iOS & Android

Cost: Free, with premium version available

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Brain fog and memory loss.

What is it? One of the most challenging symptoms that accompanies perimenopause is the brain fog that follows you around like a grey cloud and makes it hard to remember where you’re meant to be and what you’re meant to be doing.

Memory training apps, such as Luminosity, can be invaluable because they part the grey cloud with brain training games to help keep your mind feeling sharp and focused. With beautiful illustrations, the ability to track your progress, and snappy, fun activities, this app is one of the best around.

HerSpirit

For: iOS &Android

Cost: £4.99 a month and £49.99 a year

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Fatigue, mood issues and weight gain.

What is it? Perimenopause, like most difficult things in life, can make us gain weight and sluggish. When you’re feeling this way, a work-out might be the last thing you want to do in the world – but don’t be too hasty.

A lot of research has connected getting up and moving your body to improving your energy, helping your joint aches, and making you feel better thanks to those post workout endorphins.

HerSpirit offers workout classes designed for you and your interests, tailored to your level and the amount of time you have available – from weight training, to strength-building, to cardio – all created with the female body in mind.

Deliciously Ella

For: iOS & Android

Cost: £0.99 / month

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Weight gain, low energy and mood swings

What is it? Fuelling your body with nutrition-packed, healthy meals that still make you feel emotionally comforted can do you a world of good at any time, but especially during perimenopause.

We often skip meals or grab whatever’s closest – a practice that can leave us feeling worn-down, especially during times of hormonal flux.

Deliciously Ella promises easy-to-use, wholesome food packed full of green vegetables and pulses – basically all the good stuff to leave you chock-full of vitamins. More than this, the ingredients are all easy to find (unlike some other recipe apps) and still offer a good dose of comfort and richness while keeping you adequately nutritionally satisfied.

As a plus, all of Deliciously Ella’s recipes are plant-based (though easily adapted to include dairy and meat), so good for you, and good for the planet.

Asana Rebel

For: iOS & Android

Cost: £4.91 / month

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Joint aches, low energy and insomnia.

What is it? Some of the most difficult symptoms of perimenopause are the aching joints and low moods that can accompany this stage of your life – sometimes, it may feel like you can’t even get out of bed without something creaking or clicking out of place.

Improving flexibility and easing ache is what Asana Rebel aims to achieve. By focussing on empowering women to take control of their bodies and harness the power within them, their workouts range from yoga to free weights and pilates, each one designed to target a different difficult joint or ache. The endorphins released can also boost your mood – a win win.

Gousto

For: iPhone/Android

Cost: Varies, depending on recipes and box size

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Adequate nutrition, weight gain and energy issues.

What is it? When you’re running out of time and you’re looking to make sure that the food you eat is healthy, fulfilling, and good for your body, Gousto can make your evenings a lot easier.

As a food based subscription service, Gousto lets you scroll through the recipe offerings to choose the meal options that appeal to you most, and the recipe and the ingredients needed to make it are then sent to your doorstep.

All of the recipes are packed full of flavour, generous on portions (but not too much!) and healthy at the same time – essential if you’re trying to help your body feel good on a tight schedule.

RadioPublic

For: iOS / Android

Cost: Free

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Brain fog, mood issues and memory training.

What is it? When you’re trying to get on with your day – whether that’s rushing in on a commute to work, making dinner, or even sinking into a bath at the end of a difficult few hours – the bland business of the everyday can make you feel as if you’re stuck in a rut, without time for films, books, or the stories that make life feel packed full of colour and emotion. And when you’re already feeling a bit emotional, this lack of creativity can have a big effect on your mental health.

RadioPublic works as a library of free podcasts and audiobooks to read when you don’t have time to sit down and flick through a book or engage with a film – covering thousands of topics, from politics, to relationships, to crime thrillers, RadioPublic can give you that burst of emotional release that you can sometimes lose track of in a hectic life, a release necessary for dealing with the pent up emotions of perimenopause.

SwimIn

For: iOS / Android

Cost: Free

Helps with: Joint aches, hot flushes and energy issues.

What is it? Swimming – both cold-water and more generally – is for some a saviour when it comes to the more challenging symptoms of perimenopause: joint aches, hot flushes, anxiety and muscle pain.

With swim groups of perimenopausal and menopausal women like the Blue Tits cropping up all over the country, and thousands of testimonials about how much swimming does to alleviate symptoms, we would be amiss without including an app that facilitates this high-aerobic, low-joint-stress exercise.

SwimIn not only lets you track your progress on an easy-to-use interface, but gives you tips and tricks on how to improve your stroke and your time (it’s like a virtual swimming lesson, but without the smell of chlorine and the risk of athlete’s foot). It also lets you connect and build a community with your friends who are also swimming, lending a nice, friendly feel.

Intimately Us

For: iPhone/Android

Cost: £3.99 a month

DOWNLOAD NOW

Helps with: Low libido, mood issues and intimacy problems.

What is it? Between the difficulties of a busy daily life and some of the more intimate symptoms of perimenopause and menopause – such as vaginal dryness and a decreased libido – intimacy between couples can begin to fade, leading to stressors and strains within your relationship.

Intimately Us seeks to build back the bridge between you and your partner – with surveys to help you figure out each other’s sexual interests, communication starters designed to create more warmth and understanding between couples, and games designed to bring joy back into the bedroom.

With the ability to sync with your partner’s app to share thoughts, ideas, and messages, the app works to help you create both the time and desire to reconnect.

You Might Also Like