In the (in)fertility world there are sites that allow people to chart their BBT and other symptoms and predict whether they have ovulated or not, and if so when in their cycle. These are posted and available for people to compare.

Is there anything similar in the peri-menopause world?

Do any of you love to chart things - if so what do you chart? Have you found any patterns. Currently I am charting my cycles -- start date / duration, then I chart my migraines (rating 1 through 10), cramps, etc.

I'm sure I am not the only one who obsesses about these types of things and loves to disect things and look for patterns.

So can anyone share with me their charts? Or at least fill me in on what they chart / how they chart it, etc.

What an interesting idea! I keep track of my meno-maniac problems and my general health in a journal. But, it would be interesting to chart them. I would have to figure out how to do that. I'm battling insomnia the most--for right now--and I'd like to track that on a chart.

I dearly hope more people will respond. But in the mean time I will give you a sense of what my charts look like. I just use Excel, but you could use almost any program that lets you make rows and columns.

I have the dates along the left, the across the top, I have categories for migraines, cramps (pain), sleep, activity, emotions, notes / meds. I then fill in the respective columns with a number between 1 and 10 if it applied that day and add any notes about meds or whatever in the last column.

Since I am still cycling somewhat I make a new chart for each cycle. I'm thinking this will help me to see if the migraines or sleep issue are worse or better at different times in cycles.

I came up with this just as a tool to help me show my doctor how often things were happening and help us to discover any patterns, etc. But I am sure there are better ways to do this -- so please keep the ideas coming. Plus share any insights you have gained from your charting!

P.S. I feel for you on your insomnia - I have struggled with that at various times and it can be SO frustrating!

I'm over three years post, and while I did not actually chart anything, I noticed that there are definitely cycles for the symptoms. The good news about insomnia is that it doesn't last forever. I counted about six bad nights before I'd have a good week of sleeping, then another six bad nights. Same thing for other symptoms.

This is weird, but I would get outbreaks of Athlete's Foot between my toes, and at the same time I'd have bleeding gums and sometimes canker sores on my tongue. This would last maybe a week, and then everything calmed down.

Same for irritability. I'd be really impatient and crabby for a few days, then it seemed like it stopped for a while.

I still get bouts of depression for a few days, and then it goes away. I guess I can live with this. The good thing about having bad symptoms is that you know they will eventually go away....for a while.

CSugarGrove,

Did you have any bounds to tinnitus or periods when everything seemed louder and if so, did these cycle and eventually became less intense.

Also, did you start the revival soy during peri?

Thanks for your response.

Plumeria

Hi Plumeria,

Hey, Meno-Bud! I tried to send you a personal message the other day, but it said you couldn't receive it because your In-Box was full. So I saved it.

I never had tinnitus, but I swear I DID have something that was because of meno, even though probably no one would think so. I constantly had swimmer's ear, where you get water in your ear while showering and you can't get it out. I had to continually go back to the doctor for ear drops during a two year period. Every few months, I'd get the swimmer's ear, no matter how hard I tried to keep the water out of my ears.

Finally, I got smart enough to save the ear drops in my refrigerator for the next time, so I didn't have to go to the doctor again for the same drops.

Now, I haven't had a bout of swimmer's ear for about two years. But I still have those drops in my refrigerator!

I KNOW it was from meno, but probably this sounds far-fetched to most people.

It never cycled, just stopped. Nothing else changed. I still shower the same way, and get water in my ears, but it comes right out with no problems.

Yes, I did start Revival at the end of peri. I tried HRT for a few months, but switched over to Revival. I've been using it now for almost three years.

I do write down my symptoms on a calendar. I've noticed I have worse symptoms the days before my period, and sometimes around ovulation. It's interesting to see the patterns!

Me too.

What symptoms are you experiencing / charting? Do you find they all sort of come together or do you get some without others in any sort of pattern?

Hi -
Yes, I charter and what I call it is my "hormone journal". I had a partial hyst. about 10 years ago - I still have the ovaries and ovulate monthly but I don't get a period...

In my journal/charter - I have the following things listed:
Date, A.M./P.M (sometimes I feel worse in the a.m. or p.m.), Rage/Anger, Anxiety, Insomniac, Depression, Forgetful, Hateful Day (when I hate the world), High Emotions, Need to Cry, High Energy, Happy, Good Day

I started this in the summer - and it has helped immensely - Yes, there is a pattern. One month is worse then the other one...I'm glad I have the journal - I can tell when my hormones are flucuating - and there's alot of X X X for the anxiety, rage/anger, insomniac... I'll be happier when there is alot of X X X on the High Energy, Happy, Good Day on my journal.

Blessings,
Stacy

I am still cycling normally, and I am charting my cycles at Fertility Friend. I have used NFP most of my adult life, so am very familiar with charting. Doing it online is so much easier than the days of paper & pencil charts!

One thing I have noticed from charting and getting b/w done, is lately my headaches happen when my estrogen is so low. Thanks to this, I was able to get the hormone dr to prescribe me an estrogen creme. I will be starting it this cycle.

I started charting at the end of January/beginning of February when my anxiety and other symptoms became so bad that I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. When I mentioned to the psychologist that I was seeing that I thought it was hormonal, she suggested that I start charting to see if there was a pattern. Lo and behold, there was! It helps me cope with the hot flashes, anxiety and other symptoms when I can look back and see that they occurred around the same time in the previous month(s).