'''Cycle tracking''' logs your menstrual cycle, tells you what day you are on, and estimates your next period and fertile window from your own history. It is opt-in, and every entry is private to you and encrypted like the rest of your health data. Turn it on in Settings, then use the '''Cycle''' page.
Loopa is a tracker, not a clinician. Nothing here is medical advice, nothing here is contraception, and no estimate on this page should be used to prevent or plan a pregnancy. If something about your cycle worries you, talk to a healthcare professional. There is a list further down of the things worth raising.
== Know your day ==
The status hero at the top tells you where you are right now, for example that you are on a given cycle day, in your period, or in your estimated fertile window.
Your cycle is counted from the '''first day of one period to the first day of the next'''. Not from the day your period ends. Day 1 is the first day of bleeding.
== What is typical ==
Typical is a range, and it is wide. Mayo Clinic describes bleeding that happens '''every 24 to 38 days''' and lasts '''up to 8 days'''. Other bodies draw the line differently: UPMC and the NHS use 21 to 35 days. That disagreement tells you something useful in itself. There is no single number that makes a cycle correct.
Cycles are often longer when you first start having periods, and typically become shorter and more regular with age. They can become irregular again approaching menopause.
Within that broad range, what matters is what is typical '''for you'''. That is the whole reason to track: a change from your own normal is more informative than any population average.
== Log a flow ==
The month '''calendar''' is how you log. Tap any past day or today to open the day editor, then:
- Pick a '''flow''': None, Spotting, Light, Medium, or Heavy.
- Tap any '''symptom''' chips that apply (cramps, mood, energy, and more).
- Add an optional '''note'''.
Tap '''Save'''. Log a flow each day your period runs so it tracks in progress. Tapping an earlier day back-fills it. Future days cannot be logged.
== What is worth recording ==
Mayo Clinic suggests recording, alongside the start date:
- '''End date'''. How long the bleeding lasted, and whether that is longer or shorter than usual for you.
- '''Flow'''. How heavy it was, how often you needed to change a pad or tampon, and whether you passed clots.
- '''Bleeding between periods'''. Any spotting outside your period.
- '''Pain'''. In particular, whether it is worse than your usual.
- '''Other changes'''. Mood, behaviour, weight, and anything new happening around the time your cycle changed.
Loopa already logs your weight, food, mood, energy and sleep. Keeping the cycle log going alongside them is what lets you see how the two move together over a few months.
== Predictions, and how much to trust them ==
After you log two or more period starts, Loopa estimates your '''average cycle length''', your '''next period''' start, and a '''fertile window'''.
These are calendar estimates from your own history, and calendar estimates have real limits. A 2021 review of app-based cycle tracking found that apps using calendar methods got the day of ovulation right between 17% and 89% of the time, with every one of them below 90%. It also found that a '''wider''' estimated fertile window was more likely to contain the fertile days than a narrow one.
Loopa is built around that finding rather than against it:
- The fertile window '''widens''' when your cycles vary, instead of staying a fixed six days.
- If your cycle length varies a lot, Loopa shows '''no fertile window at all''' and says why. Drawing a tight ring over two weeks of uncertainty would just be guessing.
- Estimates further out carry more error than the next one, because each cycle's uncertainty adds to the last.
None of this makes the estimate a contraceptive method. It is not one.
== The phases ==
- '''Menstrual'''. Day 1 until bleeding stops.
- '''Follicular'''. From the end of your period until ovulation.
- '''Ovulation'''. An egg is released. Brief, and estimated rather than observed.
- '''Luteal'''. From ovulation until your next period begins.
Loopa places ovulation by counting '''back''' from your next expected period rather than assuming day 14, because the luteal phase is the more stable part of the cycle. On a 35-day cycle that means a longer follicular phase, rather than everything happening later.
== Why the scale moves ==
Fluid retention in the days before a period is common, and it can put a noticeable number on the scale that has nothing to do with fat. If your weight jumps in the week before your period and settles afterwards, that pattern is worth recognising rather than reacting to. This is exactly what tracking both together shows you.
== What can make a cycle irregular ==
Mayo Clinic lists a number of causes, including pregnancy or breastfeeding; eating disorders, extreme weight loss, or too much exercise; polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS, previously called PCOS); premature ovarian failure, also called primary ovarian insufficiency; pelvic inflammatory disease; and uterine fibroids. Some kinds of contraception, including extended-cycle pills and IUDs, change the cycle by design.
That list is here so you know irregularity has explanations worth investigating. It is not there for you to diagnose yourself from. Loopa cannot tell you which, if any, applies to you.
== When to talk to a healthcare professional ==
Mayo Clinic suggests speaking to your healthcare team if:
- Your periods suddenly stop for more than 90 days and you are not pregnant.
- Your periods become irregular after having been regular.
- You bleed for more than eight days.
- You bleed more heavily than usual, or soak through more than one pad or tampon every hour or two.
- You have blood clots larger than a quarter.
- Your periods are less than 24 days apart or more than 38 days apart.
- You bleed between periods.
- You develop severe pain during your period.
- You suddenly get a fever and feel unwell after using tampons.
Loopa will point out when your average cycle length falls outside 24 to 38 days. That is a prompt to have a conversation, not a finding about your health.
== Symptoms and history ==
The '''History''' card lists your last 90 days: the flow, any symptom chips, and your note for each entry. Use '''Edit''' to change a day or '''Delete''' to remove it. Logging symptoms consistently is what lets you spot how cramps, mood, and energy track your cycle. Mayo's advice is to track for several months before expecting a pattern to be readable.
== Your privacy ==
Cycle data is opt-in and encrypted to you.
'''It is never shared with a coach unless you switch it on yourself.''' Cycle is one of seven things you can choose to share with a coach. Every one of those switches starts off, and switching one off also closes the history, not just what you log afterwards. Your coach cannot see that a switch exists and is off. To them, a category you have not shared is simply absent.
It is never shown to the community. You can delete any entry at any time.
== Sources ==
- Mayo Clinic, ''Menstrual cycle: What's typical, what's not''.
- UPMC, ''Tracking your menstrual cycle: a beginner's guide''.
- ACOG and the NHS, on typical cycle length and when to seek advice.
- ''Menstrual cycle tracking applications and the potential for epidemiological research'' (PMC8162175), on the accuracy of calendar-based prediction.
== See also ==
- [[Vitals tracking]]
- [[Weight tracking]]
- [[Trends and charts]]
'''Cycle tracking''' logs your menstrual cycle, tells you what day you are on, and estimates your next period and fertile window from your own history. It is opt-in, and every entry is private to you and encrypted like the rest of your health data. Turn it on in Settings, then use the '''Cycle''' page. Loopa is a tracker, not a clinician. Nothing here is medical advice, nothing here is contraception, and no estimate on this page should be used to prevent or plan a pregnancy. If something about your cycle worries you, talk to a healthcare professional. There is a list further down of the things worth raising. == Know your day == The status hero at the top tells you where you are right now, for example that you are on a given cycle day, in your period, or in your estimated fertile window. Your cycle is counted from the '''first day of one period to the first day of the next'''. Not from the day your period ends. Day 1 is the first day of bleeding. == What is typical == Typical is a range, and it is wide. Mayo Clinic describes bleeding that happens '''every 24 to 38 days''' and lasts '''up to 8 days'''. Other bodies draw the line differently: UPMC and the NHS use 21 to 35 days. That disagreement tells you something useful in itself. There is no single number that makes a cycle correct. Cycles are often longer when you first start having periods, and typically become shorter and more regular with age. They can become irregular again approaching menopause. Within that broad range, what matters is what is typical '''for you'''. That is the whole reason to track: a change from your own normal is more informative than any population average. == Log a flow == The month '''calendar''' is how you log. Tap any past day or today to open the day editor, then: * Pick a '''flow''': None, Spotting, Light, Medium, or Heavy. * Tap any '''symptom''' chips that apply (cramps, mood, energy, and more). * Add an optional '''note'''. Tap '''Save'''. Log a flow each day your period runs so it tracks in progress. Tapping an earlier day back-fills it. Future days cannot be logged. == What is worth recording == Mayo Clinic suggests recording, alongside the start date: * '''End date'''. How long the bleeding lasted, and whether that is longer or shorter than usual for you. * '''Flow'''. How heavy it was, how often you needed to change a pad or tampon, and whether you passed clots. * '''Bleeding between periods'''. Any spotting outside your period. * '''Pain'''. In particular, whether it is worse than your usual. * '''Other changes'''. Mood, behaviour, weight, and anything new happening around the time your cycle changed. Loopa already logs your weight, food, mood, energy and sleep. Keeping the cycle log going alongside them is what lets you see how the two move together over a few months. == Predictions, and how much to trust them == After you log two or more period starts, Loopa estimates your '''average cycle length''', your '''next period''' start, and a '''fertile window'''. These are calendar estimates from your own history, and calendar estimates have real limits. A 2021 review of app-based cycle tracking found that apps using calendar methods got the day of ovulation right between 17% and 89% of the time, with every one of them below 90%. It also found that a '''wider''' estimated fertile window was more likely to contain the fertile days than a narrow one. Loopa is built around that finding rather than against it: * The fertile window '''widens''' when your cycles vary, instead of staying a fixed six days. * If your cycle length varies a lot, Loopa shows '''no fertile window at all''' and says why. Drawing a tight ring over two weeks of uncertainty would just be guessing. * Estimates further out carry more error than the next one, because each cycle's uncertainty adds to the last. None of this makes the estimate a contraceptive method. It is not one. == The phases == * '''Menstrual'''. Day 1 until bleeding stops. * '''Follicular'''. From the end of your period until ovulation. * '''Ovulation'''. An egg is released. Brief, and estimated rather than observed. * '''Luteal'''. From ovulation until your next period begins. Loopa places ovulation by counting '''back''' from your next expected period rather than assuming day 14, because the luteal phase is the more stable part of the cycle. On a 35-day cycle that means a longer follicular phase, rather than everything happening later. == Why the scale moves == Fluid retention in the days before a period is common, and it can put a noticeable number on the scale that has nothing to do with fat. If your weight jumps in the week before your period and settles afterwards, that pattern is worth recognising rather than reacting to. This is exactly what tracking both together shows you. == What can make a cycle irregular == Mayo Clinic lists a number of causes, including pregnancy or breastfeeding; eating disorders, extreme weight loss, or too much exercise; polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS, previously called PCOS); premature ovarian failure, also called primary ovarian insufficiency; pelvic inflammatory disease; and uterine fibroids. Some kinds of contraception, including extended-cycle pills and IUDs, change the cycle by design. That list is here so you know irregularity has explanations worth investigating. It is not there for you to diagnose yourself from. Loopa cannot tell you which, if any, applies to you. == When to talk to a healthcare professional == Mayo Clinic suggests speaking to your healthcare team if: * Your periods suddenly stop for more than 90 days and you are not pregnant. * Your periods become irregular after having been regular. * You bleed for more than eight days. * You bleed more heavily than usual, or soak through more than one pad or tampon every hour or two. * You have blood clots larger than a quarter. * Your periods are less than 24 days apart or more than 38 days apart. * You bleed between periods. * You develop severe pain during your period. * You suddenly get a fever and feel unwell after using tampons. Loopa will point out when your average cycle length falls outside 24 to 38 days. That is a prompt to have a conversation, not a finding about your health. == Symptoms and history == The '''History''' card lists your last 90 days: the flow, any symptom chips, and your note for each entry. Use '''Edit''' to change a day or '''Delete''' to remove it. Logging symptoms consistently is what lets you spot how cramps, mood, and energy track your cycle. Mayo's advice is to track for several months before expecting a pattern to be readable. == Your privacy == Cycle data is opt-in and encrypted to you. '''It is never shared with a coach unless you switch it on yourself.''' Cycle is one of seven things you can choose to share with a coach. Every one of those switches starts off, and switching one off also closes the history, not just what you log afterwards. Your coach cannot see that a switch exists and is off. To them, a category you have not shared is simply absent. It is never shown to the community. You can delete any entry at any time. == Sources == * Mayo Clinic, ''Menstrual cycle: What's typical, what's not''. * UPMC, ''Tracking your menstrual cycle: a beginner's guide''. * ACOG and the NHS, on typical cycle length and when to seek advice. * ''Menstrual cycle tracking applications and the potential for epidemiological research'' (PMC8162175), on the accuracy of calendar-based prediction. == See also == * [[Vitals tracking]] * [[Weight tracking]] * [[Trends and charts]]
