Smart ways to help your menopause

Today's topic

Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at smart ways to help your menopause using everyday technology.

More and more of us today are using personal technology to help us through life. We have our phones and tablets that help us to manage and plan our day-to-day life, including daily tasks and our time management. They can also help us manage our health, including menopause.

So today, I'm going to look at just some of the smart technologies that can help you through your menopause.

1. Apps for Smartphones/tablets

Most of us have smartphones or tablets these days, but they can do more than just let you check your social media, make calls, or browse the internet, they can help you monitor and support our health too thanks to lots of great (and for the most part free) apps you can download.

There are several fantastic apps available that can help you with even very specific symptoms. I always go on about managing stress and there's so many apps on mindfulness, relaxation and meditation. The world is your oyster. There are so many out there that you can look at.

You can also use period tracker apps. These can be very helpful, especially if you're in the peri-menopause when you have no idea when your periods are going to come.

These trackers can then help to give you an idea if there's a very specific routine in the way that your periods are changing. So instead of putting a cross on the calendar, you've got something available that's going to give you a graph and information to see what's going on at this particular time.

There are also apps specially designed for menopause, which include things such as period trackers and symptom trackers.

One of my favourites is a water app. It reminds me when to drink and how much water I need to drink. Again, water is really important, especially during menopause, but like everybody else, I can be busy, and I can suddenly think, "I've not had any water for four hours."

My body usually tells me when I'm getting a bit dehydrated, but my water app can help too. It works out how much water you need for your weight and how much you need to drink every few hours. It pings to tell you when you need another drink of water, which I just think is fantastic and very helpful.

The other thing that a lot of these apps can do is to act as a diary. Very often I will say to women going through menopause to do a food diary, an exercise diary, a period diary, or an emotional diary to see what's going on over a period of time.

If you don't have the apps, then a good, old-fashioned diary is absolutely fine to use. You can also make your own special diaries online. That can be something that you can have access to wherever and whenever you are.

2. Smartwatches or fitness/activity trackers

These are getting a lot cheaper now and a lot easier to use. I am so not technical. I tried a smartwatch a few years ago and I gave up because it just seemed so utterly complicated. If I want to know how many steps I do, I've got a very simple, little step counter that I just put onto my belt. But they are getting a lot easier to use and I know this is something that I'm going to be looking into again soon.

These smartwatches and trackers can record your heartbeat, your blood pressure, how many steps you're doing, and how many calories you're burning.

They can also help to show you how you're sleeping. Sleep, or lack of sleep, in menopause is a huge issue. We know it can have such profound effects on your daily life, even after just a few nights of poor sleep. These sleep trackers can figure out exactly when you're waking up, how deep or how shallow your sleep is, and you can then try and improve your sleep, just with that little bit of information.

They can also be motivational tools that can help to encourage you to do your exercise and remind you when you're supposed to be doing your exercises. It can also be like having an extra little helper at hand.

3. Social media, the internet, and YouTube

Social media allows you to connect to other women going through menopause via forums or groups, in a way no other generation of women has ever been able to before, helping to provide virtual support networks.

YouTube is also a great information portal, which can help support self-care. We have our YouTube channel, and I'm here every week where I can reach out and women can ask me questions back. Again, this can be a good support. So many of you send me lovely emails, just saying how much you appreciate the little weekly talk and it makes you feel better. It makes you feel that there's someone on your side. This can help to boost your confidence and make you feel that you're more able to cope with what's going on.

On YouTube, there can be other videos that can help as well, such as yoga and meditation videos. I love yoga so I'm never bored because there are so many tutorials to choose from. You've got meditation. You've got mindfulness. You've got different types of exercises you can do. YouTube, just by itself, again, is a fantastic tool to use to help you with all the little things that may help to enhance your life as you go through menopause.

Things to be aware of when using technology

The only thing I would say here is just don't be a slave to technology. Nothing annoys me more if I'm out in company and somebody's phone pings and they get it out and start to scroll through their Facebook or their emails. You can be very unsociable doing that.

I always make sure that if I'm out in company and my phone rings, or my email pings, I just leave it be. If it's a family emergency, we have a little code whereby somebody will ring back straight away, and I know I need to answer it but otherwise, I leave it till later.

I also have little breaks if I'm on holiday. I'll just keep it in my case and not bother to look at it for a few days. It can make quite a difference so that we're not so bound up in it that other things get left behind.

Also, watch with technology that you're not using it just before sleep. One of the worst things you can do is be looking at your phone, tablet, or computer whilst you're in bed because the blue light stimulates the brain, and it can make it much harder to get to sleep.

Leave technology for at least an hour before you go to bed, and sometimes, that can be a real aid in helping you to have a better night's sleep as well.

One final thing...

While there are lots of benefits to personal health care technology, it by no means replaces the need for seeking the advice of health care professionals when needed.

I hope you found this one helpful. Technology is just another means of helping us through menopause. My generation didn't have a lot of this going through menopause but for those of you that are approaching menopause and are tech-savvy, this can be a fantastic tool to help you along the way.

If any of you have any other tips or specific apps that you have found helpful, please do share them. We would love to know all about them.

Until then, take care.