Monday, November 12, 2012

My Favorite Health App

I use a few different apps for my health. I'll just do a quick blurb about a few of them, and then share much more about my absolutely favorite one.
  • P Tracker Lite - a free period tracker that allows you to take daily notes of moods, symptoms, and intimacy. You can personalize / customize based on your own menstrual cycle. There's a paid version that offers more features and functions... probably more useful to help track fertility.
  • Epocrates Rx - a free drug reference that allows you to search brand, generic, and OTC medicines. You can ID pills and check for interactions with the meds you take. You can also read notifications, get manufacturer contact information, etc.
  • MyFitnessPal - a free calorie counter and diet trucker that allows you to track your calories (also includes food information like sodium, sugar, cholesterol, protein, etc. - so you can see your diet breakdown), water consumption, and exercise. You can track your progression toward your goals. I love this app because it allows me to make a goal to actually gain weight.
My favorite health app is, by far, My Pain Diary. You can check out the app website and Facebook page.

Here's the review I've officially submitted for the app:
This has been a great app to use as a health tracker for my chronic migraines, fibromyalgia, etc. I would definitely recommend it to others. 
Update: I've been using this app for 6 months now, and I love it even more. With the last update, I (like many other reviewers) had some problems with the app. But, Damon (the app developer) worked with me to correct the issue. I've never known an app developer that is so passionate about his creation and who will go out of his way to help others. I love the updated things he's added and is looking to add in the future. This app is simply amazing!
I'm beyond picky about what I use to track my health, but this has been so great!
  • I love the customization that it allows. There's no pre-set list of symptoms that I have to sift through. I get to add the intensity (you can customize the intensity descriptions to what each number / intensity means for you - it does come with some pretty good descriptions, but you can customize), location and type of pain / symptoms; any triggers that might've caused it; remedies that I use; and notes where I can freely write. Everything is filled in by the user - completely customizable!
  • There are even color flags, so that you can track multiple conditions or people.
  • You can make entries posts private, attach photos, star entries (I do this on the days I take my migraine meds, so I can easily look at the calendar and see when I can take meds next), and automatically track the weather.
  • You can view history (it hi-lights days based on the intensity of the pain selected for each entry (green, yellow, or red).
  • There are customizable graphs, and you can customize reports that you can provide your doctor (the color flags I mentioned earlier can help you provide more specific / relevant reports for different doctors).
  • You can back it up using DropBox, and now there's iCloud synchronization.

Clearly, I can go on and on and on about this app. I don't take recommending resources lightly, so my enthusiasm for this app is well-rooted and completely sincere. I'm happy to answer any other questions that people might have about the app - just ask away.


What are your favorite health apps?

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