Experiencing menopause symptoms? Sign up to test new app STELLA

[CeriMumsnet]

We are looking for Mumsnetters who have been through menopause or are currently in perimenopause to test out Vira Health’s new service. STELLA is an easy-to-use app that provides you with daily guidance, a personal menopause coach, helpful resources and progress tracking functions, all focused on alleviating specific symptoms. The app will be most beneficial for those experiencing weight gain, sleep disorders, hot flushes, night sweats, incontinence, anxiety, mood swings, and low mood.

We’re looking for Mumsnet users to test a prototype of the app, which is only currently available via the Safari browser on iOS devices. Please only sign up to take part if you have access to an iPhone.

Here’s what Vira Health has to say: “Two-thirds of women say there is not enough help or understanding when going through menopause. We hear you.

Finding information, treatment and support you can trust often feels like a full-time job and this is why we made STELLA. We save you time and energy with comprehensive relief and information for perimenopause and menopause symptoms. We’re only interested in treatment that works and is proven by scientific research and evidence.

Whether you are taking HRT or not, Stella works alongside any medical advice to help you decrease the frequency and severity of the issues you face during your menopausal journey.”

Selected testers will receive a free 6 week trial of the service, which will cost £25/month, or £150/year.

If you’re selected, you’ll need to use STELLA over the course of 6 weeks.

Following testing the service, selected testers will need to give their feedback via a thread on Mumsnet and a short survey. All testers who give the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

If you’re interested in taking part, please sign up here.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

I am very concerned about STELLA saying they can help with "leaking wee" If you have this problem you should arrange to see a womens' phisio without delay. I got an NHS appointment within a fortnight but there are private womens' phisios too. They are qualified at dealing with this problem and will give you exercises tailored to your own anatomy ( which they may check) It works. After resolving a minor problem with running and jumping and a major one with riding a bouncy horse I am completely cured. This is expert work and an app is not the way to get a proper remedy. My W.P. said she had successfully treated women up to 94, and she had a wicked sense of humour.

I spent £200 for an hour-long face-to-face consultation with a Menopause Specialist GP (pre-Covid) with follow up queries included.

Money very well spent and I am sure much better than an app.

It reminds me of the well-intentioned menopause support group at work, a load of women moaning about being hot and tired, all based on the mysogynistic assumption that we’re getting old and decrepit and need yet another wellness project to add to our already long list of womanly endeavours, along with permanently having nice hair and taking Radox ‘me time’ baths as a substitute for personal space. It’s all a bit sad, really.

No way would I pay that for an app!

I am 48 and so probably perimenopausal (although got the implant, so not sure)

Am a bit annoyed at anyone promoting spending money on this when the majority of the 'benefits' of the app are free elsewhere - no thankyou

I'm slightly puzzled how this has appeared at the same time as the pinned NICE menopause guidelines that were here after I 'campaigned' for them to be added to the forum.

Any idea @MNHQ?

Can anyone clarify what medical qualifications would be held by a certified health and wellness coach? Because I don’t know what one of them is. How are they better than a GP or other resources that have been signposted already? It sounds like you’d be paying for the equivalent of a personal trainer/life coach type thing.

I've had a look at their website and it raises some concerns.

For example, there is a feature by someone on a painful vulva which is kind-of diagnosed as vulvodynia but vaginal atrophy is also mentioned. And the treatment given was estrogen cream.

The NHS website on vulvodynia does not link it at all to menopause or vaginal atrophy.

It's a confusing article because it links vulvodynia and vaginal atrophy as being one and the same, or connected.

Also the website is very much in the process of being set up.

Personally, I think there is a huge amount of info out there already, in books by consultants, other menopause drs and websites.

@JinglingHellsBells

I've had a look at their website and it raises some concerns.

For example, there is a feature by someone on a painful vulva which is kind-of diagnosed as vulvodynia but vaginal atrophy is also mentioned. And the treatment given was estrogen cream.

The NHS website on vulvodynia does not link it at all to menopause or vaginal atrophy.

It's a confusing article because it links vulvodynia and vaginal atrophy as being one and the same, or connected.

Also the website is very much in the process of being set up.

Personally, I think there is a huge amount of info out there already, in books by consultants, other menopause drs and websites.

Jingling, for once we are in complete agreement - there is a huge amount of information out there already, in books by consultants and other doctors and websites; there simply is no need for an app like this.

Most of us probably know what we SHOULD be doing to support our health and well-being, including through the menopause. There is no shortage of good free information and an expensive app doesn’t appeal.

I would be more excited if the developers made an app that prompts other household members to take on household chores without me reminding them, freeing me of the mental load.

I'm not sure a woman of menopausal age needs help in talking to her family about it. Patronising.

Women have managed for millennia with 'women's issues' ,pregnancy, menopause etc . There is no need for expensive apps with 'wellness'coaches and the like, certainly not at £150 either. Ridiculous. Plenty of free info available from the nhs ,gp appointments ,referrals and such.

@JinglingHellsBells

I'm slightly puzzled how this has appeared at the same time as the pinned NICE menopause guidelines that were here after I 'campaigned' for them to be added to the forum.

Any idea @MNHQ?

Hi @JinglingHellsBells thanks for mentioning that the NICE guidelines post was no longer pinned on the menopause Talk board! We can only pin threads for up to a year, and this one had expired. It's now pinned for the next year and you should be able to see it on the board.

@ExConstance

I am very concerned about STELLA saying they can help with "leaking wee" If you have this problem you should arrange to see a womens' phisio without delay. I got an NHS appointment within a fortnight but there are private womens' phisios too. They are qualified at dealing with this problem and will give you exercises tailored to your own anatomy ( which they may check) It works. After resolving a minor problem with running and jumping and a major one with riding a bouncy horse I am completely cured. This is expert work and an app is not the way to get a proper remedy. My W.P. said she had successfully treated women up to 94, and she had a wicked sense of humour.

Hi @ExConstance, thanks for your comment. Vira Health appreciate your concern and have shared this response:

'STELLA is not intended to be a substitute for seeking medical care, rather it's a complementary app that has been built by specialist physios as well as clinicians that specialise in pelvic floor strengthening. Guidance on exercises is exactly the type of information we want women to have access to regardless of their location or ability to get to appointments at a certain time.'

I would be more excited if the developers made an app that prompts other household members to take on household chores without me reminding them, freeing me of the mental load

Yes!! I would definitely pay for that app. £150 for an app that tells me to listen to some soothing music while I'm sweating my tits off, not so much.

@SunshineCake

I'm not sure a woman of menopausal age needs help in talking to her family about it. Patronising.

It is very patronising. I started going through the menopause at 40 (now 41), and the first thing I did was seek advice from my mum, as my GP and nurse kept saying I was ‘too young’ to start it.

I have been selected to trial the app and I’m very positive about it. However what has thrown me straight away is “let’s debunk menopause” “it’s women over 45 who haven’t had a period for a year”
WHAT?!!! I am 41 my menopause happened when I was 35. I had a totally hysterectomy. I have every symptom they talk about because I have the menopause, I am menopausal, however you want to say it. Not 45! They only need to look at the threads on here to see that menopause affects women of all ages.

@Cocopogo

I have been selected to trial the app and I’m very positive about it. However what has thrown me straight away is “let’s debunk menopause” “it’s women over 45 who haven’t had a period for a year” WHAT?!!! I am 41 my menopause happened when I was 35. I had a totally hysterectomy. I have every symptom they talk about because I have the menopause, I am menopausal, however you want to say it. Not 45! They only need to look at the threads on here to see that menopause affects women of all ages.

“let’s debunk menopause” “it’s women over 45 who haven’t had a period for a year”

That's utter rot for a start.

If you're under 50, you need to be period-free for two whole years to have reached menopause.

If you're over 50, then it is one whole year without a period.

Honestly, if the people behind the app can't get this simple thing correct, I really have no hope for them.

I have also been selected for the trial. I don't think I'm going to waste my time with it tbh.

Don't blame you @sansucre.

There is no need for expensive apps with 'wellness'coaches and the like, certainly not at £150 either. Ridiculous. Plenty of free info available from the nhs ,gp appointments ,referrals and such.

This.

What qualifications in women's health/hormonal matters do these 'coaches' have?

I signed up for this but the real person coach thing has completely put me off. I'm socially awkward, that's why I use my phone for everything... I prefer my apps to remove the need for human contact rather than to increase it

I also signed up but it doesn't come close to doing what I wanted a menopause app to do.
I wanted to track my moods, my flushes, my acne outbreaks. As far as I can see it doesn't do any of those things for me.

I've not really been on it since I'm afraid.

I like the idea of this app, but the reality less so. It’s nice to have the educational articles linked, but I can find that information easily o line anyway. It doesn’t seem that I can track symptoms which is what I’d primarily want an app to do. At the cost they’re going to charge I’d want a heck of a lot more for my money.

I have just been diagnosed as being in premature menopause, something like this would be very helpful for understanding what is happening!

Ok sorry I just read the full page of messages and as it doesn’t track symptoms maybe not!