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How to track your feelings in Clue
You can track 13 different feelings in Clue
Top things to know about tracking your feelings in Clue:
The most frequently tracked feeling in the Clue app is ‘Mood swings’
Tracking your emotions can help you see if there are any recurring patterns throughout your menstrual cycle
If you notice your mood changes are impacting your quality of life, it might be worth talking to a mental health professional
Some days you wake up feeling great, others you feel anxious or grumpy. It may not always be clear why, but it may be related to your menstrual cycle. With Clue, you can track 13 feelings and see how they change throughout your cycle. By tracking your feelings every day, you can gain a better understanding of how your mood changes. But what is the difference between emotions, feelings, and moods?
Emotions are immediate responses to the world around you. You can feel emotions in your body because they are influenced by hormones, your body’s chemical messengers (1).
After you feel an emotion, your brain tries to make sense of it, and this creates a feeling. All of your emotions and feelings combine to create your mood. Moods can change but are a generally constant state of being (2).
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What are the benefits of tracking your feelings?
People feel different things, depending on how their body reacts to the hormone fluctuations across their menstrual cycle. It can be tough to know what emotions you are experiencing or what is causing them.
Some people find that tracking their feelings can help them better figure out what’s happening. Knowing what’s causing emotions and feelings can help you in a few ways. Some research suggests:
Your brain functions differently depending on your emotions (3)
Emotions can affect things like how well you can pay attention, retain information, reason, and solve problems (4-7)
Changes in mood, both positive and negative, might influence levels of creativity (8)
Tracking your daily feelings can help you notice if you are experiencing recurring changes throughout your cycle. Tracking your feelings can also help you identify other important aspects of your life affecting your mood, such as sleep, stress, and support from family and friends.
What is the relationship between mood and my menstrual cycle?
Some people report feeling moody, anxious, or depressed at different phases of their cycle, but there may be more going on than just cycle changes. The relationship between mood and your cycle isn’t so one-dimensional–feelings and emotions are part of being human.
Although some people do experience negative moods (and some to a severe extent) in the premenstrual phase, some people also report positive moods.
General health, stress, and social support sometimes explain mood variability better than the menstrual cycle phase (9,10).
Which feelings can I track in Clue?
There are currently 13 different options for tracking your feelings with Clue:
Mood swings
Not in control
Happy
Sad
Sensitive
Angry
Confident
Excited
Irritable
Anxious
Insecure
Grateful
Indifferent
Read on to find out what each of those feelings mean. And if you are experiencing any feelings not mentioned here, you can add your own custom tags to track them.
Mood swings: Feeling up and down
Women and people with cycles are often labeled as overly emotional—there is a pervasive idea in most cultures that the menstrual cycle causes mood swings, especially negative moods. In fact, some people experience an increase in positive moods during the middle of their cycle (11). Have you experienced mood swings during perimenopause? You're not alone–some people experiencing perimenopause report mood swings, although research tends to focus on the physical characteristics of this life stage (12).
Not in control: Overwhelmed
Some women and people with cycles report difficulty concentrating and accomplishing tasks during the late luteal phase (right before the period starts). This could lead to feelings of overwhelm. Different phases of the menstrual cycle have been found to affect the way the brain works (13). Tracking can help you see what’s true for you. Feeling overwhelmed during perimenopause might be common, too. Some research reports that the overcommitments required in midlife (for many people) are related to brain fog, which can lead to feelings of overwhelm (14).
Happy: Content and cheerful
While some people associate the premenstrual phase with bad moods, that is not true for everyone! In fact, some people notice they feel happy during this phase. Tracking positive and negative moods is important if you’re looking for patterns between your mood and your menstrual cycle.
Sad: Feeling a bit down
Some people report crying spells and feeling depressed, anxious, nervous, or blue during the premenstrual phase. If you regularly feel sad in a way that interferes with your relationships or other aspects of day-to-day life, check out iapmd.org to learn more about PMDD and PME.
Sensitive: Easily triggered
If you sometimes feel like everything gets to you emotionally, or you feel your emotions are easily triggered during the premenstrual phase, you might be feeling sensitive. Some research suggests some people with cycles may be more sensitive to stress during this time (15).
Angry: Easily annoyed or hostile
Anger can be a complex and intense emotion that shows up in different ways in our bodies, minds, and emotions. If you’re feeling more angry than usual, you might have more disagreements with friends and family or be more easily frustrated at work (16).
Confident: Trusting and valuing the self
Confidence is feeling good about yourself and your abilities, qualities, and judgment. It can also be about having positive self-esteem. Physical changes throughout the cycle might contribute to fluctuations in confidence (17).
Excited: Feeling enthusiastic
When you're excited, you feel a rush of energy and anticipation. Your heart races, your mind is buzzing with possibilities, and you feel restless and alive. Tracking excitement can help you notice patterns of this “good” type of stress. It can be easy to confuse excitement and anxiety because they can feel similar in your body.
Irritable: Easily annoyed
Irritability is when you feel like you're overwhelmed by agitation and impatience. It feels like your patience is running out, and even small annoyances can trigger frustration and discomfort. Irritability is considered a symptom of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) if it resolves within three days after the start of the period (18).
Anxious: Feeling uneasy
Anxious feelings can make you feel uneasy and worried. You might have a racing mind, tense muscles, and a constant sense of impending doom. There might be a connection between being able to self-regulate emotions throughout the cycle and how a person responds to stress. This could impact levels of anxiety (19).
Insecure: Uncertain or untrusting
Insecurity is that nagging doubt about your worth and abilities that just won't go away. It leads to a sense of inadequacy and fear of judgment. Insecurity is considered a symptom of PMS (20), but relationships with your confidence and self-esteem are complicated and influenced by your culture, support system, and media.
Grateful: Feeling appreciation
Gratefulness makes you feel thankful and content. It could be that you feel good about the good things in your life, your relationship with yourself, or the people around you. Tracking cycle experiences might lead to feelings of appreciation for your body (21).
Indifferent: Disinterested
Indifference is when you don't care about or are not affected by what's going on around you. It makes you emotionally detached and uninvolved. Disinterest in friends, family, or activities you used to enjoy might be linked to depression (22).
How Clue helps you better understand your feelings
Clue reminds you to check in on your feelings each day so you can better understand how your feelings change throughout your menstrual cycle. In the Analysis tab, you can find out when you typically experience each feeling in your menstrual cycle. This will help you identify patterns and know what to expect, at each phase of your cycle. You can also learn more about what else you’ve tracked, together with these feelings to help identify influencing factors. For example, you might feel happy and energetic on days you practice yoga.
Are the emotions I am feeling during my menstrual cycle typical?
Every person is different, however, it’s common and expected:
To experience emotions and feelings throughout your day
For your mood to fluctuate, especially if something unusual is going on in your life, like if you didn’t sleep or eat as usual because of something stressful
To feel less energetic as the day goes on, so your mood might be a bit lower in the afternoon or evening
Some people do experience particularly intense emotions during their menstrual cycle. Those people may be experiencing premenstrual magnification or premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
What’s premenstrual magnification?
While feelings, emotions, and moods are bound to change, some people report that their existing mental health concerns like depression and anxiety seem to be worse during the premenstrual phase. You might see this referred to as "premenstrual magnification."
What’s premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
Some people with cycles report premenstrual mood changes so severe that they impact relationships and work. This is commonly referred to as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). It’s experienced by up to 7 in 100 people with cycles (23).
People who have been diagnosed with PMDD sometimes report that they feel sensitive to rejection, angry, irritable, hopeless, anxious, can’t concentrate, are fatigued, have changes in appetite and sleep patterns, and feel overwhelmed (22).
When to seek medical advice for your mood changes
It’s common and expected to experience changes in emotion, feelings, and mood as your hormones change throughout the menstrual cycle.
Some feminist scholars believe that PMS and PMDD are social constructs that silence women and people with cycles (24). However, there is some evidence that certain treatments can help people with mood swings (25).
If you notice mood changes throughout your cycle that are impacting your quality of life, it might be worth talking to a mental health professional to get some help figuring out what’s going on.
Some people find hormonal contraceptives can help with cycle-related mood concerns, while others find therapy or other mental health medications helpful (25).
If you need emergency support, you can find your local mental health crisis support options by searching online. If you’re in the USA, you can dial 988 (24 hours a day) and someone will answer your call and provide confidential support.
