My Favorite Health Apps: Tracking Moods & Medications
I’m still blogging for WEGO’s National Health Blog Post Month. Because I began the challenge on the sixth of November, I’m going to be answering the first five writing prompts/questions over the next five days. Essentially, today’s question is the question WEGO asked on November 1st but what difference does it make? Favorite Fridays:
Tell us what your favorite health apps are and how people can find them.
As someone with many medications to take (nine on a good day) and many illnesses to juggle (Bipolar II, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Asthma, and Myasthenia Gravis-my neuromuscular autoimmune disease), any tools that make it easier to organize my life are helpful.
Mood Track Private Diary App
You can download this app on iTunes for 99¢ right here. In fighting bipolar disorder, it’s helpful to keep track of moods because depression can make us think in black and white terms. Without a chart reminding me that I did indeed feel normal for the past four months, I might think “I’ve been depressed forever. It’s always dark.” Chemical imbalances can be very melodramatic and deceptive. But a chart is a visual way to maintain perspective. Charting moods also helps you notice what patterns you may fall into such as getting depressed every winter or every time a problem at work arises. It can tell you if a depressive [or (hypo)manic] episode is coming so you can take proactive steps to maintain your mental health such as: seeing a psychiatrist to adjust meds, visiting a therapist, exercising more, or making your schedule less hectic. This app is really colorful–big plus for me! 
And it has you choose from forty different moods ranging between “okay I guess,” “excellent,” all the way to “crappy.” Come to think of it; if I didn’t have Bipolar II, I could still use this app because chronic physical pain and fatigue can get depressing! In addition to choosing from moods, you also rate your moods on a scale of 1 to 5. If you want to, you can enter brief notes like, “watched comedy today at movies–cheered me up.”
My Medications App
Another app you can use on Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch is My Medications App. It allows you to keep track of medications, allergies, immunizations, and contact information for the pharmacy and your physicians. Developed by the American Medical Association (AMA), you can buy the app for 99¢ here on iTunes.
What are your favorite health apps? Tomorrow I’ll be answering another WEGO question…Stay tuned! You can also join the Fashionably ill community on our brand new Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fashionablyill
–Your Stylist,
Jessica Gimeno
