Your questions, answered.

Fempower is a personal assistant for perimenopause: an iPhone app that connects how you feel to the hormone most likely behind it, gives you specific things to try, and then checks back to learn what worked for you.

Fempower is for women who are in perimenopause or think they might be, typically from the late thirties onwards. That includes anyone whose cycles have started to change, whose symptoms have started to appear, or who has been told their bloods are normal while feeling anything but.

No. Tracking is only the starting point. Fempower's job is to connect a symptom to the hormone behind it, hand you something to try, and then find out whether it helped. Cycle phase feeds into that as useful context, and the app is built around your symptoms and what helps them.

Fempower explains the hormone behind a symptom as well as charting it. Every suggestion comes with a follow-up, so you learn whether it worked for you. The AI assistant only draws on a curated clinical knowledge base, so it can't improvise. And you get a script for your GP appointment.

No. Most women are never formally diagnosed with perimenopause, because in the UK it's usually recognised from symptoms and age, and there's no test for it. Fempower is built for the years of not being sure. If it helps you get to a GP with a clearer story, that is a good outcome.

Yes, anyone can read the explanations, and the website and journal are free to read without an account. A partner will get the most from the science page and the journal, since a Fempower account is designed around one person's symptoms.

Fempower is free at launch while we learn what helps most. If a paid tier is introduced later, anyone already using the app will be told well in advance, and the core of logging, explanations and GP scripts will stay usable without paying.

The App Store listing will be available worldwide in English at launch. The content is written from UK clinical practice, so medication names and the GP scripts follow UK conventions. Other languages and localised guidance will follow.

Perimenopause is the transition leading up to menopause, when the ovaries gradually stop releasing eggs regularly and hormone levels, first progesterone and then oestrogen, become erratic and eventually fall. It ends one year after your final period, at which point you are described as postmenopausal. It's a normal phase of life, and the symptoms can still be significant.

Most commonly in the mid-forties, but it can begin in the late thirties. The average age of menopause in the UK is 51, and perimenopause typically runs for four to eight years before that. The first signs are often changes in sleep, mood or cycle length. Hot flushes usually come later.

Yes. Early changes in the late thirties are within the normal range, and around one in a hundred women reach menopause before 40, which is called premature ovarian insufficiency and needs proper medical care. If your periods change markedly or stop before 40, or before 45 with symptoms, see your GP soon.

Typically four to eight years, though it varies a great deal. The large American SWAN study found hot flushes and night sweats last a median of around seven years, and longer for women whose symptoms start early. Symptoms also change over time, so the ones you start with are not necessarily the ones you finish with.

Menopause is technically a single day: the point twelve months after your last period. Perimenopause is the years of hormonal change leading up to it, and it is when most symptoms happen. Postmenopause is everything after. In everyday speech people say menopause to mean the whole thing, which is why so much advice misses the perimenopausal years.

Changes to periods, disturbed sleep including waking in the early hours, hot flushes and night sweats, anxiety or low mood, irritability, brain fog, joint aches, headaches, fatigue, low libido and vaginal dryness. Fempower's knowledge base covers 19 of them, each linked to the hormone drivers most likely responsible. You do not need to have them all, and many women never get a hot flush.

You often cannot be sure on your own, because an underactive thyroid, iron deficiency from heavy periods, depression, sleep apnoea and some other conditions overlap with perimenopause. Age, changing periods and a cluster of typical symptoms make perimenopause likely, but a GP can rule out the mimics with simple tests. Fempower will always tell you when a symptom needs that conversation.

Yes. Ovulation becomes irregular but does not stop until menopause, so pregnancy is possible even with very erratic cycles. UK guidance is to continue contraception until two years after your last period if you are under 50, and one year if you are over 50. Talk to your GP or a sexual health clinic about the options, several of which also help with heavy bleeding.

Postmenopause is the stage after menopause, starting one year after your final period, and it lasts for the rest of your life. Oestrogen settles at a low, stable level, so the wild swings of perimenopause ease, but some symptoms such as vaginal dryness and joint aches can continue or appear for the first time. Long-term bone and heart health become the main things to keep an eye on.

In Fempower's model the strongest driver is low progesterone, which is calming and usually the first hormone to fall. Cortisol naturally starts rising from around 3am, and without progesterone to buffer it that ordinary rise can jolt you awake, often with a racing heart. Keeping alcohol and late caffeine down, a cooler bedroom and a consistent wind-down commonly help. See your GP if it is happening most nights and affecting your day, as sleep is one of the symptoms treatment helps most.

Fluctuating and falling oestrogen narrows the range of temperatures your brain treats as comfortable, so tiny changes trigger a full cooling response: flushing, sweating and a pounding heart. Triggers such as alcohol, spicy food, hot rooms and stress make them more likely. Layered clothing, a cool bedroom and paced breathing help many women, and both hormonal and non-hormonal medicines are effective. See your GP if they are disturbing sleep or daily life.

Yes, and it is one of the most reported. Oestrogen supports memory and processing in the brain, so as levels drop and swing, word-finding, concentration and short-term memory can suffer, and poor sleep makes it worse. It is usually temporary and does not mean early dementia. See your GP if it is severe, worsening or accompanied by other neurological symptoms.

New anxiety in your forties, often with no obvious cause, is one of the most common perimenopause symptoms and one of the least recognised. Fempower weights it mainly to low progesterone, which acts on the same calming GABA pathway as some sedatives, with oestrogen swings and cortisol adding to it. Regular movement, reducing alcohol and caffeine, and breathing or CBT techniques help many women. See your GP if it is affecting your daily life or you have panic attacks, as it is very treatable.

Rapid oestrogen swings are the driver Fempower weights highest for irritability and sudden rage, especially in the week before a period when progesterone is also low. This is hormones affecting mood regulation, and it says nothing about who you are. Sleep, blood sugar stability and noticing the cycle timing all help. If low mood or anger is persistent or you feel you cannot cope, speak to your GP.

Oestrogen receptors sit in cartilage, tendons, muscle and bone, so falling oestrogen produces stiffness and aching, especially in the morning and often in the hands, hips and shoulders. Researchers named this the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause in 2024. Strength training, staying active and maintaining protein intake help. See your GP if a joint is hot, swollen or red, or if pain is one-sided and worsening, as those point to something else.

When ovulation is missed, no progesterone is made, so the womb lining keeps building under oestrogen alone and then sheds heavily and unpredictably. Fempower weights heavy or flooding periods mainly to low progesterone. Iron deficiency is a common knock-on effect and causes real fatigue. See your GP if you are flooding through protection hourly, bleeding for more than seven days, bleeding between periods or after sex, or feel breathless or exhausted, as all of these need checking.

They can be. Oestrogen fluctuations and a more reactive stress axis can produce a racing or thumping heart, often at night or alongside a hot flush, and anxiety amplifies it. In Fempower's model they sit mainly under cortisol and fluctuating oestrogen. That said, palpitations must not be assumed to be hormonal without a check: see your GP, and call emergency services if they come with chest pain, fainting or severe breathlessness.

Falling testosterone is the driver most often left out of the conversation, and Fempower weights low libido mainly to it, with low oestrogen, vaginal dryness, poor sleep and mood all contributing. Treating dryness, sleeping better and reducing stress often help more than expected. Testosterone can be prescribed for low libido in the UK by clinicians with experience in menopause care, so it is worth raising with your GP.

Falling oestrogen shifts where fat is stored, from hips to abdomen, and lower muscle mass, poorer sleep and higher cortisol all reduce how much energy you burn. Willpower has very little to do with it. Resistance training, protein at each meal and protecting sleep are the changes with the best evidence. See your GP if weight change is rapid or comes with other new symptoms.

Oestrogen supports collagen, skin hydration and the hair growth cycle, so as the baseline drops skin gets drier and thinner and hair can shed more. Fempower files both under low oestrogen. Gentle skincare, sun protection and checking iron and thyroid levels are sensible first steps. See your GP if hair loss is patchy or sudden, as that points to a different cause.

Oestrogen keeps vaginal and bladder tissue thick, elastic and well supplied with blood, so low oestrogen causes dryness, discomfort during sex, urgency and recurrent urinary infections. Doctors call this the genitourinary syndrome of menopause, and it tends to get worse over time. Local vaginal oestrogen is very effective and considered safe for most women long term, so please speak to your GP. Nobody should have to put up with it.

Migraine is often triggered by a sudden drop in oestrogen, which is why it clusters around periods, and perimenopause turns a predictable drop into an unpredictable series of them. Fempower weights headaches and migraine mainly to fluctuating oestrogen. Keeping a dated log is useful here because it shows your GP the pattern. See your GP if migraines are new, changing in character, or come with aura for the first time.

Perimenopausal fatigue usually has several causes stacked together: broken sleep from low progesterone, night sweats, iron loss from heavier periods, higher cortisol and low mood. Fempower looks at what else you are logging to work out which is doing most of the damage. Because thyroid problems and anaemia cause the same exhaustion, see your GP for basic blood tests if tiredness is persistent.

Progesterone is made after ovulation and is calming: it works on the GABA pathway, the same one that makes you drowsy. Because ovulation becomes less reliable years before oestrogen falls, progesterone is usually the first hormone to go, which is why early perimenopause so often shows up as poor sleep, anxiety and heavier periods. Hot flushes tend to come later.

It swings before it falls. In perimenopause oestrogen can spike above premenopausal levels and then crash within days, and those swings produce the worst weeks: migraines, mood changes, rage and breast tenderness. Only later does the baseline drop, bringing the low-oestrogen symptoms such as brain fog, dryness and joint pain.

Oestrogen receptors are everywhere: brain, joints, skin, bladder, vaginal tissue, bone and blood vessels. As the baseline drops, symptoms appear in places nobody warned you about, including brain fog, aching joints, dry skin, thinning hair, vaginal dryness and recurrent urinary infections. Over the longer term low oestrogen also affects bone density and heart health, which is part of why HRT is discussed.

Cortisol is your stress and wake-up hormone. It naturally climbs from around 3am to get you ready for the day, and daytime stress pushes it higher. Progesterone used to buffer it. With less progesterone, the ordinary overnight rise feels like being jolted awake, and daytime stress lands harder, which Fempower links to early waking, palpitations, exhaustion that sleep does not fix and feeling permanently switched on.

Yes. Women make testosterone in the ovaries and adrenal glands and need it for libido, motivation, muscle, stamina and mental energy. It declines gradually from the thirties, with no sudden drop at menopause, and it's the driver most often left out of the conversation. Fempower links it to low libido, flat motivation, loss of muscle and mental fatigue.

Because the hormones swing from week to week, a single measurement is a snapshot of a moving target: you can have a normal result on a Tuesday and be firmly perimenopausal. That is why NICE guidance says women over 45 with typical symptoms should be recognised from symptoms alone, without a blood test. Tests are useful for younger women and to rule out mimics such as thyroid problems.

No. FSH, the hormone that drives the ovaries, rises and falls throughout perimenopause and only settles high after menopause. A normal result on one day does not rule perimenopause out, particularly if you are over 45 and have typical symptoms. If your GP relies on that result alone, it is reasonable to ask for your symptoms to be considered in their own right, and Fempower gives you the wording to do that.

That week, the late luteal phase, is when progesterone is meant to be at its highest and then falls sharply, and oestrogen falls with it. In perimenopause progesterone may barely have risen in the first place, so the drop lands on an already-low baseline, which is why sleep, mood, anxiety and migraines all peak then. Fempower treats the late luteal phase as the symptom-peak window throughout the app.

Hormone replacement therapy tops up the hormones that are falling, usually oestrogen, with progesterone or a progestogen added to protect the womb lining if you still have a womb. It comes as patches, gels, sprays and tablets, and sometimes includes testosterone. In UK guidance it is the most effective treatment for hot flushes and night sweats and also helps sleep, mood, joint aches and vaginal symptoms for many women.

For most healthy women under 60, or within ten years of menopause, current UK guidance from NICE, updated in 2024, considers the benefits of HRT to outweigh the risks. The fears from the early 2000s were based on a study of older women using older forms of HRT, and the evidence has been substantially reassessed since. Risks vary with the type of HRT and your own history, so the decision is individual and one to make with your GP or a menopause specialist.

Body-identical HRT uses hormones with the same molecular structure as your own, typically oestradiol through the skin and micronised progesterone, and is available on NHS prescription. Older synthetic forms use different molecules and are associated with slightly higher risks of clots and breast cancer in the evidence. Compounded bioidentical hormones from private clinics are a different thing again and are not recommended by NICE or the British Menopause Society.

There is no fixed limit in current UK guidance. Many women take it for several years and some for much longer, with the balance of benefits and risks reviewed with their GP at least annually. Stopping is a decision based on how you feel and your own risk profile. There's no automatic cut-off at five years.

Yes. HRT can be prescribed for perimenopausal symptoms while you are still menstruating, usually as a cyclical regime that keeps a monthly bleed. Some women use body-identical progesterone alone for sleep and heavy bleeding early on. It does not act as contraception, so you still need that separately. Your GP can talk through which regime fits where you are.

Vaginal oestrogen is a very low-dose cream, pessary, gel or ring applied locally to treat dryness, discomfort and recurrent urinary infections. Almost none of it reaches the rest of the body, so it is considered safe for most women to use long term, including many who cannot take systemic HRT, and it can be used alongside HRT. Ask your GP; it is one of the most effective and under-used treatments in menopause care.

Yes, in the UK it can be prescribed for low sexual desire that has not improved on HRT, usually by a clinician with experience in menopause care, using products licensed for men at a fraction of the dose. Evidence supports it for libido; evidence for energy, mood and brain fog is weaker and still being studied. Raise it with your GP if libido is a problem for you.

There are real alternatives. Two newer non-hormonal medicines, fezolinetant and elinzanetant, act directly on the brain's temperature control and reduce hot flushes without hormones. Some antidepressants, gabapentin and clonidine are also used. Cognitive behavioural therapy is recommended by NICE for hot flushes, sleep and mood. Your GP can help you weigh these against your history and preferences.

Yes, according to several trials and the 2024 NICE guideline, which recommends cognitive behavioural therapy as an option for hot flushes, night sweats, sleep problems and low mood in menopause. The hormonal changes carry on underneath, and CBT reduces how much the symptoms interfere with your life, with an effect that lasts. It can be used alone or alongside HRT.

The evidence is thinner than the marketing suggests, though there is some. Magnesium has modest support for sleep and muscle tension and is low risk for most people, which is why Fempower includes it as something to try, with a clear follow-up so you can see whether it did anything for you. Most other menopause supplements have weak or inconsistent evidence. Check with your GP or pharmacist first if you take other medicines or have kidney problems.

It means each suggestion in the knowledge base is traceable to a guideline such as NICE NG23, a peer-reviewed study or an established clinical position statement, and is described honestly, including when the evidence is modest. It also means every suggestion is falsifiable for you personally: Fempower checks back after a set interval and records whether it helped, so your own results outrank the general case over time.

Yes. During onboarding you can say your cycles are irregular, that you have no periods, that you have a hormonal coil, or that you are not sure. Fempower then leans on symptom timing and daily check-ins instead of cycle day, and stops showing phase-based predictions it cannot support.

Yes. If your ovaries were kept, perimenopause still happens, just without periods to signal it, so symptom timing becomes the main clue and Fempower is set up for exactly that. If your ovaries were removed you will have gone through surgical menopause, and the explanations and GP scripts still apply, though your treatment conversation with your GP will be different.

Very. Getting HRT right is often months of adjustment, and the useful question is whether a change really improved things. Fempower's follow-up loop is built for exactly that: a dated record of what you tried and what happened, which is also the most useful thing to bring to a review appointment.

The combined pill masks natural cycles and can hide or soften perimenopause symptoms, so Fempower will not try to infer a cycle phase from bleeding while you are on it. You can still log symptoms and get explanations. Tell Fempower during onboarding and mention it to your GP, because the pill also affects which tests and treatments make sense.

One symptom gets you an explanation immediately. Patterns need roughly two to three weeks of occasional logging before they mean anything. You do not need to log every day, and Fempower will not scold you if you do not.

Yes. You can backdate a log to an earlier day and time, which matters because the hour a symptom happened is part of how Fempower works out the likely driver. A 3am waking and a 3pm slump are different stories.

A GP script is a short, plain sentence or two you can say at an appointment to describe a symptom precisely and ask for the right thing, for example naming how often it happens, how long it has been going on and what you have already tried. Every one of Fempower's 19 symptoms has one. Appointments are short, and being specific gets better results than hoping the right words arrive.

When you accept a suggestion, Fempower sets a follow-up interval that fits it, typically ten to fourteen days. When that comes round it asks a single question: did it help, make no difference or make things worse. The answer is recorded against the suggestion, so over time Fempower leads with what has worked for you personally.

One short, specific note each day drawn from what you have logged, where you are in your cycle if that applies, and what you are currently trying. It might explain why a symptom is likely this week, remind you of a follow-up, or point out a pattern. One a day, on purpose, so it stays worth reading.

Yes. Fempower can produce a dated summary of your logged symptoms, what you have tried and what happened, which you can save or share before an appointment. A read-only web view for this is on the roadmap. You can also export all of your data in full at any time from inside the app.

Only ones you choose. Fempower can remind you to check in, tell you when a follow-up is due and deliver the daily insight, and each of these can be turned off separately. There are no streaks, badges or nudges designed to pull you back into the app.

You can log symptoms without a connection and they sync when you are back online. The assistant and the daily insight need a connection, because they're generated on Fempower's servers.

English only at launch, written in UK English and from UK clinical practice. Other languages and localised guidance are planned to follow.

Not at launch. Fempower is designed for a phone, because that is what is next to you at 3am. It runs on iPad but is not laid out for it yet. A read-only web view for exporting a summary before a GP appointment is on the roadmap.

Fempower supports Dynamic Type so text scales with your iPhone settings, works with VoiceOver, respects reduced motion, and uses colour contrast that meets accessibility guidelines. If something does not work with the assistive technology you use, email support@fempower.ai and we'll fix it as a bug.

Fempower's assistant is built on a large language model from a major AI provider, and it's constrained to Fempower's own curated knowledge base. The model reads what you write and selects and explains the relevant entries; it cannot invent a symptom, a hormone driver or a suggestion that is not already in there. Your messages are not used to train the provider's models.

It can take a sentence typed however it comes out, work out which symptom you are describing, explain the hormone most likely behind it, offer specific things to try and give you the words for your GP. It cannot diagnose you, interpret test results, recommend a prescription medicine or dose, or tell you a symptom is nothing to worry about. When something needs a GP, it says so.

Your messages and relevant recent logs are sent to Fempower's model provider to generate a reply, over an encrypted connection, and are not used to train their models. If you would rather not use the assistant at all, the rest of the app works without it.

No. The assistant isn't a clinician and isn't supervised by one in real time, so nothing it says is medical advice. It works more like a well-organised, patient explainer that knows when to send you to your GP. Fempower is a wellbeing and information app. It is not a medical device.

Fempower carries on. A rule-based engine uses the identical knowledge base to match your logged symptom to its drivers, explanation, suggestions and GP script, so you still get an answer, just without the free-text conversation. Nothing you log is lost.

It is stored encrypted, never sold, and never shared with advertisers. There are no advertising SDKs or third-party trackers in the app. You can export or delete everything from inside the app, and deletion is permanent.

On encrypted infrastructure hosted in the UK and EU, with encryption in transit and at rest. Access is restricted to what is needed to run the service, and Fempower Health Ltd is the data controller under UK GDPR. The privacy policy lists the specific processors used.

No. Fempower does not sell personal data, does not share it with advertisers or data brokers, and does not use health data for advertising of any kind. The only third parties that see any of it are the processors needed to run the service, such as hosting and the AI model provider, each under a contract that forbids other use.

You can access, export, correct and delete your data, object to or restrict certain processing, and withdraw consent at any time. Export and deletion are built into the app so you do not have to ask. For anything else, email privacy@fempower.ai and you will get a response from a person within the legal timeframe.

From inside the app, in settings, in two taps. Deletion removes your account and all logged data from Fempower's systems and is permanent. If you cannot access the app, email privacy@fempower.ai from the address on the account and it will be done for you.

Not at launch. Reading cycle, sleep and heart-rate data from Apple Health is on the roadmap because it would make the timing of symptoms more accurate, but it will be opt-in and clearly explained when it arrives. Fempower will never write to Apple Health without asking.

No. An email address is needed to create an account so that your data can be recovered if you change phone and so that deletion requests can be verified. That's all it's used for. You won't be asked for card details, a social login or access to your contacts.

No. Fempower is a wellbeing and information app. It does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, and it has not been through medical device regulatory approval. Everything it suggests is the kind of thing you could reasonably discuss with your GP, and it tells you when a conversation with your GP is the right next step.

A curated knowledge base written for the app: 19 symptoms, each linked to weighted hormone drivers with an explanation, a GP script and several concrete suggestions across seven categories. The content draws on UK guidance including NICE NG23, position statements from the British Menopause Society and peer-reviewed research. The AI assistant is constrained to that knowledge base, so it can only select and explain entries that already exist.

It will never diagnose you or tell you whether you are in perimenopause, recommend a prescription medicine or a dose or a change to medication you are already on, interpret blood tests, replace a conversation with your GP or menopause specialist, or handle emergencies. Those limits are deliberate and are built into the knowledge base and the assistant.

Do not use the app. For chest pain, severe breathlessness, very heavy bleeding, fainting, or thoughts of harming yourself, contact emergency services on 999 in the UK, or go to A&E. If you are struggling with your mental health and it is not an emergency, contact your GP or NHS 111, or the Samaritans on 116 123.

Tell Fempower. Every explanation and suggestion can be flagged from inside the app, and reports go straight to the people who maintain the knowledge base. Corrections are made to the knowledge base directly, which means they reach every user, and the sources for each entry are reviewed when guidance changes.

The Fempower team writes and maintains the knowledge base, working from UK clinical guidance and published research, and each entry is traceable to its sources. Fempower doesn't claim clinical authorship it doesn't have. It is an information and wellbeing tool, and its content is there to help you have a better conversation with a qualified clinician.

Fempower launches on iPhone first. Join the list and you'll be emailed on the day it goes live. That's one email, and nothing else.

Enter your email in any of the sign-up boxes on fempower.ai. That is the whole process. You can choose iPhone or Android when asked so you hear about the right one, and you can unsubscribe with one click from any email.

Rarely. Fempower emails the waitlist when the app is live, and occasionally if there is a beta you asked to hear about. There are no newsletters or drip campaigns, and your address is never shared with anyone.

A small TestFlight beta runs before launch. Places are offered from the waitlist, so join it and reply to the email if you would like to be considered. Beta testers are asked for honest feedback on whether the explanations land and the suggestions help. You won't be expected to hunt for bugs.

iOS 16 or later, which covers iPhone 8 and newer. Fempower is built for iPhone; it runs on iPad but is not designed for it yet.

The app is built cross-platform, so Android is a matter of finishing and testing, with nothing to rebuild. It follows the iOS release. Sign up and choose Android when asked and you will hear as soon as there is a beta.

Free. There is no subscription, trial or card required at launch. If a paid tier is introduced later, existing users will be told well in advance and the core of logging, explanations and GP scripts will stay usable without paying.

Fempower is a UK-built iPhone app that acts as a personal assistant for perimenopause, connecting a woman's symptoms to the hormone most likely behind them, suggesting specific evidence-based things to try, checking back on whether they worked, and giving her the words for her GP appointment.

Name: Fempower. Website: fempower.ai. Legal entity: Fempower Health Ltd, United Kingdom. Product: an iPhone app for perimenopause, iOS 16 or later, with Android to follow. Price: free at launch. Content: a curated knowledge base of 19 symptoms, five hormone drivers and over ninety suggestions, written from UK clinical practice. Regulatory status: a wellbeing and information app. It is not a medical device. Contact: hello@fempower.ai.

Cite it as Fempower, Frequently asked questions, fempower.ai/faq, and include the question's anchor link where possible, for example fempower.ai/faq#is-hrt-safe. Each answer is written to stand alone. The page shows the date it was last updated; medical answers reflect UK guidance as of that date and should not be treated as individual medical advice.

Email hello@fempower.ai with press in the subject line and a person will reply. Fempower can provide product screenshots, the brand mark and a short founder background on request.

No. Fempower does not offer a public API, and user data is never made available to third parties. The website, including the journal and this FAQ, is freely readable and may be summarised and linked to.

Possibly. Fempower is interested in working with menopause clinics, GP practices, employers building menopause support, and researchers, provided any arrangement keeps user data private and the app free of advertising. Email hello@fempower.ai with a short description of what you have in mind.