Cara Care: IBS, FODMAP Tracker

I’ve only been using it for a few days but so far I really like the amount of detail you can add about your symptoms and other factors beyond food. One small thing that would be a huge improvement for me would be having a wider range of hours available in the “how much sleep did you get” section, since I suffer from fatigue related to my symptoms I regularly sleep 10+ hours a night and the sleep tracker only goes up to 8+, which make it hard to see if sleeping only 8 or 9 hours has an effect on my symptoms vs 10 or 11 hours. The sleep tracker also has pretty wide chunks of 2 whole hours, which I would think also makes this harder to track. That’s my only comment, otherwise great app! edit 2023: can’t really complain about a free app and in general cara care is amazing, but I wanted to report a small bug/UI issue that is very frustrating, which is that swiping down cancels a report before you’ve saved it. I’m not sure why this feature exists, since there is a very obvious cancel button, and the amount of times that I’ve wanted to delete an entire report I’ve written before saving it is far surpassed by the number of times I’ve accidentally slightly swiped down while trying to press the Save All button, thus deleting my carefully registered meal, symptoms, etc. and having to start over from zero due to a careless motion. Please please please if you can eliminate this gesture it would be a time saver!!!

I can’t believe this app is free!! I gladly would’ve paid for it though, this is hand-tailored to IBD. So long as you’re keeping up with it it will help you identify trigger foods and you can actually see how hydration & exercise can improve your overall symptoms! It tracks sleep, moods, stress, tummy pain, periods, meds, water, just about everything! And not only that but it offers little tags to specify and elaborate whatever’s going on. For ex: if you have a head ache, the app tracks how severe the pain is, is it pressure, pounding, cluster, is it in the front or the back of your head, and you can even create your own! [I will say that I wish it let me record half-tablets when taking medication (but you can put in the mg amount so that’s what I’ve been doing instead) and I also wish it let you track the tags on your symptoms along with the symptoms itself. I could be feeling really nauseous and dizzy but all that shows up in the tracker is a mild headache.] But all in all it’s really been a lifesaver for me. I have really bad ADHD and it’s always been extremely hard to stay on top of my meds (vitamins included), how much water I’m drinking, my mental health & just any kind of routine in general. Plus with this new Crohns diagnosis & trying to learn what I can & cant do & eat now & dealing with all these crazy symptoms was making my depression & anxiety 10x worse. This app has finally given me some sense of control over my body & life again.

There are no ads in this free app, and if it weren’t free I would gladly pay for it. I have IBS and GERD, and tracking all of my symptoms can be difficult. I usually use MyFitnessPal for food intake but because I don’t have premium, I can’t see the times I ate so I couldn’t correlate foods with symptoms. But this app, Cara, tracks the minute you enter something. You can retroactively add something as well, but only in 15-minute increments. My phone is basically always on me anyway so that’s not a bother. My only complaint is that it doesn’t count “today” as “today” until after 4 am. Sometimes my symptoms cause me to wake at 3 in the morning and it will track it as if it’s the day before. Honestly this would’ve been perfect when I worked swing shift.... oh well. I like that you can add your own meds, foods, create favorite meals so if you eat the same food every day you just select it. No worries about calorie/nutrient info either like in MFP, so you just type what you ate and add it. You can add your own tags in the symptoms, plus there is a journal tab too so you can take notes in the same entry as your food/symptoms. Really, can’t ask for better. This is an ideal app for any symptoms for any ailment. I have been using this for a while and for those who are having crashing issues... I suggest updating your iOS. I haven’t had a single functioning issue with this app yet.