SoftaStage
Where you are — and what comes next
“Am I even in perimenopause?” is often the first question, and the hardest one to answer alone. Softa gives you a starting estimate from what you tell it about your cycle, age and symptoms — a starting point for a conversation with a doctor, never a diagnosis.
The path: pre / early / late / menopause / postmenopause
Perimenopause isn't one state — it's a range that typically moves from pre-perimenopause (cycles still regular, symptoms may already be starting) through perimenopause (increasing cycle irregularity) to menopause itself (the 12-month mark) and postmenopause after that. Softa's estimate uses four steps along that path — pre-perimenopause, perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause — and shows where your answers place you. It doesn't split perimenopause into early and late; that finer staging (STRAW+10) is something a clinician applies.
How Softa estimates it, in plain words
The estimate comes from a short set of rules applied to your quiz answers: how your cycle has changed (or whether it has already stopped), your age, and how many symptoms you reported. It's not a blood test and it's not machine learning — the rules are simple enough to explain. It's a starting point from day one, not a running score.
Where the estimate is most and least certain
Softa is most confident when you tell it directly — for example that your periods stopped 12 or more months ago. It's least certain when you say your cycle is regular or you're not sure, and it then leans on how many symptoms you reported. Menopause caused by surgery or treatment is recognised as its own case, because it arrives abruptly. Things the quiz doesn't ask about — an IUD, hormonal contraception, HRT already in use — can hide or change cycle signals, so mention them to your doctor.
Why this is a starting point, not a diagnosis
Only a doctor, generally with bloodwork and a full history, can give you an actual diagnosis. Softa's stage estimate is explicitly informational — a way to understand your own answers and history, and a useful starting point for an appointment, not a replacement for one.
What actually changes in the app by stage
Your estimated stage shapes the content you see first — which guidance and questions Softa puts forward — so the app isn't showing the same generic material to everyone regardless of where they are. Separately, the 12-month counter in cycle tracking follows your real logged periods.
Questions
Is Softa's stage estimate a diagnosis?
No. It's an informational estimate based on your answers and history — a starting point for a conversation with a doctor, never a diagnosis. Only a doctor can diagnose you.
What if I have an IUD, take hormonal contraception, or had a hysterectomy?
The quiz has an option for menopause caused by surgery or treatment, but it doesn't ask about IUDs or contraception, and those can mask cycle changes. Treat the estimate as less reliable if any of that applies, and tell your doctor.
Does the estimate change over time?
The stage estimate is based on your quiz answers, so it changes if you retake the assessment. What does keep updating as you log is your cycle history and the 12-month counter, which you can bring to a doctor.
Can Softa tell me I'm in menopause?
If you tell us your periods have stopped, Softa reflects that in your estimate, and the cycle tracker counts your real progress toward the clinical 12-month mark — but a formal determination is still a conversation to have with your doctor, especially if anything about your history is unusual.