How Can I Test for Menopause?

While the average age for a woman to reach menopause is in her early fifties, there is no definitive way to accurately predict when the hormonal changes actually start in each individual woman. Perimenopausal symptoms can begin as early as her thirties or as late as her sixties, and if you believe you may be entering the perimenopausal phase, the best course of action is to seek the advice of your health care professional.

There are two blood tests that can be administered to diagnose the onset of menopause. However, neither one is completely accurate in determining if a woman is actually experiencing the effects of perimenopause.

One test involves measuring levels of estriadol in the bloodstream. Estriadol is a form of estrogen, and the serum estrogen test will identify levels under 50 pg/ml (picograms per milliliter). Levels of 20 to 30 pg/ml is considered by most professionals to indicate menopause.

The other test looks for high levels of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormones), typically below 30 pg/ml in premenopausal women. This level has been known to reach as high as 100 pg/ml in women experiencing menopause. FSH is produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate egg production in the ovaries, and levels rise as menopause sets in and the ovaries stop working.

Again, these tests are not completely accurate due to the fact hormone levels fluctuate greatly in individual women, even as often as one day to the next. A reliable blood test that predicts when a woman is entering or already in menopause does not exist in a simple, user-friendly form. Therefore, if a woman in her fifth to sixth decades of life has had no menstrual cycle for twelve months, and there are no medical reasons for its cessation, then she is considered to be in menopause.

There are indications that the loss of estrogen in menopausal women can directly contribute to osteoporosis. Therefore, it is highly recommended that women undergo a Bone Mineral Density Test to measure the amount of calcium in certain areas of your bones. Done fully dressed, it involves taking an x-ray of the hip and lower spine and is over in less than ten minutes.

No one knows a woman's body better than she does, so the best indication of perimenopause she has is her own observation of changes when they happen. Some of the things that women should look for are:

• Abnormal vaginal bleeding
While some women may not notice any abnormal bleeding whatsoever, others may experience excessive and/or unpredictable bleeding. Generally, a woman's cycles are more frequent and shorter in duration at first, but get farther apart and longer in duration until they stop altogether.

• Intermittent menstrual cycles
It is not uncommon for a woman in perimenopause to have a menstrual period after going several months without one. There's no barometer to gauge when a woman's cycle will completely stop, so any irregular periods should be reported to a health care professional to determine if they are due to menopause or if they are the result of any other medical conditions.

• Hot flashes
Very common in menopausal women, but also very misunderstood. There's no way to tell when hot flashes will begin or how long they will last. Quite simply, a hot flash is a warm feeling that covers the entire body, usually followed by some amount of perspiring. No one really knows what cause hot flashes, but it is thought they are due in part to some sort of hormonal fluctuations.

Five years is the average length of time for the occurrence of hot flashes, although in some women they have been reported to last for decades. The frequency does tend to subside over time.

• Moodiness and irritability
Sometimes these symptoms are not readily clear, but drastic changes in mood seem to go hand in hand with menopause. The difficulty is that mood changes are so common, there’s no easy way to determine if they are an indication of menopause in an individual woman. Sometimes moods can be affected by outside sources, such as fatigue. It is possible that irritability can be the direct result of other menopausal symptoms like insomnia.

• Vaginal symptoms
Typically these symptoms occur a few years after a woman's menstrual cycle has stopped.. She may experience dryness, itching, irritation, and pain during sexual intercourse. All of these are the result of the loss of estrogen in her system.

Home test kits to measure FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) in your urine are available, but they are not going to definitively answer whether or not you are in menopause. They will only indicate if you have a high level of FSH in your blood. If you are experiencing several of the other symptoms and you get a high reading from this test, you should make an appointment to see your health care practitioner for further direction.

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