What is the Blood Test for Menopause?

What’s covered?

The hormones flowing in your blood provide information about your sexual and reproductive health.

According to the National Institute of Health and care excellence (NICE), ''Menopause means the time or age at which the female ovaries stop producing the eggs, consequently, the menstrual periods stop (since at least a year) and she loses the ability to become pregnant''.

It is not an abrupt change and occurs slowly and a premenopausal period occurs. The usual age varies between 45-55 years but may vary depending upon health conditions. How to know if you are moving toward menopause? Let's understand.

Menopausal symptoms are too obvious

The physiological changes related to menopause also cause changes in hormones (remember that ovary also produces hormones). The changes in the levels of these hormones can provide you with a clue to know if you have menopause or not. The females may experience several menopause symptoms e.g.,

• Loss of concentration
• Mood swings
• Changing sleep patterns
• Abnormal vaginal discharge and vaginal dryness
• Irregular periods etc...

These symptoms could also be due to various other causes. However, if you are observing premature menopause, you need to diagnose it through laboratory tests.

Blood tests, the novel tool to diagnose menopause

As the symptoms of menopause are non-specific, the blood tests will help you to decide if the cause is menopause or not. So, you should go for these tests if the cause of menopausal symptoms is not clear. If however, the cause is clear, they are not advisable. The menopause blood test results in combination with symptoms confirm menopause.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH)

The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the luteinising hormone (LH) act on ovaries to cause the release of an egg, while oestrogen and progesterone are produced by the ovary. Consequently, a non-functional ovary will become non-responsive to FSH and LH and will not produce adequate oestrogen and progesterone.

So, if the doctor suspects early menopause, he can ask you to undergo tests for these hormone levels. The elevated level of the FSH (ovary is not taking FSH) from blood would mean the ovaries are not functioning properly and you are in the premenopausal stage or have undergone complete menopause.

The FSH levels in non-cyclic (menopaused) females reach 25.8-134.8 IU/L which is 4-5 times of a cyclic female. However, the results of the FSH test could vary due to a variety of causes and these results should be interpreted carefully through multiple tests at regular intervals would be helpful. Similarly, the level of LH reaches 2-3 times (14.2-52.3 IU/L) after the end of the menstrual cycle.

Some other tests that may help you to decide are;

Anti-Mullerian hormone

This test is done on a blood sample and can tell you the initiation of menopause and can even tell you the cause of the early onset of menopause. It is used for the diagnosis of premature ovarian insufficiency.

The levels of this hormone begin to fall in premenopausal women until they can't be detected after menopause.

Oestrogen test

A blood, urine or saliva sample can be used for this test. This test diagnoses menstrual disturbances by measuring various oestrogens in the urine or blood. The fall of oestrogen in postmenopausal periods can necessitate hormone replacement therapy.

Home testing

You can conduct these tests at home too. The commercial kits are available for FSH, LH, and oestrogens that can help you to check your status at home.

See the Welzo Menopause Blood Test here. To learn more about menopause, see our information page here.

For a full range of blood tests and medications, visit our Welzo Online Pharmacy Page.