Is there a test to determine menopause?
Yes, there is. It involves a blood test where pathologists measure estrogen levels, the most active form of estrogen being estradiol. Salivary hormone assays, said to be more accurate, can measure not just estradiol, but profile ALL your steroid and adrenal hormones.
- Generally less than 200 pmol/L indicates menopause and post menopause.
- Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) will be high, usually between 40 and 200 mIU/mL (levels tend to be 10-15 times higher than the normal levels of a premenopausal woman).
The reason for elevated FSH levels is the body’s attempt to reactivate the ‘flagging’ ovaries due to the end of reproductivity. This is nature taking it’s course, and will settle in time once the signals between the brain and the ovaries (biofeedback mechanism) have accepted that the ovaries have gone to sleep, and the body makes other adjustments to compensate for this.
