A menopause test checks levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FHS) in blood or urine, but it is not always reliable due to fluctuating levels and the fact that menopause is a process, not a destination. Doctors may focus on symptoms instead of the test results. Some women may still want to take the test out of curiosity or frustration. Home testing kits are available.
A menopause test is an analysis of a blood or urine sample to check levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FHS) which is available as an indicator of the onset of menopause. Normally, this hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland a few days before the onset of menstruation. Its function is to stimulate the ovaries to activate a mature follicle and release an egg. Once conception or menstruation occurs, FHS levels return to normal and progesterone levels rise. However, FHS levels rise when estrogen levels decline with age or because the ovaries fail to respond to biochemical triggers to prepare the uterus for pregnancy or to shed its lining.
While it would be extremely convenient to believe that a simple test can definitively confirm whether or not a woman has reached menopause, a menopause test isn’t necessarily very reliable. For one thing, unless a hysterectomy has occurred, there’s no way to accurately predict when menopause will occur. Also, most women intuitively know when menopause is approaching due to irregular menstrual periods. However, menopause is not a destination with an expected arrival on a certain birthday. Indeed, it is a process that can take several years to complete, even a decade.
Most experts agree that menopause testing presents challenges in terms of accurately accounting for fluctuating levels of FHS. Indeed, FHS levels can fluctuate considerably during periods of missed periods and restarts of regular periods, a very common occurrence in perimenopausal women. In a different scenario, FHS levels may appear normal on a menopause test, but you experience hot flashes and other symptoms because the balance of estrogen and progesterone levels are out of sync. It is also possible for a woman to have regular periods and normal FHS levels, but without releasing an egg for fertilization. In other words, there are perfectly normal reasons why fluctuations in FHS occur from month to month and a test might declare a woman menopausal on one test occasion and not the next.
In short, a menopause test shouldn’t be considered a marker for menopause, as one might view the results of a cholesterol test as an indicator of the potential for heart disease. In fact, many doctors prefer to give up the test and focus on the symptoms that may indicate that the transition to menopause is underway. For that matter, a doctor is unlikely to treat a woman unless the uncomfortable symptoms are severe, regardless of the results of a menopause test.
That doesn’t mean that the menopause test is a complete waste of time. Some women want their FSH levels tested out of curiosity or sheer frustration at having taken so long to reach menopause. The test can be performed in the doctor’s office or in the privacy of the home. In fact, there are several home menopause testing kits available to purchase without a prescription from most pharmacies and online sources.
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