Choosing To Take A Menopause Hormone Test

Whether it is for pre, during, or post menopausal hormone replacement, there is sometimes menopause hormone testing that women will do to try and find out whether they are in need of replacement hormones to help regulate their bodies. However, there are some problems with menopause hormone tests because the normal levels in women's bodies have such a large range of variation in them depending on what time of the month it is. The menopause hormone testing only gives the woman an idea of what the hormone levels are on that particular day and time. Those levels can change from day to day and are not an accurate reading on whether she needs to have a hormone replacement therapy.

Types of Testing

There are several means of doing menopause hormone testing, and each has their difficulties. There is the urine test, which requires that all urine is collected over a twenty-four hour period of time. It has to be kept on ice and tested accurately in order for the true hormone levels to be calibrated from it.

Another type of menopause hormone test is that of a blood test. This one is a little easier to collect, as it only needs 2 cc's of blood to do it. This one is usually more accurate than the urine test, but again is only a snapshot of what is going on in the body. It only shows the amount of estrogen that is actually circulating in the body when the test is taken, but it does not show the estrogen that is bound in the body.

Finally, there is also a menopause hormone test that uses saliva to do it, but this is the least accurate of all the tests right now. It is usually done by the companies that sell the hormone replacements, so it is to be skeptically considered.

The best way to find out if hormone replacement therapy is to be used is by talking to the doctor about the symptoms that are being experienced. Once the doctor thinks that a hormone replacement will be helpful with the symptoms, which are debilitating, then the form of replacement has to be considered. There are pill forms of replacement, and there are also many other forms as well. There are vaginal tablets, creams, and rings that can be used. There are also some implants that are helpful and shots also work for other women.