Menopause blood test
Navigating the changes that come with menopause can be challenging, but understanding where you are in the process is an essential step towards better health. A Menopause Blood Test is a simple and effective way to gain insight into your hormonal balance, helping you understand symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, and sleep disruptions.
By testing key hormones like FSH, oestrogen, and progesterone, this test provides a clearer picture of your menopause journey allowing you to make informed decisions about your health. Whether you're approaching menopause or already experiencing symptoms, this test can be a valuable tool for managing your health.
What is menopause?
Menopause is a natural phase in a woman’s life that marks the end of her menstrual cycles and reproductive years. It typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, though the timing can vary. Menopause is officially diagnosed when a woman has gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. This transition is driven by a decrease in the production of hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone, which can lead to a range of physical and emotional symptoms.
While menopause itself is not a medical condition, the symptoms can significantly impact a woman’s quality of life. Understanding these changes through tests, like a menopause blood test, can provide valuable insights and help manage symptoms effectively.
Common symptoms of menopause
Knowing the common symptoms of menopause can help you identify if you may be experiencing menopause. Although symptom length and severity can vary significantly from woman to woman, in general, most women will experience:
- Irregular periods – this could be more infrequent periods, changes to the length or flow of your periods, or even spotting in between your periods (any spotting symptoms should be investigated by your GP to rule out other causes).
- Hot flushes – these tend to be short and intense and can cause profuse sweating, blotchiness on your face and neck, dizziness and disrupt your sleep.
- Night sweats – body temperature changes through the night can cause you to wake up and struggle to get back to sleep.
- Vaginal dryness – falling oestrogen levels can cause the lining of the vagina to become thinner and drier, making sex more painful and uncomfortable.
- Difficulty sleeping – it can be harder to fall asleep or you may start to wake up multiple times in the night (often not helped by hot flashes and night sweats).
- Low mood – you may find yourself more irritable, anxious or confused than normal which can lead to lower mood and even depression.
- Reduced sex drive – falling oestrogen and testosterone levels can cause you to lose interest in sex.
- Memory and concentration difficulties – this can affect your work as well as your personal life.
- Dry skin – as oestrogen levels drop, the production of collagen and elastin in your skin reduces, which can cause your skin to become thinner, looser, and you may notice more wrinkles.
- Muscle and joint pains – it is common for women to experience aches, stiffness and swelling around their joints during the menopause.
Why should I have a menopause blood test?
A menopause blood test provides crucial insights into your hormonal health, helping you understand where you are in your menopause journey. While symptoms such as hot flashes, irregular periods, and mood swings are common indicators of menopause, a blood test offers a more accurate picture by measuring key hormones like FSH, oestrogen, and progesterone. Here’s why you should consider a menopause blood test:
- Confirm Menopause and Perimenopause A blood test can help confirm whether you're in the early stages of menopause (perimenopause) or have fully transitioned into menopause. This can provide clarity, especially if you are experiencing symptoms but are unsure about the cause.
- Understand Hormonal Imbalances Hormonal changes are at the core of menopause symptoms. By measuring hormone levels, a blood test helps identify imbalances, enabling your healthcare provider to tailor the best treatment plan to address specific symptoms.
- Track Your Progress Menopause is a gradual process, and symptoms can vary over time. Regular blood tests allow you to monitor hormone fluctuations and track your progress, ensuring that your treatment or management approach is aligned with your needs.
- Make Informed Health Decisions With clear data on your hormone levels, you can make more informed decisions about treatment options, lifestyle adjustments, and how to best manage your symptoms. This test can guide you in seeking appropriate therapies, whether that’s hormone replacement therapy (HRT), dietary changes, or alternative treatments.
Ultimately, a menopause blood test helps you gain control over your health during this significant transition, providing you with the knowledge to manage symptoms and improve your wellbeing.
Limitations of a menopause blood test
Although a menopause blood test can be beneficial, it is important to understand that there are some limitations to testing. That’s because naturally fluctuating hormone levels during perimenopause (the years before a woman’s periods stop completely) can create varied results.
As a result, a menopause blood test must be interpreted by a doctor alongside a history of your symptoms to ensure more accurate insights into your hormone health are provided.
At Bluecrest Wellness, our Advanced Menopause Profile package includes a GP consultation to ensure that your results are both reviewed and explained to you fully and you aren’t left with unanswered questions about your hormone health.
Can an at-home menopause blood test diagnose menopause?
Although home menopause testing kits are available, we don’t recommend using them as the results can be misleading and inaccurate.
Fluctuating hormone levels during perimenopause mean blood tests alone cannot determine menopause. Additional information about your medical history, menstrual history and symptoms is also required for a healthcare provider to offer meaningful insight into whether your symptoms are likely due to menopause.
At Bluecrest Wellness, our Advanced Menopause Profile blood test includes a private GP consultation as well as testing five key hormone markers to enable us to offer more comprehensive insight into your symptoms.
Advanced Menopause Profile Package
At Bluecrest Wellness, our Advanced Menopause Profile has been designed to offer comprehensive insights into your hormonal changes to help determine if you are experiencing menopause. It can also be useful for women taking HRT treatment in planning and adjusting their medication.
Going one step further than a standard menopause blood test, our package offers insights into five key hormone markers:
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) – FSH plays a crucial role in promoting egg growth in the ovaries each month and stimulating the production of oestrogen. As women approach menopause they naturally stop producing eggs causing FSH levels to rise. As a result, elevated FSH levels can be an indicator of the onset of menopause.
- Oestradiol – this is the main naturally occurring oestrogen in a woman’s body. Low blood levels can indicate menopause.
- Testosterone – although often considered a male sex hormone, women have small amounts of testosterone to help maintain hormonal balance. Abnormally high or low levels can indicate an adrenal problem which may be responsible for the symptoms you are experiencing.
- Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) – Changes to SHBG levels can affect the amount of testosterone available to be used by the body. Abnormal levels can cause symptoms such as mood swings, weight gain, low sex drive and infertility, so can be useful to rule out.
- Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) – TSH triggers the thyroid gland to produce and release hormones essential for normal hormonal balance. Issues with the thyroid can cause similar symptoms to menopause so it is important to look at these levels alongside more traditional menopause blood tests like FSH levels.
In addition to receiving insights into key blood markers, with our Advanced Menopause Profile test, you also get the peace of mind of having a GP consultation to discuss your results. This ensures that you have the chance to ask any questions and fully understand what your results mean for you.
Book an Advanced Menopause Profile Package
If you are experiencing symptoms you believe may be related to menopause and want peace of mind, book a private Advanced Menopause Profile blood test. At Bluecrest Wellness, this comprehensive package provides insights into five key female hormones as well as a private GP consultation to discuss your symptoms to help determine if you are experiencing menopause. It can also help you plan and adjust treatment options like hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to your bespoke needs.
We offer appointments across the UK, so you can book a menopause blood test at a time and location to suit you. Plus, you can be confident that we will deliver fast, efficient and accurate results as we have established links with leading UK laboratories and are fully accredited for a wide range of private blood checks.
