FSH has the job of stimulating ovulation during your period . Every month FSH rises so that it can encourage the release of eggs that will travel through the fallopian tubes ready for fertilization. At the same time that FSH rises, levels of estrogen drop. Once the egg has been released, your body will either prepare itself for pregnancy or carry on to produce a period.
The FSH test involves taking a blood sample and checking the level of FSH present.
For:If the results show that you have a high level of FSH present, it could be that you body is attempting to start ovulation. If this is the case and your body is being unsuccessful, this could be one of the first signs of menopause. FSH levels over 50 mlU/mL could indicate this.
Against: May not very helpful in Perimenopause stage as it gives insufficient information. Women can be experiencing severe menopausal symptoms and yet their FSH level may remain at the "premenopausal" stage. The FSH test only tells you if you have a high FSH level. It doesn't tell you if you are definitely in menopause (or premenopausal or perimenopausal.
If you do decide that a FSH test is right for you, the first step I would advise would be to seek your doctor`s advice and go on from there. If however, you wish to purchase a kit so that you can perform the test in at home, you can choose from either a urine test or a saliva test. The urine test is simply a matter of placing a stick into your urine flow and you will see a result within minutes. This method yields results that are approximately 90% accurate. The saliva test requires you to send a sample to a testing laboratory and wait until you receive the results through the post. While a saliva test can indicate whether or not it would be prudent to continue with any further testing, results tend not to be as accurate as the saliva test, due to influences such as smoke, some foods and HRT.
Progesterone and Estradiol Test
This measures the levels or certain hormones in our body and if the test show that levels are unusually low, this could be in indication that you are about to enter menopause. Although saliva tests are usually performed, blood samples can also be used. Saliva testing may not be as accurate due to its limitations in detecting certain aspects of the hormones, whereas the blood test yields higher accuracy in this area.
The results of the saliva test are sent away to be tested. Estrogen levels in the body are normally somewhere between 30 and 400. Lower levels than this could be a sign that menopause is imminent.
