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[toffeecushion]

Has anyone had a saliva test for hormones?  Not sure if this would be better than a blood test.

[CLKD]

Is this something you are being asked to pay for?  Blood tests are notoriously un-reliable because our hormones alter almost minute by minute.  My Gynae won't do them but treats on symptoms.

[toffeecushion]

I am thinking of doing it privately as my doctor doesn't seem to think I am perimenopausal.  I just can't take the anxiety anymore and want to know if it is menopause related or not.

[CLKD]

I would say don't spend your money. Go back to your GP and ask for referral to a memo-clinic or gynae consultant, it would be better to spend the money on sending an e-mail to Dr Currie on here 

[honeybun]

You really need to be aware of the fact that HRT does not always treat anxiety.

My anxiety did not hit me until I had been on HRT for two years. I have tried different types of HRT in different combinations and it makes no difference. What it does do is enable me to sleep a bit better and mainly gets rid of flushes.

If you are having a saliva test purely to get HRT to treat anxiety then you may not only be wasting your money but be disappointed.
If saliva tests were fail safe then our GPs would offer them.
A good GP will go on symptoms alone as as CLKD says anything else is unreliable.


Honeyb
x

[Dana]

Blood tests are pretty unreliable for hormone testing, and saliva tests are even worse, plus they are usually quite expensive. There is also some evidence that the plastic vials that are usually used for saliva tests can interfere with the results. They are mainly used by non-medical doctors (ie people like naturopaths use saliva tests, because they aren't allowed to order blood tests, and you really don't want to waste your money on that).

[Taz2]

How old are you toffeecushion? If you are over the age of 41 then you should naturally be peri-menopausal. It lasts between eight to ten years and the usual age for meno is 51. It's just terminology really and means "before menopause".

I wouldn't waste your money on saliva testing - I think that for hormone levels, as Dana says, it's even less reliable than blood testing.

What symptoms are you hoping to get your doc to recognise as peri-menopausal apart from the anxiety and are you hoping for HRT?

Taz 

[toffeecushion]

I am 48 next month and basically feel that I am falling apart mentally.  I'm finding it hard to cope with anything at the moment and I can't see my way forward.  Had a FSH blood test done about 8 months ago and it was only 8, so gp said it isn't menopause related.

I suffered with anxiety for most of my adult life and was agoraphobic for a while, I got better and even went back to work but over the past year I have been feeling anxious again.  I don't know if it is the anxiety rearing it's head again or it is menopause.  I have irregular heavy periods, but I do have one each month.  Sometimes I think I am having hot flushes but they stop, so I don't know.

Not sure if I even want HRT, just know I can't carry on like.  Sorry to go on, just feeling very sorry for myself.

[CLKD]

Of course you are feeling sorry for yourself which is why you can vent on here.  Anxiety can be crippling.  It can be caused by hormonal dips, emotional upheaval etc.; do you have a practice nurse you could consultant, they are often more informed than GPs  .

Anxiety can be helped by anti-depressant medication; beta-blockas; valium on an as-necessary basis though GPs are really reluctant to prescribe ………. but I found that if I had Valium and went to my GP weekly so that we could discuss how much I was using, he realised that I could be sensible about it! 

Deep breathing can help but needs to be practised even when not anxious, so difficult to remember to do it  .  Do you fear that you will become agoraphobic again?