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[KarineT]

Hi Everyone,

If you are still going through perimenopause the article below might help.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2230856-blood-test-can-predict-when-women-will-have-their-last-period/

Let me know what you think.

Karine

[Hurdity]

Have just had a look Karine T, very interesting. It does mention on this website about the anti mullerian hormone

"Recently, measurement of Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is being recommended in women who are commencing fertility treatment. AMH is produced from the egg cells in the ovaries and the more egg cells that are remaining, the higher the level will be. This can be helpful in assessing the likelihood of success of fertility treatment, and in helping choose the dose of drug to be used to stimulate the ovaries. It is not routinely used to diagnose menopause, when the level will be very low, but can be helpful if the diagnosis is unclear."

https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/diagnose.php

Looks like things have moved on a bit. However as it's a private test, unless it can be made available on NHS it won't become widespread. It would be good if it was available because many GPs seem to diagnose women as post-menopausal on the basis of FSH levels which are totally inaccurate when it comes to actual menopausal status.

The New Scientist article suggests that several tests may be a better predictor as a decline in levels may be more revealing. Of course the company would want to suggest that because at ?79 a pop it is quite a money-spinner. Have checked the company website and it was developed in US, recently approved by FDA, but of course they pay for everything over there. Let's hope it does turn out to be a better predictor and then become available on NHS, so it can then take the stress out of uncertainty!

Thanks for posting

Hurdity x

[KarineT]

Hi,

Yes.  It's private and I did it because I was fed up with the uncertainty.  Everything seems uncertain with the menopause. There are some many views and theories about it and I don't know what to believe. I don't really fancy going through this nonsense for another 10 years.  According to them my AMH level is lower than 10 so it indicates that I have already entered the menopause or I am about to. Is this possible at nearly 50?  I did this test in February and since January I haven't had a period so let's see what happens this month and thereafter.  I will be in a good position to report back and say whether their test was reliable or not.
Unfortunately, a lot of these things aren't available on the NHS.  There are some private menopause clinics sprouting everywhere, making tones of money out of misery.  If I go on HRT, I don"t think I will go private because it's too expensive for me.

[Mogster71]

Hi Karine

I guess it's the reason why they call it "the change"!! I would say that at almost 50 it would be possible that you may have already entered menopause as it can happen much earlier than this. But on the other hand you could go 11 months and 20 odd days with no period and then another shows up.... You aren't officially post menopausal until 12 months without a period. I agree with Hurdity, at ?79 it sounds a bit pricey, lets face it at almost 50 the likelihood of entering menopause within 5 years is pretty much inevitable. I don't think I'd pay it.

I'm 48 by the way and in peri. It's been a miserable couple of years so I'm hopeful this is late peri and my hormones having their last fandango. Only by reading things on here have I realised that peri probably started about 5/6 years ago for me. HRT is helping. I was almost ready to give up after a few false starts and 6 months on the lowest dose possible. I took a gamble that rather than stopping it, I needed more oestrogen and so far so good.

[KarineT]

Monster 71, the test suggests that iI will enter the menopause a lot sooner than 5 years but let's see if that's correct. If I have gone 11 months without a period and one shows up then obviously the test will not have worked because the readings from the test were false. I know it's pricey but I was prepared to try as I don't like the uncertainty of it all. I am not worried about the menopause or losing my fertility., I am worried about the symptoms.  As far as the symptoms are concerned,  this test won't certainly stop them but if I have a rough idea of how long I have to put up with them then it reassures me.  Symptoms can last a long time but I believe the sooner the menopause is over, the better. I really do hope that I will be fine once it's over and done with.

[KarineT]

Oops! Sorry Mogster71,  I called you Monster71! Just a typo.

[sheila99]

The worst part of that article says peri can last to early 60s. Arrrgh... 59 and assumed it had to all over soon (couple of months since an ovulating cycle, thought it might have been the last one). 

[Mogster71]

Hi Katrine

I completely understand you - I should imagine that concerns about symptoms are the main motivator for researching options! When you're in the middle of it all, you just want some hope that it's not forever and you will feel better. I've had 2 years of headaches, nausea dizziness etc and just not feeling right. If you look back on my posts I have asked a few times whether this HRT journey is all worth it as at the time, I didn't seem to be getting any relief. I couldn't understand why most women felt so much better when taking it, and every single month asked myself if I should carry on.

I think because it's all so individual its very difficult. What one woman experiences and finds hard, another will take in their stride quite well, and vice versa. We can only feel how "we" feel and know what is and isn't tolerable to us as individuals. I think when I first started HRT it was a probably a bit of FOMO thinking it was this wonder drug that would take everything away. The reality is that it probably won't fix every single thing and it's very much trial and error. In my case a LOT of trial and error haha. At present, if I can get some relief from having a daily headache I'd rather take HRT than be maxed out on paracetamol and aspirin all day long.

Like you, I live in hope that the theory about having a rubbish perimenopause means a less rubbish menopause is true!

[KarineT]

Shellac 99, when did you started perimenopause? 

[KarineT]

Monster 71,  dizziness is horrible.  I have this too with nausea, low mood and anxiety.  For the dizziness I really didn't understand at first and really thought that I had MS or some other neurological disease.  This symptom and nausea kicked in in 2018.  Low mood and anxiety started in 2019.  I can put with dizziness and nausea but not anxiety and low mood.  I think these two symptoms are the worse for me and I really don't want to end up with full blown depression or an anxiety disorder.  Mind you I've never suffered from these two conditions before.

[Mogster71]

Hi Karine

Dizziness and nausea are horrendous. I have suffered on and off for about 10 years with this. I originally thought it was down to a spell of postural vertigo I'd had before, and took anti nausea meds almost daily to keep it at bay. Now I think that at least a big part of this was hormonal. I did find some relief from the nausea/dizzy side of things from homeopathy, so it may be worth researching this if you'd prefer to keep things natural (I used a remedy called Cocculus which is for motion sickness).

I think progesterone can be a depressant, some ladies have a hard time on it, me included, however, my own personal symptoms tended to be more related to the physical side of things. Its so very hard to say what will work or what won't. I'm sure I felt low in mood because I felt rubbish physically. I suppose though that thinking logically, if for instance your anxiety was caused by low oestrogen then supplementing it with HRT might help? If you are naturally progesterone dominant because of the low oestrogen (which may be causing the low mood?) then would that mean that adding in some oestrogen could help you achieve better balance? Just my own musings of course!

I really don't have enough experience withe the low mood side of symptoms, I do think you could benefit from a specialist consultation though...in the long term it would probably give you more peace of mind than a blood test that may or may not be reliable? Dr Newson's team are doing them by video call and she's also doing lots of awareness live videos on Instagram.

Xx Mog

[KarineT]

Thanks Mogster 71 for the advice.  This is my plan.  I've started taking Bach Flowers, which, according to the maker, work within a few weeks,  if nothing changes I will make an appointment with an homeopath.  If I still feel the same then  I will give  HRT a try.  Thanks for advising about the dizziness.  I will have a look at this natural remedy.

[KarineT]

Mogster71, you've mentioned that you've had to put up dizziness and nausea for 10 years but are you postmenopausal?  Your post suggest that you no longer have symptoms.

[sheila99]

Shellac 99, when did you started perimenopause?

Probably 55, anxiety/insomnia/fatigue came on gradually and I didn't associate them with peri so didn't take much notice. Saw gp at 56, undiagnosed, again at 57, started on HRT.

[KarineT]

In 2018, when I started feeling dizzy, I didn't associate it with the perimenopause as I didn't know dizziness could be caused my perimenopause.  I had all the tests done under the sun and they haven't found anything so it must be due to the perimenopause.  I have to say the menopause is an unknown territory for all of us until we've been through it.