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Menopause Matters magazine ISSUE 75 out now. (Spring issue, March 2024)

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Author Topic: Blood results  (Read 1325 times)

Kit cat 13

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Blood results
« on: October 12, 2017, 10:17:12 AM »

Hi all
Ive just rung the surgery to get my results, but they said I have to come in and pay 40p to get the whole result!  ::)However she told me on the phone
FSH 94.6
LH serum 47.5
Ive not had a period since June, and have loads of night sweats that wake me up, not had many decent nights sleep since June either !
So do the results so far show Im in menopause?
thanks for your help.
Cat x
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Dennylou48

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Re: Blood results
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2017, 09:46:14 PM »

That's a disgrace, you do not legally have to pay to get blood results, I would take that further. 
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Kit cat 13

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Re: Blood results
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2017, 06:08:20 AM »

Does anyone know what the results mean? X
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Hurdity

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Re: Blood results
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2017, 07:59:13 AM »

Hi Kit cat 13

 :welcomemm:

I presume you're having to pay for the photocopies which is fair enough - but they should be able to tell you free on the phone if you ask at a time when they are not busy. I presume your practice hasn't moved to online data as I can read all my medical records and blood results with my online account? You just sign up.

The very high FSH shows that you are peri-menopausal and your symptoms bear thus out - although you haven't given your age? If you are over 45 then you shouldn't have had the blood tests anyway to diagnose menopause - your symptoms and cycle changes are sufficient.

If you are under 51/52 then you might like to think about HRT to protect heart and bones and if your symptoms are debilitating at whatever age - I started HRT at just under 54 - late peri-menopause and have been on it more or less continuously ever since, now over 10 years.

Hurdity x
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Kit cat 13

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Re: Blood results
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2017, 03:13:50 PM »

Hello Hurdity,
Thanks so much for your welcome to the forum, that means a lot to me : ) .
Im 49, just about to hit 50 in Dec. I did ask the doc about HRT, as after 6 months of disturbed sleep  I wanted to try anything! He advised black cohosh and said that the thing about bone protection is not proved. (I think maybe he hasnt read the most up to date info tho!)
I guess its pretty obvious Im in perimenopause. Ive been on the black cohosh only 4 days,  also take valerium/ hops to help with sleep (but not if Im having wine .. like at the weekends.) Anyway its early days but last night I only woke up once and that was 5am,so I had 7 hours sleep. That was a result. So I shall see. Many thanks again x
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CLKD

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  • Posts: 73969
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Blood results
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2017, 03:18:16 PM »

Some ladies find that they have to give up alcohol completely. 

Black Cohash - as your GP should know! - shouldn't be used continually.  Some ladies find that if their hormones become un-ruly that any benefit from alternatives may be lost - have you read through the alternative threads here?  Is there a Practice Nurse who is more aut fait with menopause?  The Surgery web-site may tell.

Brisk walking for 10 mins. daily can help stave off osteoporosis.  As does a good diet including plenty of dairy. 
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Hurdity

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Re: Blood results
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2017, 08:18:02 AM »

Hi again Kit cat 13

Your doctor is completely out of date and should not be advising on menopause! There is an absolute causal link between oestrogen levels and bone density - there is plenty of evidence for this and the positive impact of replacement oestrogen. Exercise CANNOT replace oestrogen in terms of bone protection although is obviously helpful for bones as well. Your doc should be recommending HRT as the first line of treatment and not herbal remedies - which are best taken if you are unable to take HRT for health reasons as the phyto-oestrogens such as Black Cohosh are weak, and as CLKD says, this particular one is not supposed to be taken long term due to inadequate date re safety. A good diet is of course very important!

I did take Black Cohosh when I was peri-menopausal (I so wanted to do things "naturally") and I thought it worked - but it was just coincidence or placebo. As my hormone levels got lower nothing worked so I started HRT. Until I read up about it I hadn't realised that actually "bio-identical" hormones (not to be confused with compounded BHRT) are far more " natural" than any herbal preparations - because if you choose the right products ( estradiol and progesterone - you are just replacing the same hormones that your own body produces!

Give it a while, read as much as you can about it, and if your symptoms remain/become debilitating then do go back to your doc ( maybe a different one?) and ask for HRT. All the different products are listed under the Treatments tab above. As your hormones fluctuate in peri-menopause your symptoms may come and go but eventually may be there to stay without proper treatment.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. Here's an article about peri-menopause you might like to read in the meantime: https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/magazine/pdf/Article%20-%20Perils%20of%20the%20Perimenopause.pdf

Hurdity x
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