Fancy Hormone Testing for Menopause??

Do you need to spend $6,000,000 on testing your spit every day for a month to find out if you are in menopause!? NO! You don't! And don't let any influencer try to tell you that you do!

What kind of testing do I need then??

Menopause can safely be a diagnosis that doesn't necessarily need lab testing. What a doctor is looking for when they're assessing you for menopause is this:

Change in menstrual frequency - this often starts as your cycles getting closer together and then spreading out further and further. This can take years!
When your period stops and doesn't come back for 1 year, then you are labelled as being in menopause/post-menopausal.
Making sure no other health conditions or other symptoms that aren't related to menopause are happening at the same time. This let's us know that we don't have to rule out a new (or flare of a current) condition that is affecting your health
Follicle Stimulating Hormone, or FSH, getting about 30IU/L and staying there repeatedly on labs is also the one value you cause to confirm menopause. This is a blood test and is ran at all labs. And it costs less than $25...

That's... it. Sorry, fancy saliva labs! But looking at FSH is enough to confirm menopause.

Is there any reason to do more lab testing than just FSH??

This is based on you. If you have no other symptoms going on and before this had your period like clock-work, and no other health conditions or diagnoses then looking at a regular blood test for FSH is pretty reasonable.

However, if you have a history of irregular menses, didn't have your period for a year and THEN STARTED having it again, have other health conditions that could be throwing off your period, are younger than 45 years old (especially if you are younger than 40 years old), then it is worthwhile talking to your healthcare provider to make sure you rule out other reasons your noticing menstrual changes.

Have you been told you need salivary testing to find out if you're in menopause?