The onset of menopause is often an indicator that you can no longer bear children. If you want to confirm the condition, ask a doctor to review your symptoms, measure hormone levels, and conduct other tests. Here are ways a doctor can diagnose menopause:
Review Symptoms
Common symptoms include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and trouble sleeping. To determine if these indicate the onset of menopause, doctors determine the frequency of your hot flashes and the intensity of night sweats. They also evaluate your sleep patterns for signs of disturbances.
Regular mood swings and irregular periods might also point to menopause. Thinning hair, weight gain, and breast tenderness are physical signs of menopause-related hormonal changes. Recent joint pain, headaches, and incidents of memory lapse may also indicate menopausal onset.
Check Menstrual History
Changes in the length of your menstrual cycle, bleeding volume, and the frequency of missed periods are often strong indicators of menopause. Regularly updating your physician on these changes, as well as the consistency of clot presence and spotting between cycles, can help them monitor the condition’s progression. Extended bleeding episodes that occur after the onset of late periods could be another indicator. Other menstrual factors that might indicate menopause include hormonal cycle variations and irregularities in ovulation timing.
Measure Hormone Levels
Doctors establish a hormone baseline to determine your body’s regular production of reproduction hormones. This makes it easier to detect changes that indicate menopausal onset. They measure follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol levels, looking for an increase or decline. They also analyze progesterone fluctuations and trends in testosterone reduction. Any indications of cortisol imbalance often suggest the onset of menopause. Hormonal tests also estimate the follicle count and screen prolactin levels.
After determining dynamic reproductive hormone shifts, doctors test serum hormones and analyze saliva hormones. Other assessments focus on bioidentical hormone and age-specific hormone variations. For accuracy, hormone levels must be confirmed by lab tests. Tests help a doctor determine whether a woman has already entered or is preparing for menopause.
Conduct a Physical Exam
During a physical exam, doctors review the reproductive system and other bodily indicators. Pelvic exams assess whether the vaginal wall is thinning or the cervix is atrophying. This occurs as the body produces less estrogen, an expected menopausal change. The exam could also include breast lamp analysis and examination of the uterus size.
During the transition into menopause, the body often uses energy differently, and the distribution of fat changes. These changes can appear as alterations in bone density, body shape, and physical function. Doctors observe the skin’s elasticity, breast tenderness, and abdominal bloating. They assess muscle tone and check joint swelling. Doctors may even check changes in hair texture, analyze nail brittleness, and observe changes in skin pigmentation.
Diagnosing Menopause
Before a doctor can confirm menopause, they rule out other ailments, such as diabetes and autoimmune disorders. Adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia can be confused with the onset of menopause. Doctors also have to eliminate the likelihood of chronic fatigue syndrome and sleep apnea before they can confirm menopause. Contact a qualified doctor for a diagnosis today.