You may use a home-use test kit in order to measure Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) in your urine. This will help to indicate if you are in menopause or in perimenopause. This test for menopause is a qualitative test, which will help you to find out whether or not you have elevated FSH levels.
You need to use this test for menopause if you wish to know in case your symptoms, like irregular periods, hot flashes, besides vaginal dryness, or even sleep problems are a part of menopause. There are many women who appear to have little or no trouble while going through the stages of menopause. But there are some others who may have moderate to severe discomfort and may wish for treatment in order to alleviate their symptoms. This test for menopause will help you to be better informed about your current condition when you go to see your doctor.
Such a test for menopause will accurately detect FSH about 9 out of 10 times. This test will not detect menopause or perimenopause. Your test for menopause will also depend on whether you have used your first morning urine, or you drank large amounts of water before the test. It is also dependent on your use of oral or patch contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, as well as estrogen supplements.
In this test for menopause, you need to put a few drops of your urine on a test device, or you may put the end of the testing device in your urine stream, else you may even dip the test device into a cup of urine. Chemicals in the test device tend to react with FSH in order to produce a color. Next, read the instructions given with the test you buy in order to learn exactly what to look for in this test.