What does my FSH level mean?

[Beforetoday]

I have just had a blood test to see if I am peri-menopausal (still regular but very heavy painful periods and a load of other symptoms) and the results seem to be FSH 25 and LH 7.7. Dr has recorded no action needed (only got results thru reception over the phone) - which I guess means its all normal for my age (46)? I can't find anything that makes sense online, but according to practice I don't need another appointment.

Any help with this would be lovely thanks!

Blood tests in peri are utterly unreliable :) NICE tells GPs not to do them for this reason. Hormones fluctuate daily.

At 46 if you have symptoms the odds are it's peri unless you have other symptoms that might mean something else completely.

The point is, what's the point of a blood test? Between now and 50-something your periods will stop and if you have symptoms them yes it's peri.

If your heavy periods are causing issues then your dr should treat them with one of the options- drugs, Mirena coil, ablation if severe.

You don't need another appt- what would be the purpose?

Well they were trying to see what was going on, so if blood test is normal/pointless and scan is fine (no fibroids etc) but periods that are knocking me out of action for 2-3 days a month it possibly needs a further discussion? I don't want to just put up with it. Yes I guess now need to think about using the coil, but that would be another appointment. Thanks for the info though.

To answer your question, about your FSH level, you can find the ranges online by googling. You didn't say you'd had a scan or anything to investigate fibroids etc.

But it won't tell you if you are peri or post menopause- not accurately anyway. (I had a blood test for other gynae things and it showed I was post meno when I very much wasn't, which proved the point.)

If a blood test was part of some general screening into why your periods are heavy it isn't going to show anything much except perhaps anaemia.

I think you should accept that a normal scan is good news and your next appt is really for treatment for heavy periods - NHS site has all the options your dr will offer.

Good luck!

You can get your bloods taken the next day and the results will have changed, it's totally unreliable. But a doctors favourite, apparently!

@JinglingHellsBells - yes, sorry had an internal ultrasound too - nothing showed up which is great. Not finding anything really clear about ranges thru google, hence posting here for insight or references, but looks like with so many "women's problems" that either the research hasn't been done or the data not collected.

@sasparilla1 I understand about the variation now - same as results for smear I guess, it can vary within cycle, so needs either to be approached multiple times and systematically I guess. Sigh. Wish the Dr had said any of this at the time, I wouldn't have got my hopes up for an answer.

Have been reading the Caroline Criado Perez book, Invisible Women, and she mentions something about Viagra (!!) giving relief for period pain - but they decided not to pursue this angle as more lucrative to market to men.

The range for menopause starts at FSH above 30- this is shown in lots of info online if you google FSH /menopause. it can go into the hundreds for women very post menopause. There are tables for women who are fertile, and women who are post meno.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23/ifp/chapter/Diagnosing-menopause

I've googled like crazy and read all the sites, including those mentioned here, and honestly I'm still quite confused.

I had some blood tests recently and just got the results. The comment was: "Test indicates menopause. No further action required." The tests were (1) Serum FSH level. Mine was 36.8iu/L. Was 10.9 in Dec 17; and (2) Serum oestradiol level. Mine was 238 mol/L. Was 342 in Dec 17 (comment on this was "normal test").

I had a hysterectomy (b/c of massive fibroids) in July 2016, but left my ovaries. I feel like I am still having cycles b/c I get tender breasts, headaches, bloating, and other symptoms I had with PMS about once a month, but clearly I haven't had a period since the hysterctomy.

I have been excessively bloated and gassy (TMI!), anxious and depressed, and hot at night. I can explain each of these with other things: I have IBS -constipation and have always been rather bloated; I am super stressed with work and starting a new job in two weeks; and I have always gotten hot very easily and it's been very hot and humid lately (husband also is having trouble sleeping from heat).

I have an appointmet on Tuesday afternoon with my GP and want to be assertive - I get fobbed off every time I'm there (it took them five years to believe me when I said my bladder problems were from fibroids; they did not send me for a scan and told me I was bloated b/c of constipation when it was actually 2 cantaloupe-size fibroids pushing on my bladder).

What questions should I ask the GP? What information do I need to understand the tests better and to get a better understanding about if it is indeed menopause.

In all honesty it's a waste of time and energy trying to interpret tests like this. For a start they only give a snapshot of your hormones on that day and if you are in peri they change daily. FSH ( follicle stimulating hormone) rises in peri and post meno because it's trying to get your ovaries to chuck out more eggs. If it's over 30 for many months it means you are post meno. (Meno range is anywhere from 30 to 100+ and something.)

All the evidence shows that women who have a hysterectomy usually have loss of ovarian function within 2 years,.

It's likely all your symptoms are down to peri or menopause. As you have no womb all you need to help , re HRT, is estrogen on its own.

Specialists now suggest that all women use transdermal- patches or gel- not tablets.

If you fancy trying HRT this is the chat you need with your dr!

Thanks for the info. My GP is testing me for ovarian cancer. I've never wanted to be told I "just" am in menopause so badly. Now I'll be a nervous wreck until I get the test results (blood work and a pelvic scan).

@Murna You mean your GP is doing the C125 blood test? Good he's on the ball but that test is known to be very inaccurate. It's only 80% accurate (showing a positive) in women with very advanced OC.The scan is far more useful.

Thank you @JinglingHellsBells! Yes, the C125 as well as a scan. I admit I am quite freaked out, as the bloating comes and goes (e.g. is not persistent). It's good to check everything out, but I am a big worrier and this has made the anxiety worse. I am not good at all at putting things out of my mind, even though the rational part of my brain says it's unlikely to be ovarian cancer. As you said, the blood tests are not accurate and, thus, that won't relieve my anxiety, regardless of it's positive or negative. It doesn't help that tonight I saw a colleague who was just given three months to live with pancreatic cancer. I'd like to think if my GP was worried she'd have fast-tracked me. As it is, my bloodwork is on 14 October.

Reading this with interest... I've had anxiety and low mood, hair loss, sweating (mildly) apathetic and lack of interest in sex, all of these mean I'm older now (I'm 41)or peri? My gp sent me for FSH and it's 13.5, which reading this means nothing, is there any benefit to a private gynae consultation for oestrogen and testosterone tests for a specific outcome?

Make another appointment, to see a different GP at the practice if at all possible. And I'd say that your FSH level is on the high side.

I've just had an similar situation - I had a blood test yesterday, and afterwards went to the reception desk to make a follow-up appointment. She told me there was no point in making an appointment yet because if the results are normal there is no need for me to be seen again. I pointed out that actually if they were normal I still needed to see the GP again for further investigation into the symptoms and for more tests to be carried out.

@pinkrabbits39 FSH over 30 is a sign of menopause. A single FSH test is useless anyway.

You need 2 tests at least, 2 cycles apart and they have to be done on days 2-5 of your cycle (so in other words when you are having a period.

Read my posts above where I gave FSH levels.....

. If it's over 30 for many months it means you are post meno. (Meno range is anywhere from 30 to 100+ and something.

Thank you both, she also took an oestrogen reading too but she didn't tell me the result of this, would it be useful to know that? Or is it the same as an FSH reading in that it's only a snapshot? She didn't ask me to book the blood test on a specific day of my cycle and it was taken on day 8 after my period had ended in a 24 day cycle... Nice guidelines suggest it can be diagnosed on symptoms alone... Help please

Thank you both, she also took an oestrogen reading too but she didn't tell me the result of this, would it be useful to know that? Or is it the same as an FSH reading in that it's only a snapshot? She didn't ask me to book the blood test on a specific day of my cycle and it was taken on day 8 after my period had ended in a 24 day cycle... Nice guidelines suggest it can be diagnosed on symptoms alone... Help please

Thank you both, she also took an oestrogen reading too but she didn't tell me the result of this, would it be useful to know that? Or is it the same as an FSH reading in that it's only a snapshot? She didn't ask me to book the blood test on a specific day of my cycle and it was taken on day 8 after my period had ended in a 24 day cycle... Nice guidelines suggest it can be diagnosed on symptoms alone... Help please

What NICE says is that for women over 45 peri menopause can be diagnosed from symptoms as long as there are no other symptoms that could be other things.

With women under 45, the guidance says do blood tests because under 45 it's an early menopause, with risks to long term health, and the treatment (till age 50-ish) is HRT.

Your dr sounds a bit hopeless because unless blood tests are done at the right time, they are meaningless. You need to go back and discuss this and tell them, if they don't know!