The slim white piece of pen-shaped plastic, the blue line indicators. Even those that won’t ever use one acknowledge that the majority ubiquitous medical system: the residence being pregnant take a look at. It’s easy: pee on a stick, wait a couple of minutes (really the toughest half, it doesn’t matter what your required final result), then rely the variety of strains that seem. Now, what if we had one thing equally clear and easy to find out if we have been in menopause?

Menopause stays, for all of the press it might be not too long ago courting, a time marked by a common sense of thriller in regards to the ever-evolving indicators and signs for the folks experiencing it — and, typically, for the docs meant to be guiding them via it. I’m assured I’m not the one 40something member of a number of group chats the place this query continuously surfaces: Do you suppose I’m in menopause? That there could possibly be a simple reply throughout a time when nothing appears to be easy feels groundbreaking. And that’s what manufacturers like Clearblue at the moment are purporting to have: a pee-stick take a look at that can inform you whether or not you have got entered the menopause transition.

The indicators of menopause

Menopause, which is when you have got gone 12 full months with out menstruating, is preceded by perimenopause (or the menopause transition), a stage that may final anyplace from a few years to a decade or extra. (Actor Gabrielle Union not too long ago instructed Attract that she has been within the menopause transition for 14 years.) “Whereas it’s a common expertise, similar to the transition of puberty, it may be totally particular person how folks undergo it,” says Anna Barbieri, MD, an ob-gyn and integrative drugs practitioner at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York Metropolis.

The preliminary signs are sometimes slight dysregulation of your menstrual cycle: they get shorter, PMS might worsen, and sleep disruptions can turn out to be extra widespread. Later perimenopause is commonly marked by skipped durations and traditional signs like scorching flashes, evening sweats, and vaginal dryness. “Menopause and perimenopause are medical situations usually identified primarily based on signs, sample and length, moderately than official lab outcomes,” says Barbieri, who solely makes use of bloodwork to substantiate menopause in 10 to twenty p.c of sufferers the place circumstances warrant it. As an illustration, there are a couple of exceptions when a medical prognosis is more difficult and bloodwork is used, says Susan E. Loeb-Zeitlin, MD, an ob-gyn at Weill Cornell Drugs and New York Presbyterian: “If a lady has all the time had irregular menstrual cycles or if she has had a hysterectomy or is on contraception, it’s generally troublesome to inform when she really reaches the transition.” For these on contraception, although, bloodwork is just not dependable — and even obligatory. “Typically there is no such thing as a must know since contraception can masks signs of the menopause transition which might be good for a lot of ladies,” says Loeb-Zeitlin. For sufferers who’ve had a hysterectomy or historical past of irregular durations, she seems to be at FSH ranges (generally evaluating them with estrogen ranges). “Throughout perimenopause the quantity can fluctuate, but it surely may give a way of the place a lady is within the transition,” she provides.