Female problems

[mark1205]

Hi

Is there anyone out there that can help my wife on the following problem.....

Does anyone know if it is possible to have a blood test to determine the state of hormone balance? she has been menopausal for over 20 years and has had been to see the GP and a private Doctor but is getting nowhere!

Is it also possible to be diagnosed with osteoporosis years ago to not have it now?

Thank you in advance

Mark/Brenda

[The_Doc]

Osteoporosis (OP) diagnosis is made on bone density measurements. The numbers are fixed by agreement.
Generally everyone undergoes senile OP, which is simply ageing, then women have worse hormone related OPon top, and then there is additional OP from poor diet/cancer/inactivity etc.

You can turn back the clock on some of it, but you can't really get back to peak bone mass, which is age 30 odd

Hormones? I'm an NHS carpenter.... Its a mystery to me...

[The_Doc]

Complicated eh?

[popeyewhite]

mark1205 said:

Hi

Does anyone know if it is possible to have a blood test to determine the state of hormone balance?

It is, but really the endocrinologist needs something concrete to go on. Try and get a referral and be a bit specific about what it is you think you're looking for. There is an accepted range for stuff like cortisol, epinephrine etc but it's quite wide and at either the lower or upper end of the scale people have reported symptoms that would suggest a deficiency/excess of a hormone but they are still showing 'normal' values.

[Tri_Doc]

mark1205 said:

Does anyone know if it is possible to have a blood test to determine the state of hormone balance? she has been menopausal for over 20 years and has had been to see the GP and a private Doctor but is getting nowhere!

Short answer is yes. FSH/LH could be helpful, but if she's over 54yrs then not much point as likely to be raised and post-menopausal. Symptoms of menopause vary pt to pt, but HRT/SSRI could be helpful for her if she hasn't tried one. Depending on her age etc, the HRT can also benefit bone density.
As said above, if your GP isn't too sure/depending on her symptoms etc, endocrinology might be able to help.

[mark1205]

Thanks for the replys ..