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This Is Perimenopause
Menopause isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. Hosts Michelle and Mikelle are on a mission to help others be better informed than they were when they started their perimenopause journeys. The podcast is a blend of health, education, mindset, and personal growth. Michelle and Mikelle along with their guests are sharing real-life stories and expert advice to help you navigate perimenopause, menopause and beyond.
This Is Perimenopause
Tracking Menopause Without a Period with Dr. Amy Louis-Bayliss
Today’s question for Dr. Amy Louis Bayliss is:
I don't get periods anymore. I have an IUD or I've had a hysterectomy. How do I know if I'm in menopause?
In this Lume Minute, you'll discover:
- Why menopause diagnosis may not matter
- Key menopause symptoms/markers
- FSH blood testing explained
- If your period return after you remove your IUD
Lume Women + Health is open now! They understand the unique challenges women face during perimenopause and beyond. Be sure to check out their dedicated menopause program, which provides personalized support, medical guidance, and lifestyle optimization education to help you manage symptoms, improve your well-being, and thrive during this life stage.
Every other week, the team at Lume Women + Health will be dropping into our podcast to answer one of your questions. Be sure to follow our podcast that you never miss these Lume Minutes. Find ‘This Is Perimenopause, the podcast’ wherever you listen to your favorites.
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Welcome to a Loom Minute brought to you by. This is Perimenopause and Loom Women's Health Clinic Bringing a fresh approach to women's health. Loom's state-of-the-art Toronto Clinic offers personalized in-person care for the midlife woman. In these bite-sized episodes, we're teaming up with Loom's medical team to help you make sense of perimenopause, one question at a time. Our goal To give you reliable, bite-sized information that fits your busy life.
Speaker 2:Today's question for Dr Amy Lewis-Bayless is I don't get periods anymore, I have an IUD or I've had a hysterectomy. How do I know if I'm in menopause? So I get asked this question all the time and it's an excellent question. So the first piece to this is why do you want to know if you're in menopause? And the reason why I say that is the diagnosis of menopause is kind of arbitrary in that whether or not you're in menopause doesn't matter in terms of treatment if you're not having any of the symptoms related to menopause. So what I usually say to women who have had a hysterectomy I say are you having hot flashes, are you having night sweats? Are you having symptoms consistent with perimenopause or menopause? That would warrant treatment, and that's really the first question. And same with an IUD. If you're not having any bothersome symptoms of low estrogen, then I'm not really worried about whether or not you're actually in menopause.
Speaker 2:However, there's some women that want to know if I take my IUD out, will my periods come back?
Speaker 2:And so for those women, what we will do is, first of all, most of the time, we'll start thinking about this around the age of 50 or 51, which is in Canada. 51 is the average age of menopause. But the way we can make this diagnosis is actually by a blood test. So if you have an IUD in or you have had a hysterectomy, we can check a blood test called an FSH a follicle stimulating hormone and when you're menopausal this number is high. So we want to see a number over 25. And if we see a number over 25, that's indicative that you are likely in menopause. However, just to be sure, we will recheck the blood value again in six to eight weeks to make sure that it consistently stays high. If the FSH is consistently high over two tests, then we can strongly believe that you are in menopause. And if you're not having hot flashes or night sweats or don't have a reason to start estrogen and you would like to take the IUD out, then we can remove the IUD at that time.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us for today's Loom Minute. For more information, follow this is Perimenopause and check out Loom Women's Health Clinic. There's a link in the show notes. This information is not intended as medical advice. The intent of this information is to provide listeners with knowledge to support more efficient and effective communication with their medical providers.
