Testing hormone levels is not required to determine whether a woman has the “right amount” of hormones. The optimal hormone levels in postmenopausal women have not been established. How symptoms respond to a particular dose of hormones or nonhormonal menopause medication is the only reliable guide.
Saliva testing is often a part of custom-compounded “bioidentical hormone therapy” with hormones. But saliva testing is not only unnecessary; it has also has also not been proven to be accurate or reliable. Because hormone levels vary day to day as well as throughout the day, even a blood test cannot accurately reflect the body’s hormone levels.
The common hormone test that may be appropriate is for the level of
follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) to help determine if a woman is in menopause, especially for women who do not have a uterus and thus cannot tell by their menstrual pattern that they are menopausal.
NAMS does not recommend saliva testing to determine hormone levels and does not recommend custom-compounded products over well-tested, government-approved products for the majority of women.