Or, maybe you’re frustrated because you’re told:

❌ You don’t need a hormone test because you have none (this is in italics because it is such an INSANE take - if you didn’t have hormones you’d be ☠️).
❌ Your hormones are ‘normal’ for menopause…
❌ Feeling like a pile of hot, brainless garbage is ‘normal’ so get used to it.

Or, maybe you’re frustrated because your doctor simply won’t order a test.

Overworked & Undervalued (Yes, we’re talking about Menopausal women)

Hormone imbalance can make your life miserable, and to make matters worse, deciphering those imbalances can come with its own unique challenges:

📉Different hormones decline at different rates for everyone, meaning there is no single quick fix

🏥 Studies show only 1 in 5 docs have menopause specific training (so they can’t always give us the best help)

👀 Google searches get you nowhere, or give you conflicting information

This is particularly true for women in menopause. Many of the tests that are available are blood (which we will cover in a moment), or they are only testing one or two things to tell you whether you are in menopause or not… Newsflash, the 57861 hot flashes you had yesterday and the lack of periods kinda gave that away.

So you go for a more comprehensive test… only for them to test things like luteinizing hormone or follicle stimulating hormone… which sound fancy, but, unless you’re trying to have a baby, those are basically useless information to you.

Women need accessible, efficient hormone testing – specifically tailored to the different stages of menopause - which is why we decided to develop Parlor Games’ own hormone testing kits.

Why Saliva Over Blood?

We know that blood tests, by lab coated techs, with big needles, SEEM like they’re are going to give you a detailed breakdown of all the things that are… well, breaking down, in our bodies. But, the truth is that blood tests are NOT the best option for women in menopause.

For anyone using topical hormones, the holy grail lies in humble saliva. 💧

Why? When you use topical hormones, they are absorbed straight through the skin and don’t get processed first through the liver. Many hormones are used up quickly and others travel in another body fluid – the lymphatic system.

Because of this, topical hormones rarely show up in blood testing, in fact it can take WAY too much of a hormone cream for topical hormones to show up in a blood test. 😬

Let's talk about 2 categories of hormones: those bound to a protein and those unbound to a protein. Bound hormones are too big to fit in your hormone receptors, so they cannot be used, and we don’t need to know those levels.Unbound hormones, however, can sit on a hormone receptor and start their magic action. We want to know how many unbound (available) hormones there are. 👀

🩸Blood tests can only tell you the total amount of hormones in the body, both the bound and the unbound hormones.

We are interested in the unbound hormones because those are the category of hormones able to attach to a hormone receptor and be useful.

This is where saliva testing is so helpful. It just so happens that the membrane on the salivary gland acts as a filter to allow only the unbound hormones into the saliva. Voila! So, when you measure the steroid hormones in saliva – you ARE getting the level of unbound available hormones in your body. And when you have that information you can work out how much hormone supplementation you might want to use.

Data With Depth

Hormone testing can show you the gaps in your hormone levels and provide the accurate information you need to age amazingly.

If you’re like us you might be…

🔨 Tired of fixing one issue only for another to arise?

😟 Worried you might be making your symptoms worse instead of better?

🏥 Frustrated with the lack of help you’re getting from your doctor?

😕 Confused about what your body actually needs?

💸 Sick of buying $$$ new products only for them not to work?

In order for you to truly live your best life in peri or post-menopause, what you need is information – or even infor-ME-tion… 😉 that’s right.

You don’t need to know the estrogen levels of all women – you need to know YOUR estrogen levels (and how these compare to optimal estrogen levels).

You don’t need to know general progesterone levels for women – you need to know if there is a gap between YOUR estrogen and progesterone levels.

With hormone testing, you don’t have to guess. Our saliva tests come with a special report that includes:

• Customized information created by a clinician
• Clarity on whether your hormones are low, high, or within range
• Well established supplementation reference ranges
• Your report is individualized, with personalized comments based on YOUR results in comparison to YOUR reported symptoms.

Want to see for yourself? Enjoy Kirsti and Kate’s walkthrough of Kirsti’s Hormone Report here.

Why Do You Test this Hormone?

The hormones we test are specifically selected for women who are perimenopausal onwards, as they give the most comprehensive insight into the hormones that affect our bodies (and brains) at this stage.

• Estrogens (Estriol, Estradiol, Estrone) Estrogens are a class of hormones that affect multiple functions in the body both before and after menopause. Low estrogen can result in many symptoms after menopause. We test all three, because ALL THREE matter to women in menopause.
• Progesterone is a hormone with over 400 effects through the brain and body. Primarily associated with the reproductive cycle, ensuring sufficient levels after menopause helps live after menopause be healthy and vibrant.
• DHEA is the most abundant hormone in the body and is critical for many functions such as immune response, cell repair, energy, stress management, memory and cognition, mood, motivation, libido and as a source for other sex hormones such as testosterone and estrogen.
• Testosterone is critical for muscle building, strength, motivation, libido, fat stores management, mood and bone building.
• Estrogen Ratio - There are three major estrogens estradiol, estriol and estrone. Ensuring enough estriol in relation to estradiol and estrone helps reduce any estrogen related risk factors for developing breast cancer.
• Progesterone to Estradiol Ratios - these two hormones work well when in balance, the ideal ratio of estradiol to progesterone is 1:200. We need to know the ratios to best understand how these hormones are affecting us in tandem.

We also offer an option to test cortisol - not once, but four times throughout the day so you can see your daily cortisol curve. Plus, for increased accuracy on sex hormones, which vary during the day, the lab uses a pooled tube to test the sex hormones. The lab will take a sample from each of the timed tubes and combine them into a fifth, pool tube, then use this pooled sample to test the sex hormones and get a more accurate daily average.

But, What If I…

• Am in perimenopause?
• Menopause?
• Don’t have a uterus?
• Am already using topical hormones?
• Had a blood test that said everything was normal?
• Am not even in menopause?

Newsflash sisters, you’re all welcome. No matter what menopause stage or whether or not you have a uterus, you still have hormones and the levels of those hormones will be affecting you in some way.

Don't let menopause (or imbalanced hormones) make you miserable - try Saliva Testing - today!