Hi, I am Dr. Somi Javaid. I'm a board certified OBGYN - A specialist of both menopause and sexual health. And I am a member of the plusOne Collective. And I'm here to answer questions from our community.

How do I know if I need hormone therapy? And I've heard that getting labs may not be the smartest thing because lab values of hormones fluctuate.

The key thing to remember, your approach to perimenopause and menopause is a very individualized, curated approach, and it's not a one size fits all answer. And providers who specialize in menopause, we don't chase labs. We treat symptoms and we combine that with your desire on your treatment of choice.

We can typically replace estrogen, progesterone if you have a uterus and testosterone if you are struggling with issues with low libido, sexual pain, problems with orgasm. It just really depends on what your symptoms are. We know that estrogen can affect us from head to toe as we have estrogen receptors from head to toe.

So, if you're having symptoms like hot flashes, insomnia, vaginal dryness, low libido, you'll likely want to talk to your provider about hormone therapy.

And as far as the diagnosis of menopause, it's 12 consecutive months with no cycles. The average age in the United States is 51, but for those women who've had a partial hysterectomy or an ablation or have an IUD, we can check levels of FSH. And if it's elevated on more than one occasion, that usually indicates menopause. And then we can also check levels of estrogen and testosterone and see if that's fallen into the menopausal range.