You can test your estrogen levels at home using at-home urine tests (to measure E3G) or blood tests. Learn more about your options and understand when you should consider testing your estrogen levels.
Estrogen is a crucial piece of the puzzle that makes up our bodies. This hormone plays an important role in everything from fertility and mood to physical health.
>>MORE: What Are Normal Estrogen Levels (And How Are They Relevant To Ovulation)?
Knowing your estrogen levels can help you understand and manage your overall health, whether you’re experiencing new symptoms, trying to conceive, or navigating a reproductive health condition.
So, is it possible to test estrogen levels at home? Yes! If you are testing estrogen through a blood test you will see your levels of E2 but if you are testing estrogen through urine you will see your results in terms of E3G, the urinary metabolite of estrogen.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to test estrogen levels at home.
What does estrogen do? Estrogen is actually a family of hormones, made up of :
Estradiol : the most prevalent form of estrogen during the reproductive yearsEstriol : the main form produced during pregnancyEstrone : the only form produced after menopause Estrogen plays a key role in reproductive functions like:
Development of secondary sex characteristics (breasts, pubic hair, etc.) Menstrual cycle regularity Ovulation Fertility Vaginal health Sex drive But estrogen isn’t only active in our reproductive systems. This hormone is also equally integral to functions throughout our bodies, including:
Mood Cognitive function Bone health Skin health Heart health Metabolism Why would I test my estrogen levels? Tracking your estrogen levels can help you understand what’s happening in your body and what could be behind any symptoms you may be experiencing. This knowledge can empower you to take control of your health and well-being.
Here are just a few scenarios when testing your estrogen levels at home can be particularly useful.
You suspect something’s off Estrogen and other hormones naturally fluctuate and change, both throughout our lives and cycle to cycle.
But when estrogen fluctuates too much, or when estrogen is chronically high or low in relation to other hormones, certain issues can develop.
Estrogen-related issues include:
If you begin experiencing new and unfamiliar symptoms like those above, it may be a good idea to take a closer look at your estrogen and other hormone levels. Testing your estrogen at home can be a great starting point.
You’re managing a reproductive health condition Reproductive health conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) , primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), endometriosis, or hormonal imbalances can come with a slew of painful and distressing symptoms.
At-home estrogen and hormone tests may be able to aid in symptom tracking. Testing your hormones can help you understand which symptoms may be related to which hormones and which moments in your cycle, and that can help you anticipate and manage your health needs day-to-day.
You’re trying to conceive Estrogen plays a huge role in ovulation, and ovulation is key to getting pregnant.
Estrogen rises then peaks right before ovulation. This increase triggers the LH surge , which signals to your ovaries to release an egg. Once released, that egg is ready for potential fertilization.
Tracking your estrogen at home can help you pinpoint ovulation and find your fertile window (the part of your cycle when you’re most fertile), so that you can time sex to optimize your chances of conceiving .
Alternately, testing your estrogen can also help you figure out when to avoid having unprotected sex if you don’t want to get pregnant.
You suspect you’ve started perimenopause or menopause Perimenopause and menopause—the transition out of your reproductive years and into the next biological stage of your life—are driven by major hormonal shifts.
>>MORE: Everything You Need to Know About Estrogen During Perimenopause
Estrogen levels fluctuate and decline significantly as your ovaries produce less and less of this hormone, leading to frustrating, uncomfortable, and even painful perimenopause symptoms .
At-home estrogen (and progesterone ) tests can help you understand whether you’ve started perimenopause or menopause . Knowing where you are in your biological life stages can provide insight into symptoms, help you decide what treatment methods—if any—to try, monitor how those methods are working, and give you greater peace of mind.
You’re monitoring your health Maybe you’re just curious and you want to know what’s happening in your body!
You don’t need any special reason to track your estrogen and other hormone levels. Arming yourself with personalized knowledge about your unique body can never hurt.
Plus, daily hormone tracking may help you detect any significant changes or potential imbalances if and as they occur. That means you can loop your doctor in with data, so that you can work together to get to the source of any potential problems.
How do I test estrogen levels at home? So, you’ve decided you want to understand your estrogen levels. If you’re wondering whether you can test estrogen levels at home, the answer is yes!
Hormones can be tested at home or in a healthcare setting. Healthcare settings may be necessary in some cases, like for testing lots of different hormones aside from estrogen, or for analyzing a wider window of measurement beyond what at-home tests can capture.
But for many people, at-home estrogen testing can be a great starting point—or even the only type of testing necessary.
To test estrogen levels from the comfort of your own home, you’ll likely use an at-home hormone test, many of which measure multiple hormones at once. At-home hormone tests generally measure estrogen levels in blood or urine samples. Some may use saliva.
Estrogen blood test vs. estrogen urine test With a blood test, you’ll likely prick your finger to provide a blood sample. This type of test measures the active hormones in your blood, meaning the hormones that are currently circulating in your body.
With a urine test, you’ll likely pee on a test cartridge or stick the cartridge in a cup of urine. Urine tests measure hormone metabolites. Hormone metabolites are the hormone byproducts left over after your body has metabolized hormones, breaking them down into the useful parts and the parts it doesn’t need.
While urinary metabolites aren’t active hormones themselves, they are an accurate and reliable indication of the active hormones in your body.
At-home estrogen test vs. combination at-home and lab tests Some at-home estrogen tests use a combination of home testing and lab testing: you take a sample at home, but then send it to a lab for final analysis.
This can lead to delays between taking the sample and getting results. It may also provide you with only a snapshot of your hormones in one particular moment, rather than over time.
Other at-home hormone tests, like the Oova test kit , run their full analysis right in front of you, offering immediate results and up-to-date measurements.
The Oova fertility test kit and perimenopause test kit measure a urinary metabolite of estrogen called E3G. These test kits also measure luteinizing hormone (LH) and PdG, a urinary metabolite of progesterone—two other key reproductive hormones.
By measuring daily levels of E3G and other hormones over time, the Oova can you a comprehensive view of how and when your hormones change throughout your cycle, offering in-depth insight into your ovulation patterns right from your own home.
How to test estrogen levels at home: the bottom line Estrogen is a crucial hormone that impacts both reproductive health and overall health. If you track estrogen through urine you will measure the urinary metabolite of estrogen, E3G.
Anyone can test their estrogen levels at home, for any reason, but doing so may be particularly useful if you’re trying to conceive, managing a reproductive health condition, entering perimenopause, or if you just want to understand your body more.
Many people test estrogen levels using either a blood test or a urine test, depending on their particular needs.
The more knowledge you have about your hormones, the more prepared you are to take your health and well-being into your own hands.
