Mood, energy, sleep, cycles, skin, libido, weight. So much of how a woman feels is shaped by hormones working together in the right balance. When something is off, the symptoms can be hard to pin down: sleep that isn't restful, cycles that feel different than they used to, moods that shift more than they should, a body that doesn't respond the way it once did. A standard annual visit rarely looks deep enough to explain why.
This panel gives you a thorough baseline of the hormones that matter most for adult women, whether you're trying to understand shifts in your cycle, curious about what's changing in your late 30s or 40s, or wanting a clearer picture on the other side of menopause.
Any adult woman who wants a thorough baseline of her hormone health.
Especially useful if you're in your late 30s, 40s, or early 50s and noticing changes, sleep shifts, cycle changes, mood swings, brain fog, stubborn weight gain, or less interest in things that used to feel good. Also valuable if you're postmenopausal and want a clear picture of where your hormones have settled.
Perimenopause can start up to a decade before your final period, and most women are told "your labs are normal" long before they actually feel normal. A thorough hormone baseline gives you real data instead of guesswork.
This panel goes beyond what's typically ordered in a standard visit. It looks at the active forms of hormones, the proteins that carry them, and the signals from the brain that direct the ovaries, so you can see the full hormonal picture rather than a fragmented piece of it.
Testosterone, total and free. Not just a "male hormone." In women, testosterone influences libido, energy, mood, and muscle, and levels shift meaningfully with age.
Estradiol (ultrasensitive). The primary form of estrogen during reproductive years. The ultrasensitive version is more accurate at the lower levels often seen in perimenopause and postmenopause.
Progesterone. Essential for cycle regulation, sleep, and calm. Often the first hormone to decline in perimenopause.
FSH and LH. Signals from the brain to the ovaries. These help tell the story of where you are in your reproductive transition, useful in perimenopause especially.
DHEA-sulfate. An adrenal hormone that serves as a building block for other hormones and reflects your stress resilience.
SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). A protein that determines how much of your testosterone and estrogen is actually available to your body. Without it, a testosterone number alone doesn't tell the full story.
Numbers on a page are data, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan. The same estradiol level can mean very different things depending on your cycle day, your symptoms, and your stage of life.
If you'd like help understanding what your results mean, you have options.
For residents of Virginia, Maryland, DC, and Delaware, you can book an interpretation visit with Discreet Health for a clear, educational walk-through of your numbers.
If you live elsewhere, we recommend following up with a licensed clinician in your state.
If you're looking for a treatment plan or ongoing care beyond interpretation, that lives in our clinical programs (available only to residents of VA, MD, DC, and DE).
Cycle Timing (if you're still cycling)
If you're still having regular cycles, when you run this panel matters. Hormones fluctuate dramatically across the month, and a single snapshot at the wrong time can be misleading. The ideal window is day 19 through 22 of your cycle, counting the first day of your period as day 1. This timing captures progesterone at its peak and gives the most meaningful read on estradiol.
If your cycles are irregular, skipped, or have stopped altogether, timing matters much less, and you can run this panel anytime.
If You're on Hormonal Birth Control
If you take hormonal birth control (the pill, hormonal IUD, patch, ring, implant, or Depo-Provera), this panel will reflect your hormones while on that medication, not your underlying hormonal picture. Many of the markers in this panel are directly affected by hormonal contraception, which can make the results misleading if you're trying to understand your natural hormone state.
If your goal is to see your true baseline, you'll get the most meaningful results by waiting until you've been off hormonal birth control for at least 2 to 3 months before running this panel.
If you want to run it while on birth control to understand how you're doing on that medication specifically, the panel can still be useful, though the results should be interpreted with your specific method in mind. An interpretation visit can help you make sense of what you're seeing.
A dried urine test that measures sex hormones, adrenal hormones, and the metabolites your body produces as it processes them. Often chosen by women already on hormone therapy who want additional detail. We're upfront about where this test is useful and where blood work gives us more reliable answers.
A look at how your cortisol rises, falls, and settles across the day. Useful for understanding stress patterns, sleep issues, and HPA axis dysregulation when blood cortisol alone doesn't tell the full story.
A comprehensive stool test that identifies gut bacteria, yeast, parasites, and markers of digestion, inflammation, and intestinal barrier function. Often chosen by women investigating digestive symptoms or the gut-hormone connection.
A urine-based test that measures mycotoxins (toxic byproducts of mold) in your body. Often chosen by women with a history of water-damaged buildings or unexplained symptoms that haven't responded to other interventions.
An at-home test that uses DNA analysis to identify the bacteria, yeast, and organisms living in your vaginal microbiome. Often chosen by women with recurrent symptoms or those investigating the connection between hormones, the gut, and vaginal health.
Compassionate, evidence-based hormone health care for women, delivered through secure telemedicine.
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