Does it really work?
It promises immediate health insights. But can a simple blood test really be the key to a better menopause?
I’ll level with you: I’m squeamish. I’m in the ‘eyes squeezed shut’ camp when it comes to injections, and the channel gets changed at the first glimpse of on-screen gore. So while I was all for trialling MyForm (£129), an at-home hormone-mapping kit that tests for perimenopause, I was apprehensive. Read: it requires finger-prick blood samples.
But I’m 48 now, and menopause is on the horizon. I’m starting to experience some of the symptoms of perimenopause, such as night sweats and the odd tearful day. Mapping my hormones could give me a clearer idea of what’s going on, according to endocrinologist Gareth Nye. ‘Mapping certain hormones can provide insight into changes that could impact bodily functions in the same way that menopause or PCOS might,’ he says.
MyForm does just this, providing insights by processing results from a finger-prick blood test. These are assessed using an algorithm that tracks peak hormonal moments in a woman’s cycle – days 14 and 21 – to create a ‘map’. With this tool in place, any deviations from the norm can be spotted more easily.
Despite the finger pricking, the process was simple enough. I took tests on days 14 and 21 of my cycle and filled in an online questionnaire for each. The helpline proved useful (I had many questions) and the results came back within a few days.
Nicky Keay, an endocrinologist and former chief medical officer of Forth, which created MyForm, agrees that hormone-mapping tests are a convenient way to
