There are a lot of ways to measure your hormones these days.
Between LH strips, fertility monitors, temperature wearables, and apps that promise to interpret your cycle better than you can; it’s easy to feel like you’re missing something by not buying the fanciest, newest, femtech.
I recently had a question about devices like Mira and Inito. They offer at-home monitoring with urine hormone tests, either with a designated device or using your phone to power a device.
While having access to more hormone data can be interesting, there's a question I'd consider before spending money on another device:
What information am I actually hoping to get that I don't already have?
What do Mira and Inito actually measure?
Both Mira and Inito use urine testing to measure reproductive hormones and provide results through an app.
Inito currently measures:
LH (luteinizing hormone)
E3G (a urinary metabolite of estrogen)
PdG (a urinary metabolite of progesterone)
FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone)
Mira also measures these four hormones, but the hormones you measure depend on which wand you're using:
Mira Plus: LH and E3G
Mira Max: LH, E3G and PdG
Mira Confirm: PdG
Mira Ovum: FSH
Mira Ultra4: LH, E3G, PdG and FSH in one test
So, depending on the wand, Mira can provide information about estrogen-related activity, the LH surge, post-ovulatory progesterone activity, and FSH.
These measurements can give you another perspective on hormonal activity throughout your cycle. But I’m more curious about whether those measurements are adding something meaningful to your fertility awareness practice. I’d ask you: what you're already tracking and what your goals are.
If you're already charting cervical mucus...
Cervical mucus is an estrogen responsive fertility sign.
As estrogen rises during the follicular phase, cervical mucus typically changes in response. Those changes provide observable information about your body's hormonal activity and can help you recognize the development of the fertile window.
If you're already observing and charting cervical mucus, an additional estrogen reading may offer interesting context.
But ask yourself whether it's giving you information you weren't already getting from your chart. An E3G reading and a cervical mucus observation aren't interchangeable. They're different ways of gathering information about related physiological processes.
You might find it interesting to compare them, but that doesn't automatically mean you need both.
If you're already using LH tests...
The LH component of a multi-hormone monitor may overlap with what you're already getting from your existing LH testing.
For example, if you're already using the cheaper threshold LH tests to identify an LH surge, adding another testing system may give you a more quantitative reading, but consider whether that information is actually changing your understanding of your cycle.
I’d argue you’re getting the same information, in a more expensive way.
What about the progesterone piece?
Post-ovulatory hormone information can offer another perspective on what's happening across your cycle.
PdG, a urinary metabolite of progesterone, can be used to monitor changes associated with progesterone production after ovulation.
If your goal is to explore whole cycle hormone patterns (charting for health) a multi hormone monitor may be worth considering.
It can provide additional information about hormonal changes throughout the cycle and give you another way to compare your results with expected patterns.
I wouldn’t rely on the urine progesterone results to close the fertile window if you’re trying to avoid (TTA). The method with the most reliable evidence is a symptothermal BBT crosscheck.
So, who might benefit from a fertility monitor?
If you're interested in whole-cycle hormone analysis:
A multi-hormone monitor may be worth exploring. Mira overlays your hormone results with its average user base experiencing a particular condition so you can see how your hormonal patterns measure up. It could offer additional insight for a whole cycle analysis that in theory you couldn’t get from blood tests alone.
If you're using a symptothermal method for TTA, with additional LH testing:
Your cervical mucus observations, basal body temperature, and method-specific rules already have a purpose. Adding hormone readings doesn't automatically make your chart more accurate or your interpretation clearer.
It may simply add more data, more cost, and more things to interpret.
And if you're using a symptothermal method to avoid pregnancy, it's important to remember that hormone monitor readings don't replace the established rules of your method for determining fertility or infertility.
A monitor can provide additional information. It doesn't independently establish that you're infertile on a particular day.
Before you buy another fun fertility gadget...
I'd ask yourself four things:
What am I hoping to learn?
What information am I already collecting?
What gap would this device actually fill?
Will the additional information change a decision I'm appropriately making?
You don't need to measure every available hormone to understand your cycle. Let's not confuse having more numbers with having a better understanding of your cycle.
Learn fertility awareness with me inside Cycle Love
Take Mucus Made Easy, free