Menopause and testosterone cream

[macguru]

I have been giving my wife some of my testogel (=androgel) for about a year. She is 53 post-menopause & had zero T. Now even the low dose (say half sachet or a bit less per day) has improved libido & muscle tone. No XS hair. No clit enlargement tho it sure is easier to find in the dark Also improved mental state. I am sure the effects are real & not coincidental

Andrew

 

[arkassilem]

I use cream also and it does wonders. Your clit can grow but depend on how much your applying. Larger clit is better than smaller clit. The cream will bring your sex drive back and nice muscle tone.

 

[fire.horse]

I read the original post but not the whole thread so I apologize if this is redundant.

I'm in my late 30s (so, not menopausal), but I did have a serious hormonal imbalance where my testosterone was almost undetectable and all my other hormones were starting to crash too. I could not get any results anymore from herculean efforts at the gym and healthy clean diet, that would have given me a 6 pack within a couple months in my 20s. Sex drive was nil, I felt asexual, it sucked. I struggled with this for 5+ years.

I tried 1% testosterone cream, Androfeme, and had severe reactions like you, so I stopped. It was converting to DHT.

So I went milder with DHEA 20mg/day. Your body will convert it to testosterone, only what it needs. I also took zinc citrate, 30mg/day (after food, or it will make you so nauseous that you'll never want to touch it again), which is supposed to help prevent testosterone from converting to DHT (if you're taking testosterone directly, zinc is not enough to counteract that).

It took 6-8 months, but the DHEA worked. My hormone levels are all normal again. My sex drive has returned, not fully but quite a lot. I expect to start seeing results from exercise and diet again but I haven't really put it to the test yet. Basically it reset my hormones so I now have something to work with.

This may not be the right approach for you, as menopausal, but worth looking into.

 

[musclemom]

A very old post but with some recent interest so I'll throw in my two cents.

Unfortunately, women, just like men, can be prone to androgenic hair loss. I am. If you convert testosterone to DHT then you're going to get hair loss if your testosterone is excessive in comparison to other hormones. It MAY come back, don't lose heart (particularly if you get yourself into hormone balance).

You need estrogen too offset the testosterone, short and sweet. Even using DHEA causes hairloss for me. In my family women go through menopause and get a free certificate to the wig store. I'm hanging onto what I have now that I've found a routine that works for me.

I can't emphasize enough, gynos are (as you may have realized by now) essentially clueless when it comes to hormone treatment. I assure you, no competent doctor who understands what they're doing would have put you on such a dose. Gyncologists get generally pissed when you say that you want to go to someone who specializes in hormone treatment, oh frigging well. Like it or lump it. I've been told by medical professionals that, next to GPs, two of the most incompetent specialties are podiatry and gynecology.

Hormones are best handled by someone who has extensive training. It's as much art and listening too the patient as understanding the simple chemistry. You CAN'T just take testosterone without looking at the other hormones. In fact, when I first started HRT my doctor put me on progesterone and testosterone, ONLY. You need ALL of your hormones tested, and you may need EVERYTHING (most commonly, progesterone, estrogen, thyroid), supplemented. In fact, if you get all THAT straightened out you might not even need testosterone (I don't, and my testosterone consistently tests high). I'm taking a tiny dose of estrogen (.5 or 1 mg a day), progesterone (about 2000 mg topically most of the month) and pregnenolone.

Also, if there is a problem with your hormone balance you will be more prone to negative side effects from other hormones. IOW, you could experience hair loss because your thyroid is low and adding testosterone pushes the existing imbalance over the edge.

Fears of additional estrogen are garbage (based on a flawed WHO Initiative study) as long as you supplement with progesterone your cancer risks are no higher than when you were a younger woman. It's about bringing hormone levels back up to physiologic levels. If doctors understand the science they'd realize that when breast cancer is strong in a family, you REALLY need progesterone after menopause. In my family, heart disease is very strong, which is one of the reasons I really wanted to get onto estrogen when the heat flashes started. I'm WAYYYY more afraid of heart disease (pass 40 and get your heart attack card in my father's family, apparently no matter what your lifestyle) than I am of cancer.

 

[fire.horse]

Yes, I had noticed the date of the most recent post by arkassilem but not the date of the original post. My bad.