Testosterone not being prescribed

[bumpsadaisy11]

I have been on hrt for several years. I contacted my gp because I was suffering from complete lack of sex drive, as well as a couple of other symptoms. I asked at that point if I could be prescribed testosterone. The gp said they would contact our local menopause service for advice.The menopause society advised them to prescribe me on testosterone, despite this advice my gp is refusing to prescribe it.
Nice guidelines state that testosterone should be offered if someone is on hrt & suffering from lack of sex drive.
Can any of you lovely people offer me any advice as to what my next step should be?

Get a referral to Gynae, or see someone privately if that’s an option
I get mine through my NHS Gynae

I saw a consultant privately who advised HRT included testosterone. Took the letter to my nhs gp who prescribed it. Try another GP?

Yep, another here who was initially fobbed off by one GP, but spoke to another in our practice and got testosterone prescribed. I’m coming towards the end of my initial 3 month trial and I can honestly say it’s made a HUGE difference to my sex drive. My husband cannot believe his luck!🤣🫣 It took a month or so I’d say to take effect, but it really has helped enormously.

Yes it has been life changing for me. I thought I was dead below the waist 😂. Not anymore!

Ask for a different GP and complain. Go back in with the NICE guidelines and the recommendations.

Did those who managed to get it prescribed have to have blood tests first? I have requested testosterone but was told that my blood levels were within normal limits so they wouldn’t prescribe.

Does anyone know what ‘normal’ testosterone levels should be? Can it still be prescribed if levels are not low?

I did (privately though.) and mine was really low so it was a bit easier - though still all private and paid for (it’s expensive!):

Those who have taken it, does it affect you in other ways? Like unwanted hair? Greater assertiveness/aggression?

I did have to have bloods done first, but the GP who prescribed it didn’t particularly comment on them once the results were in. I’ve just been for follow up bloods today, to see where I’m at after the first three months. Hoping it’s all ok!

Not really. I’ve always been a bit hairy anyway, so I’d say it’s maybe marginally worse, but only marginally. no other side effects/benefits beyond having a little bit more get up and go. That’s about it. I’m on what I think is the lowest dose though of one pump twice a week.

Haven’t noticed I’m more hairy or more assertive/aggressive. Just more energy and spark for life. I had very low levels though so I guess I’m just topping up what I’d lost.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all of your advice.
I have paid for a private appointment to see a menopause specialist on Monday.
I will report back after my appointment.

I approached a private menopause specialist as my G.Ps we’re unsure of how to prescribe it for women. The specialist was great and wrote to my Drs with the dosage required. They are now confident to not only prescribe to myself but also other patients in the same predicament, which is great. In this day and age as more women are aware of what is available, the G.Ps need to be proactive on this. The specialist I approached offers workshops for Drs surgeries to give them the skills.

I now have a wonderful sex life, in fact better than ever, I’m wearing my poor husband out. As I write this I am currently in the spare bed, to give the poor man a rest 😝

You can use a service like Superdrug online doctor for HRT if you can't get the right stuff from the GP. Obviously you pay but a lot of HRT and birth control are not expensive medication.

The NICE guidelines say that a GP should not do blood tests before prescribing menopause drugs, as how do they know what your baseline or ‘normal’ testosterone levels are?

Print out the guidelines and take them in.

My GP won't prescribe testosterone and the private menopause GP I saw also wasn't open to it. My level is very low (from a blood test) but as this was measured fairly recently (in the last 2 years) who knows if I've always had a low level. Private GP suggested my sex drive could just be low and that Davina was encouraging everyone to ask for it.... Whilst that wasn't very encouraging, she was at least prepared to try increasing my HRT dose and not just moving to AD to help me sleep (which was the NHS GP's suggestion).

I'm trying again to get a review - found a new GP at the surgery who agreed that I was probably overdue a complete blood test at 55 (last full bloods done 10+ years ago) - she may even take my blood pressure, who knows!

Have you tried the Superdrug online service? Other pharmacies are also available, I don't work for them 🙂

Testosterone is an off-licence drug for women in the uk so it's prescribed at the GPs discretion - they don't have to prescribe it for you. Mine wanted to ensure my oestrogen was optimised before prescribing so did bloods and then an increase in my patch first; then she added in testosterone.

I've just had a new prescription and they asked for a fresh set of bloods.

It's been brilliant for me. No negative effects that I can discern.

@olderbutwiser yes I completely understand that the GP doesn't have to prescribe so I haven't pushed on this. I went private because my NHS wasn't able to explore changing dose, while the private GP was fine to move me from a patch to a tablet (a blood test suggested no absorption). And for a year that enabled me to sleep at night again, but for the last 4 months I'm awake during the night a lot so I want to try something different (open to AD being the solution right now). I would do anything to sleep, the brain fog and no sex drive are secondary. I can perform at a low level at work (can't remember facts, names etc) but falling asleep at my desk isn't a great look given my seniority.

Frustrating that a private GP wouldn’t prescribe. I went through a private menopausal clinic- we did 3 months getting oestrogen up then I started on testosterone (levels were very low).

It has definitely helped energy levels, brain fog and fatigue is better. I do believe testosterone is the missing piece of the HRT puzzle for many. Such a shame it’s so hard to get hold of.

Me sleep is so much better but it’s hard to know what that is down to…!

Hello, I'm new to any forums, so apologies if this is in the wrong thread- I simply searched 'Menopause' with 'testosterone'.
In a nutshell, I've been perimenopausal for about 4 years, went through the doc prescribing anti-depressants, before finally getting HRT. Even though symptoms improved, I felt something was not right- still so much brain fog, lack of concentration and low libido. Then a wonderful lady at work spoke to me at length about how she got prescribed testosterone gel (at first she went private, then complained to her NHS doc and now gets it through NHS specialist). For her, it was the missing piece of the puzzle. She also lent me the Davina McCall book which I read cover to cover. Again, she got testosterone - the missing hormone that 'completed' her. This lovely work lady then gave me an unopened bottle of gel. I started about a month ago- one pea-sized pump every 2 days. It took a while, but I have definitely noticed the positive effects- brain fog and concentration much better, as is my sex-drive. Of course, I knew that this stuff would run out, so I pleaded my case with my GP- really I fibbed and didn't say I'd acquired the gel but that my libido was on the floor (I'd read this was the symptom to really double down on). So my GP suggested I have a blood test to measure my testosterone levels. Now I am massively panicking- if I stop the gel now, will my levels dip low enough to possibly get a prescription? Or do I keep going with the gel, and when the results come back and they are normal to good (or whatever) I then do the 'big reveal' and tell my GP 'yes, this is why and I have been feeling SO much better, please can I have some more?' Yes, I have been dishonest but I was so desperate as I had been going round and round in circles with my GP for years and didn't know which way to turn. I felt I was going crazy with it all. And then this ray of hope came and I grabbed it. Now I feel I'm playing a game, just desperately trying to get what I need; what I know is making me feel like myself again, only for this possibility to be taken away or never to be on the cards for me. Because my GP can just say no. Part of me thinks, well I may have shot myself in the foot here so the consequence will be to go back to being miserable and uninterested in any kind of intimacy with my husband; the other part feels furious that I have felt desperate enough to take this route to getting testosterone in order to feel better- if only until my testosterone bottle runs out. My GP only suggested the blood test after years of suffering with this. Until I read Davina's book last month, I didn't even know testosterone was an option! Previous experience in getting HRT- oestrogen and progesterone -in the first place has been such an uphill struggle. And now another battle. I don't know that I can face it. I almost wish I'd never started the testosterone at all as I've had a glimpse of feeling normal again, only for it to be potentially very short-lived. Any help/advice would be very much appreciated.

I had similar with my G.P, mainly to do with it being off license as there isn’t one for women, and the G.Ps haven’t had the training.

I paid to see a menopause specialist, after a blood test it showed I was deficient in testosterone. The specialist actually knew the Drs at my surgery and offered to advise them of the dosage so they could prescribe it and therefore I only paid for an NHS prescription, bloody brilliant.

By me doing this the G.Ps have the knowledge to now help other menopause patients, which is good but they should have the training and learn about it.

Testosterone can be a contraversial topic - I've had my levels measured a couple of times (I'm 54 so probably menopausal/post-menopausal) and the test values have been 0.0-0.2, but the normal range is 0-1.8 so it doesn't trigger action. My private menopause GP isn't convinced it helps (but does acknowledge that everyone asks for it thanks to the TV coverage) so won't prescribe. However a new (NHS) Dr I saw recently was open to a discussion so I'm going to follow up as the brain fog is awful.

My GP won’t prescribe it. I’m now being referred to the gynae/menopause consultant for it.