Women on testosterone - would you?

[RoamingToaster]

For clarity, I don't mean women who want to be men.

I read a piece by Helen Lewis referencing an article about women who take testosterone to help with their energy and sex drive. I find the effects hormones can have on a person interesting. Would anyone try it? I think I'd be curious to see the effects but unsurprisingly it's not studied that well so women are taking it often off prescription. They're not taking as much as women who claim to be men but obviously the risks of facial hair etc is still there but they just seem to deal with it.

Testosterone Is Giving Women Back Their Sex Drive — With Side Effects - The New York Times

Women naturally have some testosterone, as men naturally have tiny amounts of oestrogen. I think I'd give it a go but I don't do Internet medicine, so I'd have to wait for the NHS

I take it. I often read about all this "Yaaay it gave me back my sex drive/im just like I used to" not for me. Don't get me wrong if I don't take it I feel much much worse but I'm
not 25 anymore and no my sex drive hasn't returned.

i had to get it prescribed privately at a menopause clinic & it really does help. It's the third leg of the stool - progesterone, oestrogen & testosterone

interestingly i was told in no uncertain terms to use a very small amount, literally a little finger nail size amount & warned that any excessive use could cause hair to grow or voice to deepen. One sachet lasts me about 10 days.

@Theeyeballsinthesky thanks for sharing. So using a little amount has had any side effects?

None at all for me and I've been on it for 4 years

I take it as part of HRT, prescribed by my NHS GP. No side effects. There's loads of information around - check out eg the menopause boards on MN.

My testosterone level was <0.4, which is very low. I'm taking it in order to have normal levels for a women.

We need to move away from this myth that testosterone is a male sex hormone, women have it naturally and need it to function normally/ well.

Yes, I'm on it. My sex drive vanished and it was making me depressed so after a blood test to check my levels weren't high my GP prescribed it. She warned that it only works that way on 1/5 women but whether it's placebo or not I have got a sex drive back and I'm delighted. My blood levels were 'normal' for a 45 year old woman ie lower than a woman in her 20s and 30s so it makes sense that I feel better on it. Side effects are increased itching and spots but it's worth it for me.

Women naturally make our own small but necessary amounts of testosterone. However, some menopausal/ post menopausal women seem to have exceptionally low T & experience problems as a result. In the UK we used to have a testosterone product licensed for female use but the licence holder chose not to bother renewing the licence - the usual story of low priority for female health.
It's worth remembering that "normal" testosterone & oestrogen levels are ranges, each person's normal levels may be different, hormones interact & are acted upon by many other things, eg; infections. As with too much regarding both endocrinology & women's health, doctors are to a large extent forced to rely on guesswork when trying to determine who might need testosterone supplementation.

I’m on it with my HRT, it also has some additional benefits for neurodivergent women going through menopause seemingly from the community I have spoken to. It has definitely helped my brain confudlement and additional challenges that my HRT hadn’t fully resolved.

I don't take testosterone. My menopausal symptoms haven't included loss of sexual interest, and although I might otherwise have looked into the risk/benefit ratio with regard to reduction in the risk of sarcopenia, osteoporosis and frailty vs. increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease towards male levels it isn't really an issue for me because I do a sport at which I'm competitive within my age group and testosterone use, even for a legitimate medical indication, would be considered doping. The likelihood that I'll ever be tested is negligible, but it's the cheating that would matter, not the getting caught.

I'm on HRT and testosterone prescribed my the menopause clinic. The testosterone has had zero effect

I take it as part of my hrt. I have had any facial hair. I do get a bit spotty on my back when my levels get too high and a bit hairy where I apply it but that’s all.

it hasn’t miraculously given me back my sex drive but it does stop me feeling exhausted to the point of not functioning.

I wouldn't because I'm not allowed any HRT due to the risk of stroke with the type of migraine i get. As what little research there is on testosterone use in women doesn't include stroke risk for women with my type of migraine às such it's an unknown risk for me

Yes I use it as part of my HRT . Prescribed by my GP. I use a pea sized blob each morning. It definitely helped with my energy and libido levels.

Yes, as part of HRT. I don't think it's prescribed for women unless for menopause.

It made a huge difference for me, I feel more like myself. I had been unable to have an orgasm before using it ( due to menopause) now I can.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realise it was a thing here. I'd only read about HRT for the menopause.

I think everyone here is taking it as part of their HRT for the menopause. Mine certainly is

I take it, it is great for me. No side effects. More energy, more libido

I take it and it's been marvellous. My problem is that my testosterone levels are now high and I will probably have to come off it. I don't want to.

I don't but I know a few who do along with oestrogen and progesterone for peri menopause. Prescribed by NHS GP but only recently, previously I only knew people getting it privately.
I don't know anyone only on testosterone and not oestrogen, I am not sure if that is prescribed.

I went to half dose

I was on it as part of hrt - my gp was excellent and thoroughly tested me for testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin. they do a calculation to work out free testosterone from this, mine was 0. My Gp said, in her experience, 1/3 women love testosterone, 1/3 hate it and 1/3 find it does nothing.

it worked but I went to high. It also affected my thyroid levels (I’m on thyroxine) and I had to lower that too. (Libido was through the roof but my hair fell out! I was also extremely confident, which I found fascinating with regards to why trans identified females might take testosterone.)

I then had to come off all hrt it due to breast cancer.

what I’ve learned through it all though, from my experience with the excellent gp, and from some googling, is that SHBG is important in all this. If that’s too high, there’s not enough circulating free testosterone. Natural progesterone also helps balance SHBG, which in turn helps free testosterone

resistance training/ building lean muscle mass (also following correct nutrition to support / not starving yourself ) slightly increases testosterone and lowers SHBG. Good vitamin D levels help normalise SHBG. Stress worsens it.

my libido did fall off a cliff, everything shrivelled up down there and I stopped being able to orgasm when I came off hrt and started tamoxifen. It wasn’t nice. BUT over time (18 months) it’s slowly come back, even though I seem to be post menopausal now. The main thing I’ve been really focusing on is building lean muscle mass because I’ve been obviously so worried about bone density (it’s very hard to hear so much about hrt and not be allowed it.) I’ve channeled a lot into what I can do for myself; get really strong and eat well for brain, meno symptoms and bone health. And I’m wondering if I’ve been slowly balancing my hormones, particularly testosterone, in the process.

I still don’t think women are being given the full story of how hormones work and what might help them, as well as what self help options there are.

I think women should be offered access to testosterone but I think it should be much more closely monitored, explained, and also more information about the bigger picture, in order to make informed choices.

Interestingly there seems to be a new cancer combo treatment for women in the US with hormone positive cancer, where they can take testosterone alongside aromatase inhibitors (AIs stop the conversion of testosterone to oestrogen) to help combat the side effects of the AIs, joint pain, brain fog etc.

This para is key;

Little research exists on the long-term health risks for women taking such high doses for libido. “The fact is we just don’t know,” says Kathleen Jordan of Midi. Trans men take testosterone in much higher doses than even the highest-dose pellets, and are not thought to be putting their health at risk, Rubin says. But she criticized the companies that produce pellets for failing to conduct long-term, gold-standard studies on their own products. In February, the F.D.A. began requiring all approved testosterone products for men to come with a warning label about the risks of high blood pressure.

on FWR we know full well there are massive risks for transmen.

it illustrates how little is known about women’s health and how little research there is.

I didn't really take the OP to be talking about HRT type usage.

It's become a thing with women outside of that, to perk up their energy, maybe masculinalise a bit, etc.

It's not, in that usage, any differernt really than steroids for sports, imo.

I’m on regular HRT and I tried testosterone, hoping for better mental clarity, more muscle mass and improved libido, but I didn’t give it long enough to find out if it would help with any of that. I was only on it for a couple of weeks and then the hormonal acne I’d suffered on my chin for 20 years came back with a vengeance! The acne had gone away when I was 40 (presumably caused by hormonal change as I came into perimenopause) and I have so enjoyed being acne-free for the first time in my adult life. I just couldn’t face living with that again, no amount of improved libido and mental clarity would have been worth it for me.