The Importance of Testosterone in Women | Empowering Midlife Wellness 

But compounded pharmacy's are not regulated or FDA approved ..how do you know how much of anything do you know your getting?? I take BHRT have now for 3years but I'm am still not in a good place ..Too many tweaks / on testosterone off testosterone.. Had hairloss still struggling with that, my testosterone free & total was never high but Dermatologist said I had mild / moderate androgenic alopecia..He wasn't helpful so I asked him so that means I can't go back on testosterone??? assuming I'm more sensitive to androgens he just said listen to your body & give it what it needs !!!! So I guess if I want my libido bk I will have to go bald ...you just can't win menupause just robs you if your life as it was. I envy the women who swear by BHRT how amazing the feel how grt their skin & hair is ...well I guess that is only a minority...😢

It's a misconception that FDA approval makes something safe, and the lack of it makes it not safe. Think about all of the drugs that are FDA approve that can kill you and are full of multiple horrendous side effects! That being said bioidentical hormones are FDA approved, and you can get estradiol patches and progesterone for example, from any pharmacy that are bio identical, but we do not have a bio identical testosterone, yet that is FDA approved for women for the reasons that I mentioned, which doesn't mean that it's not good it just means that there's a lot of sexism and slowness within the FDA and the world. But the FDA has approved bioidentical testosterone just not in a method that's available for women, so the product is safe. It's just the delivery method for women that has not been approved yet because of all of the reasons mentioned !Compounding pharmacies are very tightly regulated and just like with vitamins or other things that we take, we need to make sure we have a very good resource and that we have our blood levels followed to make sure that we're in the right zone. And when hormones are managed this way it is much safer than the FDA options that some think of as being "normal" like birth control pills, or Prempro. If someone is taking bioidentical hormones, and they're not feeling great, I will just tell you that your levels are not correct, and keep searching for someone who can manage them in a customizable way for you or come visit me in Houston.

Same experience Gyn dropped me because he didn’t want to prescribe at levels that worked for me. Gave me a googled list of providers - non were valid . Going to mgh midlife clinic but took 3 months to get appt . Hope I don’t run out before appt.

It’s not FDA approved but also not disapproved . It’s just that FDA was not involved .Like supplements, FDA doesn’t go against nor approve . Do what works for you and don’t wait for mother FDA to save you.👍

Because it’s for women

Thanks, very interesting

Libido?

How much testosterone do you inject and how often?

@@CatamaranChannel Once a week 2 ml. When I first started last year I was advised to take 1.5 3 x a week. No problems until about 8 months later when hair thinning. I’ve gradually reduced it to 2 ml once a week and I still feel great.

How about twice a week 1mg each?

How wonderful that you are concerned and reaching out to help your wife. Most men, even though they care wouldn’t begin to try to figure any of this out. Kudos to you!

I am on test and trying to get my husb too. He’s so stubborn.😡

I simply share my testosterone (we call it Vitamin T) with my wife. I'm only sacrificing 10% of my dose for her and its WORTH IT!...lol

@@Russellviews 👍awesome .we don’t need much but a little makes a huge difference 🤪

Do you go to a specialized clinic, urologist or just primary doctor? I went to primary doctor and my vitamin-T is in the low 200 and he said I didn't need it 🤦

thats solid

Yes Thank God for RU-vid! At 59 I am working with my Doctor for me to start HTR, must get cholesterol down first because every Doctor I've seen in person says estrogen causes heart attacks and strokes.

If anything is going to increase your sex drive, besides the man of your dreams...lol....its testosterone.

Yay ! So happy to hear 🎉

Wow!

👏👏👏

How often do you get the pellets? To what doctor or clinic do you go?

I go every 11 weeks

Injections over pellets

Pellets are not good for you. Pellets are not regulated by FDA. "Currently, no drug manufacturers in the United States make estrogen pellets under FDA approval. Instead, hormone pellets are made only by “compounding pharmacies.” Compounding pharmacies make non-FDA-approved customized medications that may not be commercially available." With pellets, you don't really know what you are putting in your body. And, if something happens to you, the compounding pharmacies are not responsible.

How do you do the Leto style? In three years you now must have learned the do and don't

@cilitagaspar2132 I did keto for a couple of years and have transitioned to carnivore. It's a huge topic. I follow quite a few doctors who are carnivore or keto here on RU-vid. That's how I learned about it. Dr. Boz, Dr. Berry, Dr. Cywes, Dr. Westman, Carnivore Doctor (Dr. LIsa Wiedeman. .. eye doc), Dr. Chaffee and others.

And frustrating that we have to pay to have it compounded when men only have to pay copay.

@Melissa, thank you so much. You are right, and a lot of the less expensive, telemedicine HRT clinics don’t offer testosterone, so it’s great to know that about DHEA. ❤

How much dhea do you take and how often?

Where do you get the transdernal DHEA?

@@melissab467 I bought on ebay and I started with 5 mgs a day and now I do 10mgs a day The difference for me has been amazing. No more brain fog and better energy! Good luck !

@@julieellis6793 Amazon

how long did it take for you to feel better?

@@nancycaron8227 about 2 weeks,

@@nancycaron8227 about 4 weeks.

@@Brickhouse212thank you for responding. I really hope it’ll also work for me. I’m getting so desperate. I’m also extremely deficient in VitD and iron so supplementing with that as well. Hopefully I’ll feel more like myself soon. It’s been years and I feel like I’ve missed out on so much.

​@@nancycaron8227here in the world are you?

Yes, a small amount of testosterone can be produced by the adrenal glands. I did actually mention that briefly in the video. Not much conclusive information on how to lower SHBG ...but in that case, we would follow free testosterone, rather than total, and try to keep the free testosterone at the desired level

@@drsusan what is the desired level for free T?

If you take a small dose of boron daily you will bring down your SHBG and increase your free testosterone. I'm a male and have done before and after bloodwork to confirm this is indeed the case. You'll have to figure out the correct dose for you but for me it was 3 mg per day.

@@_FightForYourFreedom_ I've heard of this approach (boron), but research results are inconclusive. I average 20 organic dates daily from the Middle East and also 1 avocado. I'm getting at least 3 mg boron daily.

@@linneasimchah1621 in that case I would recommend you abstain for a while, then do some before blood work, then get back on the dates for boron formula for a few months and do another set of blood work and see how things might have changed.

I can totally relate!!! Lord help us all!

I would treat for parasites

@@sarahhuls4591how did you come up with parasite issue?

Thank you for sharing, do you mean 1mg a week? Is it cream/gel. Thank you

Good call. Too high levels will give you masculine features real fast.

@@tdane5017 That 386 I typed by mistake, it was actually 886!

​@@rondacompton7206 😵‍💫Wow! Are you on topical compounded testosterone now?

I actually want to start, but still not sure the safe/best dose and administration of it. Would you please share.

We can now! Calgary and Toronto.

@BLEE000. Do you have source info? I'm close to Toronto

Test creams do not always work well. Pellets much better.

You also need to be taking progesterone to balance the estrogen

@@AmyMcLin-ms3xxthat’s if you still have a uterus, then include progesterone. If you do not have one, you needn’t add it.

Any change?

Any update??

Are you taking DHEA?

Exercise!

Testosterone and hair is not a male thing , it's for women as well . Dont let people fool you into thinking you less of a woman for having T . Males have more T because we have evolved that way due to the lifestyle

You could try PT-141. Its a peptide.

I would guess you're doing single dose of Test too far apart - and not small regular doses. A high single dose is the cause of aromatisation. Smaller doses replicating your normal physiological pulses reduces the aromatisation caused by a big dose, which will then be followed by a big drop until you dose again. Smaller dose taken more often over large dose far apart is the key to reducing side effects.

@@Cateater123there are some socially acceptable norms. Most women do not like having hair all over their face and chest with a deep voice with height test levels. Just like men don’t like having breasts with low testosterone/high estrogen ratios.

I am in Canada, was trying to find a good conversation for the us results, did not find one that is easy to use

Women naturally have more testosterone in their bodies than estrogen….

Buy it black market

@Erika, my thoughts exactly!! 🤷🏻‍♀️ And, at least in the USA, most men are married to women about their age, so what good is viagra if their partners have no sex drive?

Most are.

Kaiser never prescribes testosterone for women. Discrimination lawsuit will be on the horizon.

@@CH-cm4qethe fda has not approved testosterone use in women in the United States, but doctor’s can prescribe it off label.

I don't have any colleagues that I know of personally but you can check the biote.com website

@@drsusan thank you!

Hi Mary, I live in Coral Springs and I’ve been going to 4ever young. Hope it helps.

Did you find a doc? I’m in Port St. Lucie and looking for an HRT place. Not pellets.

@@betsyeberle8116 not yet but I do have a consultation with a highly recommended doc here in Miami. Good luck to you!

I would like to know more.. You say you were put on testosterone to help with endometriosis... My daughter has Endometriosis she had it removed last year but it could grow back... Q: what help was testosterone with endometriosis

Great to read! I'm planning on it long term too.

Well- just because you're 63 doesn't mean you can't take estrogen! That's another common myth that doctors often talk about based in the women's health initiative, but not necessarily true! For sure there are lots of options ...and if anyone is telling you that you can't take hormone replacement because you're 63 you need to knock on some more doors or come visit me in Houston! 💕

Well I am 63 and was not denied HRT. But in almost a year I still can not find a balanced dose. I am now weaning down to one pump and one oral micronized progesterone every other day ,? (for the second time around.) Thinking of weaning completely off Hrt.and going on Testostrone only. Tried Testostrone with a higher dose of P And E...but that was not a great addition for me. Maybe reintroducing it back with the low dose progesterone and estrogen will be the magic dose. If not I am done with this dance. Especially when the options seem limited here in Canada (at least where I live). My doc tries to consider my individual needs but GP are care full not to go over the set guidelines . I have seen a naturalpath but she can't prescribe HRT. But I gained some inside on alternatives if I can't sort this out.. Good luck to you and I sure hope Testostrone works for you.

@Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith my identical twin sister has been to your clinic after trying dr after dr that did more harm than good. I have used Indian Health Services who are woefully uninformed. I have an appt in May with a dr in my area who gave me my O Shot a couple of years ago. If she doesn't listen, I'll be seeing you. I'm at the age where I'm not afraid to be cheeky. 😉

@@Kara-1 Hi..glad your Dr was agreeable. How are you making out with your HRT so far ?. I am on my second time trying this i am age 63 . I am having a problem adjusting. What did your Dr start you on.? I have been on a very low dose...100 micronized progesterone and I pump estrodial every OTHER day...I could not tolerate a daily dose. Hoping to work my way up to at least daily. But when I up the progesterone I get bad symptoms. Eastrogen is kinder to me but I have to take progesterone with it because I have a uterus. Take care and happy hormones to you.

@@Kara-1 Thank you. That is helpful as I am thinking that might be my next move. I have heard that some gals do better on the combi patch even tho the progesterone is synthetic. The micronized progesterone seems to kick my butt .I just got my standing order blood work back and my iron is very low not enemic but only 2 points off. I was enemic as a child and most of my adulthood. Wondering if I was blaming the hrt for my symptoms when it maybe low iron ?. Heres a little something I read about iron deficiency....estrogen can block iron. This was not told to me by my Doc...I just read it while researching low iron stores. So something to be aware of as we introduce estrogen back into our bodies. Time will tell. Is it hormones or iron deficiency. ? Oh to be a lady. Glad to hear you are adjusting well. Thank you again it is great to hear how others are actually doing on their doses and choice of hrt. Doctors don't always expand the options.

The labs are showing high from the company who's doing your bloodwork because they're still setup on the old system. Mine always come back showing as high too since I've been on HRT. Well of course; they're going to be higher than the "average" female who is NOT on HRT.

In another of her videos in regards to levels, Dr Susan also mentions testosterone is best between 100-150 PG/ML units, as I took notes, she is consistant with this unit of measurement for testostosterone. As I needed to convert this via online testosterone conversion calculator, as different labs use different units to take to my hrt provider.

150 would be way to high in that unit of measurement of pg/ml. That would be 1500 ng/dl ad that level would be 500 over normal range fpr a 25 year old male. 100 to 150 is a good range in ng/dl units. Which would be 10 to 15 pg/ml

Have you thought about injections?

Indeed I prefer injections as you can adjust the dosage and they will let you self inject.

What did they give you?

Not really. If its too much just lower it. You make notice a hair or two and thats when you back off.

@@Russellviews ok thanks

@@samanthavandenbosch1621 Look at it this way. Women transitioning to men take 100-200 mg per week of testosterone. A woman simply maintaining her natural level takes about 20 mg a week.

Hi Lila, how's your day going with you?

Can you get pregnenolone as a supplement? Or DHEA?

Keep looking for another doctor. I suffered horribly until 59 and then saw 4 docs was given all the crap you were had horrible vaginal pain even and so bad at night. Now after 6 weeks taking oral estrogen/progesterone (it’s what the doc I found decided to give me so I agreed I’ll look into possibly a patch maybe later) but anyway I can sleep. No more pain. Im gonna look into T next. I have other health issues so get them mixed up and it makes it harder to figure out what to do especially when you have hope a doctor will help you. Ask them on the phone specific questions. Don’t give up. Cheers.

Do not except NO! So many are against hormones/testosterone! This was my answer from Dr’s as well! Since I found a new female dr who cares- I started Pellets… WOW- What A game changer! On my second round of pellets! 🙏🏼🫶

Give me a break, black cohosh doesn't do ANYTHING when your menopause symptoms are out of control. I had a doctor waste my time for two months with the black cohosh. Thankfully I found a doctor to turn my symptoms around!

Midi Health online had been great for me! Couldn't find anyone to help locally.

Usually it's a dosing question- and we didn't lose hair when we had normal amounts of testosterone in our 30s -so generally it's because levels are being raised too high- and regardless of DHT levels, we would use a DHT blocker like spironolactone or finasteride

@@cearilindubhlaoi9507 could you use the cream every third day instead of every day? See can you get benefits from it without side effects?

@@niamhbyrne4036 Hi Niamh thank you for your reply much appreciated 🙏 I agree with your suggestion I was on full dose first then I reduced my dose so I'm not sure if that will solve my problem, I do know that less testosterone was fine for me I definitely just need less because when I was taking full dose it wasn't better.. It's a minefield 3yrs on HRT & still trying to figure it out .my menupause specialist is useless 😒

@@cearilindubhlaoi9507 It is very complex, which hrt are you on & which testosterone?

@@niamhbyrne4036 Niamh I am on now 2pumps of estrogel & 200mg of utrogestan due to abnormal bleeding had ultrasound it showed 2 small friboids & 2cm cyst on my right ovary. Thought I was coming to the end of the spotting/bleeding after 1month of nothing I have a bleed again since yesterday..at times I just feel like given it up completely....I was on 3pumps of estrogen & I feel it has caused my ongoing issue with spotting/bleeding hence I reduced bk to 2...I normally take 100mg ot utrogestan orally & the other vaginaly but I switched it around & took 200mg orally Fri/ Saturday Sunday due to not get much sleep that week wake up Monday with a bleed not sure it this is the reason but I seem to be sensitive to everything I do now ...Between my hair issues spotting & bleeding going on now 8mths zero lack of joy & motivation & zero libido..I feel like this is just a waste of time 🙏🙏😘 Oh it was Testogel the mens version normal dose was pea size over 10days which I did on the beginning then was nervous ref my hair & reduced it over 20/25 days & I was much better than I am now. Then I had massive family stress /sadness & my hsir fell out lost about 60% due to TE tellogen Effliuvm July 2021 it started it just shed ^ shed & texture was horrible. I'm still dealing with it but it's much better & from the research I've done it can take up to 2yrs to recover from Chronic tellogen Effliuvm which I clearly had , no bald spots just massive diffused shedding all over. Thank god I had really long thick hair to start with it literally saved me. . I'm totally fed up its just one thing after another xx

I go to Femme wellness or Dr Pennant in Ponte Vedra. She is great. She does Biote pellets. Might want to give her a call.

Nope

This is why I would _never_ do a testosterone pellet!! Or any pellet.

At that test time she was 27, now 37 and a testosterone of 40. Symptoms testosterone related or just hormonal in general: moodiness, poor sleep, super low libido (she wasn't like that ever), tired all the time.

150-250 is way too high for a woman. Not many women have natural levels like that at any point in their life.

Could be. Vitamin T works wonders for a womans sex drive.

So glad to hear !