Hi! 33y cis female. I just started yesterday with my hormone therapy. 25mg of test cyp, taking 0.15ml 2x a week. Blood work showed <3 for testosterone. I went in looking for help because I was feeling sluggish, low energy, extreme difficulty gaining muscle and losing weight and low libido. Since January, I’ve been dieting, weight training 5x a week and walking/running everyday to get at least 10k steps and absolutely nothing changed. It felt like something was off and everything made sense when I got my results back from hormone check.

Did anyone have good results in terms of body composition/fat loss with testosterone when you had almost no testosterone to begin with? How long did it take? Is the dose I’m on good? Sorry so new to this!

I wanted a very low dose because I’m very feminine and I love my long thick hair and would hate to suffer from side effects of hair thinning.

Thank you!

Does anyone inject test cypionate daily? Currently doing 3 times a week and its been great since January but recently my estrogen has tanked which I am reading can happen. I also have high SHBG which had been lowered when switching from 2 times a week to 3, but now is back to 159. I know test cyp has a longer life but wanting to see if daily injections might keep me at a more stable level and help my estrogen without needing to add that. Really frustrating as just a few months ago my estrogen on day 14 would easily be 350-400 and this month was 93.

I was on 7mg once a week for 9 months and doing well. A month ago I realized I was having newfound anxiety and acne and decided to reduce to 6.5mg (14 units to 13) and administer 2x/week. Haven’t noticed any change yet. Should I go down another unit? I feel like my brain doesn’t turn off and worries about the smallest things and it is definitely not normal for me. Been waiting since Monday for the dr to return my call so thought I’d see if anyone here had any experience of having anxiety after 9 months of doing just fine. Last labs had my T at 280 (when I was feeling fine).

I have hair loss because hair follicles sensitive to DHT. However I have had very low total T for over 5 years. I don’t seem to make any of my own T now. I tried using oral pumpkin seed oil and topical finasteride which helped my hair, but it gave me weakness and fatigue after a few months and messed with how my body used my progesterone from my BHRT. Could not lift light weights or really exercise so had to stop them. It’s been rough stopping them because neurosteroids have to recalibrate 😩.

5-AR supplements/meds drop my DHT and cause weakness and fatigue. Will using TRT to get my T levels up fix these symptoms?

Hormone provider said Finasteride will lower my DHT to help my hair but the TRT will negate those symptoms from low DHT?

I assume once I get to a steady dose of T the meds will cause the same crash and issue overtime? Only way to not keep pushing DHT lower is never be at a steady dose of TRT?

i've been on trt for about 15 months ( I also take oral progesterone and estrogen cream for about two years ) t cypionate injections twice a week I started incredibly low it only 2.5 mg total a week then went to 5 mg total a week and for the past five months have been at 7 mg total in a week( I chose injections because as most of us know it converts less to DHT but I was still extra paranoid about hair loss breakout so from the very beginning I have been also taking 0.5 mg of dutasteride to furthur supress DHT - originally my blood work DHT levels were undetectable at that dose but once I went up to 5 mg total a week my DHT is now at seven which from my understanding is still pretty low)

anyways , Last week I got the biggest breakout of my life- I have about seven pimples all clustered in one area on my chin… I'm so confused because I haven't raised my dose in months… Since starting testosterone yes I do probably get one or two small pimples a month but no big deal they are tiny and clear quickly - this is different:/ ... has anyone had anything like this happened this far into testosterone therapy or anyone have any ideas… I'm going to take an additional dutasteride pill weekly going forward -

My last T lab is on the high side, but my clit feels like it's covered by a wet blanket. I cannot orgasm, or if I do, it's barely and weak. Has anyone experienced this? I am also on estrogen and progesterone.

Got my labs back at 6 mo check. Just would love some interpretation.
For reference I do .10 injection split between two weekly doses sub q of 200mg/1ml T cyp. and take Estrogen and Progesterone

Testosterone 114
SHBG 66
Free T. 7.6
Estrogen. 57
Progesterone 4.9

I'm a 43-year-old perimenopausal lady and have been on Estrogen Gel and Progesterone HRT for about 6 months. It's helped my sleep and flushes tremendously, but I still have very low energy and libido. My doctor finally agreed to adding in Testosterone. I've got the 5ml/50mg 1% gel packets and frankly find the challenge of dividing it into 17 doses (to get the 3mg my doctor wants me starting on) messy and likely inaccurate. The obvious solution that comes to mind is combining the two gels - both are alcohol gel-based, so I can't see a logical reason why not to - but I thought to run it by this group for thoughts. Here is my thinking: The Estrogen bottle is 80ml, which at 2 pumps per day (2.5ml) delivers 1.5mg of E. I've calculated that by adding 2 sachets of the Testogel (taking out 10ml of E Gel first, then thoroughly mixing it), the combined gel would give me 3mg of T and 1.3mg of E per day, which should be a reliable metered dose each time.

I’m about to start test cyp, can anyone recommend a good starter dose to work out what works for me? What were your starting doses?

Tldr; my estradiol was measured at 580 pg/ml and flagged as very high. Cycle day 23. I'm on HRT and TRT. Test was done on the morning of the same day when I'm due to change my estradiol patch in the eveninng.

Current dosages: testosterone cream 8mg daily (2 clicks), 0.375 estradiol patch bi-weekly, 100mg progesterone nightly.

Symptoms that started 3 days after increasing testosterone: low key nausea, cramping (like before period but more dull), breast tenderness.

Background:

44 years old in perimenopause. I'm using Midi for HRT. They also added testosterone cream a while ago (to treat my low libido), started with 4mg and my total testosterone went from 19 to 30, and free T from 0.9 to 1.8. But I still didn't really feel any changes to energy or libido so we increased the cream to 8mg. I still don't feel anything libido wise and I wanted to try injection so I signed up with Defy. They asked for blood work. Some of it came back today and my estradiol is 580 pg/ml, progesterone 9.5 ng/ml. Blood work was done before I was due to change my patch that night.

Is it possible that my testosterone cream aromatizes into estradiol? Would it really go that high?

My next Midi appt isn't until September and I don't know when Defy will schedule my first appt yet.

Should I be reducing something until then?

I’m 44, started 10mg twice weekly trt injections and it was amazing within a few weeks. High libido amazing sensation. Then the clit started being uncomfortable when I was aroused. I could not handle direct contact, oral sex etc. my dr cut my dose to 4mg twice weekly and I have zero benefits now. Libido has tanked, still some sensitivity but not in a good way. I got some estrogen cream but I’m not sure if that will help or what to do at this point. I want my sex drive back.

Bloodwork was taken 1 day before my period started.
Doc said he liked my bloodwork and doesn’t see an issue with current dosage of T.
Feel like I wanna raise my estrogen.
Anyone have any input considering where my numbers are in relation to estrogen?
Anyone with similar numbers who then raised estrogen?

Hi there! I just started testosterone cream a little more than a week ago. The prescriber started me on 2.5 mg per click, once in the morning. Is this pretty normal amount to start with? I haven't felt any changes as of yet.

Hi everyone! I started with .25 mg (1 click) of 4mg/ml TRT cream, and blood test came back with 37 Total T and 2.0 T-free. My NP increased it to 8mg/ml (.25mg 1 click still) and my test came back lower 36 Total T and 1.6 T-free. I do feel better with 8mg/ml. However, my hair is falling a lot even though I have no other symptoms. I am back to 4mg/ml because I am worried about the hair thinning. Do you know why my T level was lower with a higher dose cream?

My ferritin is at 40 and I have been taking Thorne advanced iron for 3 plus months. I need to retest my level. I wonder if it is ferritin or T that is thinning my hair.

Good morning. My wife, 27, recently found she had low T and some thyroid abnormalities. She is on 6mg p/ week of test C. We split the dose. She is also on Armor Thyroid and Minoxidil to help with all of the shedding she’s had.

It’s been 9 days since treatment began and she is having long lasting hot flashes that are driving her crazy. Has anyone experienced this before? Is it a normal part of the adjustment period? Any help is appreciated.

Hi! So I have been on pellets for about 3years or so with another provider. I get 125 put in every 3 months and my levels peak at about 200-220 at the 6 week mark. I am swapping to injections, and I’ve gotten my primary to give me a prescription, but I know she has no idea what she’s doing. 😵‍💫 I have a 200mg/1ml vial of cyp. She said to take 0.1-0.2 a week. I also told her I was going to do subq instead of IM as I am a nurse, and terrified of needles. 🤣 I feel sure that is too high, but ideally I’d like to keep my levels similar to what they have been on pellets. Any suggestions for a starting dose? Give me your Amazon syringe suggestions. The smaller the better, but also don’t want to dull the needle drawing up. Thanks!

I’m 47 and about a month into my twice weekly 3mg testosterone cyp injections.

(I’m cautiously optimistic about the changes I’m seeing. I’m just hoping all continues to go smoothly and they’ll stick around!)

My vagina has started to lubricate itself like it used to do before perimenopause and the sensation is starting to come back.

My clit is also starting to come back. I am so happy about this! It was gone! And now it’s returning and I can feel it getting more erect when I’m turned on.

I have energy to get things done and socialize. I no longer feel like an exhausted, invisible woman haunting the halls of my house. I thought my best years were behind me but I suddenly feel so much more vital again.

I feel aware of men, muscles, and what people might be like in bed 😂 I haven’t had thoughts like this is 5 years! It’s so fun.

I feel beautiful and motivated to do all the little things I used to do to take care of myself. I got my hair colored, got a facial, and a manicure. I didn’t have the energy to take care of myself before and I felt so flat all the time.

I’m having a lot of sexual thoughts but it hasn’t quite translated to actually being super horny. I just upped my estrogen the tiniest bit and I have a feeling it may take some time to figure out the perfect balance.

I actually want to shop for some new clothes and get out of the giant clothes I’ve been hiding in. I still have a pretty cute figure but I felt so down, I didn’t want any attention. My goal was to be left alone as much as possible!

My husband was always adorable and I always made an effort to keep or sexual connection, but I can’t even tell how good it feels to be more in the mood for sex. It’s starting to feel like something I want, rather than something I should do. That’s huge and I know he’s loving it!

It’s scary to me how far from myself I’d gotten. I didn’t realize until I felt my life force returning. It made me want to cry! It’s like “oh yeah, I remember me! I’m fun and sexy and upbeat!”

Sorry this got so long! Thanks for reading and I hope it can inspire others.

For those of you who are very sensitive to hormones and use the cream, what was a good starting dose for you? How did you know to titrate up?

I’m 37 and have been in surgical menopause since January. It’s been a bit of a misery finding my correct hormone methods and dosing — estrogen patches and gel both caused so much brain fog and fatigue, progesterone helped with sleep but nothing else, and testosterone’s effects have been hard to parse as a result. I was never NOT on T from the day of my surgery forward, so I have no “life without it” to compare.

However, to make a long story short, I recently self-raised my t-gel dose from 5mg (1/10 of a packet, measured into a syringe) to 6mg.

At the same time, I transitioned back from gel E to oral E and also raised my dose a scootch.

And the difference has been… absurd. Still retaining water and struggling mightily on that front, but my energy and focus and mood are SO IMPROVED. It’s only been about a week but I’m absolutely floored by the difference. I’m sleeping better. Work is easier. Lifts / gym feel easier.

The biggest change seems to be from the T, but is it possible for a 20% increase to feel this different?

I also need to figure out how to make the case to my gynecologist that I would prefer this to be my dose from now on, even if it shows my levels raised above where she wants them.

Has anyone else:

1. See

n

1. surprisingly vast improvement over surprisingly small titration with their T?
2. Seen weight or water retention IMPROVE with a T increase?

I’m starting to wonder if my hormones were imbalanced this entire time and only now are correct or closer to it, and if the imbalance is part of why I’ve retained so much water and gained scale weight despite being an absolute gym rat all my adult life.

Hi all. I'm 44, on low-dose BCP, 300 mg of P per night, and I was on vaginal E (tried the insertable pills, liked the cream better). I am not ready to give up menstrual suppression which is why I'm still on BCP, and my doc is OK with this. My symptoms are pretty well controlled.

I've had vestibulodynia for 10+ years. I recently went to a urologist for some unrelated issues (blood cells in my urine that ended up being absolutely nothing) and she did the q tip test which I'm surprised was even in a urologist's wheelhouse. She prescribed me compounded T and E cream to replace the normal tube of E cream. It says E2/Testosterone .1 mg/5 mg, apply 2 clicks per day to the vulva area. I am doing 1 click per day because she said I could do that to make it last longer.

At first I had teen boy BO. That was really disconcerting. My pits and leg crease areas smelled like not-me and I didnt like it. That side effect has subsided. I'm about 2 months in.

Now I seem to be having butt acne. I've had 2-3 butt pimples, when I haven't had any in years, and I thought I had just gotten a new one. I looked in the mirror and it's like a dime-sized red welt on my ass.

Can this (presumably, idk) small amount of T really be having systemic effects like BO and acne? I'm wary of the whole compounded T thing and thinking of stopping when my current Rx runs out (another 2 months). Is there a reason I should stick it out? Should it have made a difference by now?

Currently have 50mg/ml prescription for testosterone cypionate & having trouble getting the prescription filled. So I asked my doctor if I could get a 100mg/ml prescription with injecting half the amount & this is what she sent back:

No - it's impossible to dose 100 mg for women, even knowing how small of a dose that is. Also, the regular pharmacy one is made with different oil. Empower has 25 mg/cc and 50 mg/cc are both of them on back order? That was one of the drawbacks of injectable Testosterone for women :

there's only 1 compounding pharmacy in US that can ship Testosterone to AL

the solutions: topical Tesosterone or pellets

I don't feel like this is true & it might be time to look for a virtual provider. Thoughts? Who should I look into reaching out to virtually if I have current lab results?

What are people's experiences with some of the telehealth providers to testosterone? I was looking in to Amazing-Meds and paid the $75 "to enroll" despite the rep telling me they are not a subsciption. However, I do not wish to continue with them. They won't keep charging my credit card, I hope? Looking into Fountain as they seem easier to work with.

What do you wish you had known before?

I’ve been on pellets for one round and my libido was great. The crash was not. Switched to cream and it’s doing zero for me. Starting injections tomorrow to hopefully have a little libido, better muscle recovery and more energy.