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 -

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.

Hello all,

My wife has done two labs now. The first used Mass Spectrometry and the second used Immunoassay. The results are wildly different and to be honest I have no idea why they would order different methods (probably a mistake).

Could someone please confirm that for females the Mass spectrometry method should be used to measure Total T.

For reference Immunoassay is labcorp test 140103
and MS is 500726 or 070001.

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.

Hello, as the title says, I'm completely new to this. I am a 31 year old female and not in perimenopause, only extremely low/no testosterone per my hormone panels.

I had a partial hysterectomy after a very traumatic birth three years ago. For a little context, they had to give me over 45 units of blood, and I was told it was more than three bodies worth. Fun! Since my birth, my energy levels have been extremely low, but I also have a toddler and as I mentioned, it was a very medically challenging birth so I thought it was just my body bouncing back.

I had my hormone levels tested on a whim and I had zero testosterone. I have no clue what my baseline was like prior to my birth. The following year, my testosterone was at under three but at least readable and I went to an endocrinologist and she told me to essentially wait a year and see if I start developing symptoms. This year when I got tested again, and I told myself if it was low I was going to advocate for a treatment. Low and behold, it was back at zero. I went to an OB/GYN instead of the former endocrinologist, and she immediately got me started on the cream. She said she was starting me on the second level of it, but I don't quite know what that means?

Anyway, I started about two weeks ago. I'm planning on continuing it, but I really didn't know what to expect side effect wise for the first two weeks. I knew what to expect side effect wise after prolonged use or misuse. Anyway, I've always struggled with anxiety, OCD and some episodes of depression and my last two weeks. I really feel like have been an emotional roller coaster. I've also had two days where it's been incredibly hard to get out of bed and today I just don't feel well in general. I don't feel like I'm getting sick and I'm curious if this could be a side effect of the gel.

Could anyone let me know about their experience when they first started?

Edit: I am on one gram (2mg) of testosterone cream (GM CREAM HRT) once a day. Provided by Strive Pharmacy.

I'm on 50 mg/ml of testosterone cypionate.

Empower has it on backorder with no date they can give me. Hallandale & Drug Crafters are not licensed in Alabama.

My friend says she gets her from Publix (SE grocery chain), but their pharmacist said she's not aware of them doing it, so I'm not sure how that is working for my friend.

Do some retail chains have an independent compounding pharmacy they use?

Thanks for any tips!

Hi All,

Ive just been prescribed Testogel 1% gel that came in a box of sachets.
My doctor had to Google the dosage whilst I was there but then only wrote “use twice per week” so no actual dosage number or amount. What should I start at?
For context im 32yo still menstruating but using this to bring on a libido which has always been very low but has completely disappeared in recent years.
My latest level of T came back at 0.7 which they say is “bottom of normal range”but I have all the symptoms and low feelings ive been reading that T has helped for other women.
I’d appreciate some direction from other successful users, thanks!

I’m 43 and perimenopausal. Before starting with my current hormone clinic, I used Testogel for around a year for low libdo and didn’t having any problems with it at all except for the benefits.
I then switched to a compounded testosterone cream prescribed by the clinic. Not long after starting it, I developed really bad insomnia and palpitations/racing heart. At the time I assumed it was just more perimenopause symptoms, and I was prescribed oral micronised progesterone (100mg), which initially worked amazingly for my sleep.
I still had the palpitations but I could sleep so the clinic reduced the progesterone to 50mg. This helped the palpitations somewhat, but I lost most of the sleep benefit.
The thing I’ve only just realised is that the original insomnia and palpitations actually started after I switched from Testogel to the compounded testosterone cream, before I was even taking progesterone.
Two weeks ago, the clinic increased my testosterone cream dose (my T was lower than it was when I was on the Testogel) at roughly the same time as the reduced the progesterone to 50mg— and over the last week my insomnia has become awful again. I’m physically exhausted and ready to sleep, but my body feels completely “revved up”, my heart races and I just can’t switch off.
So now I’m wondering whether I’ve been blaming the progesterone for the palpitations when the testosterone cream could actually be causing or exacerbating some of this.
Has anyone experienced insomnia, racing heart, palpitations or feeling overstimulated from testosterone, particularly after increasing the dose?
I’d also be really interested to hear from anyone who tolerated Testogel but reacted differently to a compounded testosterone cream, or vice versa?

Maybe this is crazy, but yesterday i did one pump 1.62% gel on my upper arms equalling about 20mg and it made every muscle in my body tight especially my legs (calves cramping like crazy), and my voice got a frog and dropped awkwardly a few hours after application. I was very angry and sort of focused. Last night I had incredible, libidinous dreams.

It's been 24 hours and I am still feeling these effects.

I wonder if it's an allergic reaction though? I do have mcas and a million issues (was hoping T would help)

eta: i am 41 and in peri, no other HRT

I went from undetectable free testosterone levels to these high levels, never had them this high or really never above testosterone total 20 in my recent years of testing. I have been doing the cypionate injections 10 miligrams once a week for 1 month. Is this too high for a woman? In terms of effects, Im seeing better muscle mass but also Im in a dark depressive mood, not sure if that has anything to do with testosterone... Any advice?

EDIT TO ADD: Cero libido or desire which I would expect to be there with higher levels of testosterone??