Hey wonderful ladies, there’s still time to put in a comment on the FDA’s website concerning Testosterone Use in Menopausal Women. I just submitted my comment. Deadline is today Oct 19th, 11:59 EST.

What gauge needles are you ladies using for the oil? I feel like my pharmacist screwed this up because she gave me 18G to draw and 23G to inject and the 23 is so big i cant imagine making a hole in the vial with that and the 23 was fine for drawing but injecting was terrible. Whats the smallest gauge that can inject the oil? TIA!

How long into your TRT journey were your menstrual cycles effected if at all?

I’m assuming my insurance won’t cover. What do you guys pay for a gel/cream?

Ive been suffering from Anhedonia, PMDD and ADHD for a couple of years probably. Im around week 6 of HRT and not sure if its working, Im loosing too much hair. But im also tapering SSRIs because they make me feel flat. Im hoping to stay on HRT and ADHD med (Ritalin) - I was hoping this was what would "fix" me, specially my brain.

My HRT dose is 100mg oral P, .025 E patch and around .30 ml of 1% T gel topically from a 1ml oral syringe. My Gyno got me started and said to see him in three months, I feel lucky since he even listened and put me on HRT. Im 38 but my mother had her last period at 46 and my aunt at 43. My brain stopped working at 35-36 I even quit my job and have been on a rollercoaster of SSRIs.
Not sure what to do, I was really hoping for HRT to help!
Should I ask my DR for blood work, and dose increase and T injections before December appointment - 3 month mark? Also no change in libido... its flat still.

Hi I received my 50MG Vial from Talon today and was instructed to begin with 6mg (12 units) using an insulin needle. I also do peptides and a GLP using the same type of needle. My question is it seems like the product did not want to go into the needle, it finally did and I did inject the 6mg. My question is did anyone else ever run into this issue? And where do you store your vial? Do you store it in the refrigerator in your peptide case? Or just in a dark area not in the refrigerator. I was originally planning on only injecting 3mg but it was hard to see the 6units on the needle. Thank you ! Hoping I didn't miss a step. Or the vial is defective. or i was just excited and inpatient :)

I just got my 3 month blood results. Total T went from virtually 0 to 3.1 nmol/l (I believe around 89 ng/dl) free is 26 pmol/l (reference range <30).

I'm curious, I've seen a lot of women here say it took them many months or even years to see benefits. Was that because T level didn't rise until then, or did it take months/years of higher T levels to experience benefits? Other than oilier skin, and reduced UI and PMDD swings, I haven't experienced anything.

I don't want to complain, reduced UI/PMDD is good, I just wish I wasn't so tired and unmotivated all the time. Not sure if I should stay at the same dose and wait it's out, reduce dose, or increase. Since reference range for total T is 0-1.7 nmol/l I assume my dr will want to reduce.

Everything else tests normal, and I was already on E/P before I started T. Any advice from those of you with similar experiences?

I am curious if anyone else has noticed any improvements in sleep after starting TRT? I was struggling with 3am wakeups for several months. I was on HRT including T at the time, but hormone tests showed my body wasn't really absorbing the E patch or T gel.

I switched to injections for both about 6 weeks ago, and about a week ago my sleep improved dramatically. Instead of struggling to get more than 6 hours of total sleep a night, I'm getting 7 and sometimes almost 8 hours of sleep. Most nights it's fairly uninterrupted, or if I do wake up it's for a relatively short amount of time.

I do take magnesium, glycine, l theanine and taurine before bed - but this is something I've always been doing so I really do think the hormone changes made the difference. It could be E, T, or the combination. (I also take 300mg Progesterone at night which I am sure doesn't hurt).

Just wondering if anyone else saw improved sleep after adding in T?

1st time on TRT for super low energy & libido after not seeing much improvement from 0.1 E patch and progestin birth control. I was prescribed 1mg/day from a 25mg/2.5g gel packet. From what I’ve read here that seems like a low dose, and I’m not sure how to measure out the insanely small amount of 0.1g daily. Any advice on what to do with this packet and what to ask my reluctant GYN to write the next script for?

I’ve been injecting t prop daily (every am). I’m curious to try EOD. I’m also considering switching to twice weekly t cyp. Have any of you made the switch from ED to EOD t prop? Or from t prop to t cyp? I immediately got great results (energy, libido & vaginal health) from daily t prop, but I’m just curious, for convenience, if I should try a method with fewer injections per week. I don’t mind daily injections, but my other thought is that I’m only injecting half of a unit every morning (100mg/ml t prop from iam HRT) and my total t at trough (24 hours) is still at 110. My SHBG runs 50-60 so I still get great benefits at lower doses. Injecting EOD or 2x per week would make measuring out the dose a little easier. I put in a request to talk to my provider at IAM HRT.

When you guys are talking about low libido or T possibly helping with libido are you talking about an increase in desire only? Like let’s say pre T you just didn’t “feel” like having sex. My issue is I have 0 desire but I also feel dead down there. Sex with my husband results in an inability to not orgasm, dry, and it’s super frustrating. So I’m wondering if others with low libido are able to orgasm even though they aren’t in the mood? And for me the type of stimulation has no effect on this.

Also wondering if I have clitoral atrophy everything is just shrunk. I’m 3 weeks in at 8 mg per week split and have had a few “sexual thoughts” but that’s it.

Did anyone actually have a change in desire along with an ability to orgasm issue?

Thanks everyone

After searching this group for a similar side effect of tinnitus with T, it seems to possibly occur with topical. However, after a year & half with T pellets, I can confirm it had definitely caused my tinnitus to rage. If anyone else has experienced this, I would appreciate any tips.

I’m just starting TRT with Talon and am about 2 weeks in. All hormones were low, T was not detectable level. I have seen no immediate improvement and no difference. I stay flatlined and libido is non-existent.

My question is has anyone had this experience with Talon where they are only wanting to start TRT and is there a silver lining where at some point, there’s a change in symptoms even without E & P or am I just wasting time with only T? Started 6mg weekly and I’m peri. I haven’t had spotting in the last week, but it stops here and there so not long enough to say on that, but otherwise nothing.

What do you do if you are on vacation where you will be doing a lot of swimming? I normally apply my gel in the morning after my shower, but if I will be on vacation for a couple of weeks with almost daily swimming, should I apply it at night instead? Apply it and swim anyways? etc. Thanks.

Hi,

My wife was just given her first RX for trt. It is for the 1.62% gel pump. The doctor told her 2 pumps daily. From what I have read that is a male dose. Could I be missing something?

Only thing I can somewhat think of for a higher dose is she was already on Spironolactone. I have read that can be counterproductive with TRT. Which I have seen mixed feedback on combining the two. Still the dose has me concerned.

Is anyone on two pumps of 1.62% gel. Or even one for that matter?

One pea sized seems to be the consensus.

Bummer. Looks like my ferritin is good at 91ng/ml. My hematocrit is normal for me at 46.8% (I live at 9,000+ ft altitude. But my TIBC (iron and UIBC) are out of range. Anyone else experience this? I started TRT in April and in May, my results still looked good. But Sept and Oct are trending higher iron and lower UIBC. I meet with my telehealth TRT provider soon so will get his expert opinion. But wondering if this looks familiar to anyone in this group and did you do blood donation? I take 0.5mg t prop every morning. Waiting for my hormone results still, but I expect total t to be about 100 or less (from past testing).

I started compounded T 6 weeks ago mainly for libido and have gained 5 lbs - I think mainly of water weight and bloating. I’m also on a GLP-1 (maintenance) so my weight has literally not changed in over a year. Has anyone experienced this weight gain because of T? I’ve read this goes away after 6-8 weeks. Hoping that’s true.

Has anyone had success lowering DHT with saw palmetto, stinging nettle, or spearmint?
I’m on testosterone therapy and have noticed increased unwanted facial/body hair. My hormone specialist recommended saw palmetto and stinging nettle to help with DHT. I’m also curious about spearmint.
Has anyone tried any of these and had good results?

Has anyone experienced Sebaceous dermatitis after starting T? I just started T cyp injections 2 weeks ago, and I accidentally took a little more than a whole weeks worth in my first shot (24 units about 5mg), when I was suppose to use only 10 units x2 per week. I noticed these yellow/brownish scaly/scabby patches that itch running down my center part on my scalp, and it was probably within 4 or 5 days of my first shot. Never had this before in my life.

I looked it up on AI and found that for some reason people tend to have a lot of DHT receptors in this general vicinity of the scalp and it could definitely be a side effect of the testosterone. They are so gross, but what really worries me is I don’t know if this can lead to hair loss? I have a pretty decent amount of hair on my head at the moment, but my dad was completely bald by the time he was in his early 20’s.. So naturally it worries me I could be genetically susceptible to hair loss as well.

I would love to hear from anyone else who experienced this side effect and am wondering what I could do to prevent this in the future? Maybe multiple smaller injections throughout the week instead of just 2?

I’ve also read that selsun blue can help with these scaly patches, but if anyone has a better method of treating this, I’m all ears!

I’ve been on HRT/ TRT over a year tried patches, injections, T gels, creams and still suffering with C and V atrophy and no libido. I have tried 10mg -20mg split twice per week on T no androgen effects and no libido or improvement on C atrophy either. My E levels recently was at 3.7mg split every 3 days valerate 268 E levels , P at 200 vaginally 10.1 level, shbg at a low 47 , Total T 308 and free T 30.0 pg/ml. I have had a lot of lower Free T levels and much lower E levels on patches. I’m so tired trying different doses being as low as 2.8mg Valerate and tried cypionate at 3.0 and 3.5mg split doses. Tried all Patch levels .0375 to 2 - .1 patches. I just dropped my T dose to 15mg and probably just go to 12mg soon as well and just work my way down. Is there hope of finding the right balance between E and T ?? Any success stories, thoughts, experiences to share need some encouragement. I even tried optimizing my thyroid and still can’t feel good. What doses are you on and feel your best I’m curious.

I have .30 unit insulin syringe. My test is 250 mg/ml. Where is the 5 mg spot on the syringe? Thank you so much.

I see a provider through Midi for peri symptoms (my regular gyn has ancient ideas about menopause). After full bloodwork and being on estrogen patches for a year, she suggested I try T. They compound a cream and ship it directly to you. The provider didn’t give me any other options (to get the cream from someone else or to have injections).

This is all new to me. I see a lot of people on here talking about injecting it. Is there any difference between the cream or injection? How is everyone getting injections? My insurance covered all the lab tests, but I don’t think it will cover T for me as a woman.

46F

First post here and I am losing the will at this point. I’m not super clued up on this at all so forgive me if the answers are obvious.

I'm in the UK and paying for my HRT privately as GP refused to help for 5 years. I’m 42 and in peri - currently using Oestrogel at 3 pumps per day, cyclical progesterone at 200mg and Testogel, one 40.5g sachet over 8 days. I was offered AndroFeme but paying privately is already a stretch financially and the difference in price is significant.

I’m doing well with the E and P, most symptoms are significantly better or gone entirely. I was prescribed T as I’m still struggling with fatigue and brain fog, I have zero libido and generally don’t feel like “me” anymore. My initial blood work showed fairly low T and fairly high SHBG. My blood work at 8 weeks in was contaminated due to the phlebotomist dropping the end of the “butterfly needle” against my leg where I’d applied Oestrogel, so doc dismissed those and requested a repeat 12 weeks later.

I have been using T for just over 4 months now. I did have difficulty with dosing, the sachets were consistently lasting longer than 8 days, usually closer to 10 (because how do you measure ”a bean” of gel that turns to liquid as soon as it touches your skin?!) I tried a syringe but I have rheumatoid arthritis and it was too fiddly for my painful hands. For the past 6 or so weeks I’ve been using a jewellery scale and doing well that way. I’ve had some improvement in libido but nothing else.

Had my bloods done again yesterday and there’s just no improvement. I’m so frustrated. I’ll add my bloods from pre T and yesterday’s below.

May

Total T - 0.380 nmol/l

SHBG - 120 nmol/l

Free T - 0.32

Yesterday/Oct

Total T - 0.334

SHBG - 98.2

Free T - 0.33

My questions are:

1) What am I doing wrong? Is this just because I struggled with dosing? I did change from gel to patches and back again quickly back in may/early june, if that matters? I have zero energy. With 4 teens i suppose that’s to be expected but it’s a bone deep fatigue. I just want that feeling everyone else talks about.

2) I skipped T the morning of bloods, but my appointment was rearranged from 11am to 2pm. due to this it was just over 28 hours from my last application. Google says this gap was too long a makes the result unreliable? My doctor didn’t mention a strict time limit though, they just said to skip the gel until after bloods? Can anyone clarify, please?

3) Lastly, under “liver health” it says my albumin is high at 56.5? I’m worried they’ll stop my T due to this? It‘s been a stressful week, I had a sickness bug on sun/mon, the guy taking my blood left the tourniquet on for so long my hand went numb, my arm is bruised where he took blood, and now I feel like it was a waste of time dragging myself there.

I’d so grateful for any advice. Thank you.

No one has checked estrogen.
I’m on a GLP-1 already. Started T in March. I have probably gained 2 inches in my waist, but only a couple of pounds. What’s going on? Is there a supplement I can take to help? My body shape is definitely changing. I don’t want to stop the T because it has really helped energy and motivation.

Hi There,

I’m 2 months in on my TRT journey. Taking 5mg of T Cyp split into 2 doses a week.

I’m working w Hone bc my provider only offers gel.

Prior to starting TRT both my provider and Hone ordered labs. Both times they ordered the “Testosterone, Total, MS” which comes w a range (2-45ngl).

My labs came back at 20 and then 18ngl.

I just had my follow up labs done w Hone and the lab they ordered was “Testosterone, Total, Males IA” w no reference range.

My result came back at 95. I was surprised as I’m feeling like I probably need to bump up my dose, but am thinking this result will be too high for Hone to recommend that.

Is this lab accurate for females? Is it the same result I would get w the other lab test?

It’s weird bc there’s even a note w the results that says it’s not accurate for women. I dont know why they would change their testing parameters.

Also my provider did order the free T, bio available etc, but Hone doesn’t…

And in case ppl ask my SHBG is 44 and my FSH is 29.

Also weirdly my Progesterone came back at .6 I am on HRT and haven’t changed. Last lab it was 10.1 a year prior to HRT it was 4.9.

.6 is wild to me, bc I don’t have any symptoms of low P and in fact when I take it, it actually feels too strong now.

TIA for your advice.