Menopause and testosterone cream

[Suzr]

I will be 52 next month. I have been training for 10 years and have made progress but feel I have never reached my potential. For some reason I feel I hold back. I am 5'4 137 lbs 18% BF. For the last 9 - 12 months I have been struggling with hormonal problems. I became menopausal with many symptoms such as very distrubing hot flashes, and mental dullness, etc. I then started taking hormone repalcement which allieviated those symptoms only to have it affect me in other ways. I proceeded to gain 10 lbs. and loose sexual desire. I am not one to yo yo in weight ,so this gain was very disturbing to me.
I asked the GYN to prescribe some testosterone to help with libido. Of course if it helped me put on muscle I wouldn't mind.
Unfortunately she gave me too large a dose which gave me side effects. I was using a 10% cream and applying 1 gram twice a day. That came out to 200mg/day. I soon discovered that this was a large dose and cut back from what she had rx'd but by then my voice had lowered a bit and I had a little clit enlargement, but worse of all was the hair loss that occured. I will say the libido was more than I could handle, so that part worked.
I now have a 2% cream but I feel unsure using it. I don't want any more hair loss. My hair it just now growing in.
Anyone know about menopausal women and testosterone cream dosages. I am starting to have lowered libido again. I also don't want to loose the any muscle or gain any more fat. I would still like to make progress towards a lean muscular physique.

 

[wilson6]

The sides vary for all women (dose wise). I'm sure there are many on this board who wish their OB/GYN would prescribe too much test.

Since no one can predict the sides. The best thing to do is start with a very low dose, even one lower than your doc would consider minimal, and slowly over a period of months, increase the dose every couple of weeks until the sides begin to appear, then cut the dose back a little.

Might also want to have blood work done everytime you increase the dose (free and total testosterone) to get some idea of where you are.

Ask your doc about Proscar. Perhaps try taking 1/2 a tab (2.5 mg) a day or everyother day and see if that helps.

You may also want to have your estrogen levels checked as some of the test will convert to E, thus you may not need as much E.

Transdermal E, or the new E + P combo might have less sides (body fat) than orals.

Bottom line, work with your doc and find out what works best for you.

W6

 

[solidspine]

I am 51 and my girlfriend is 53 she tells me that viagra helps her enjoy sex and heightens the physical feelings.

I am not certain if it affects her desire for sex?

 

[wilson6]

Viagra is a vasodilator. Enhances blow flow to the genitals. That's it. If she thinks that by taking Viagra it makes her more sexual, then it's placebo. Nothing placebo about test though.

"I will say the libido was more than I could handle"

What did your significant other think?

W6

 

[Texas Guy]

Test cream doseage

Your OB/gyn prescribed the cream that men use; and a heavy dose at that! Women are more like 1mg/day of test cream, not 200. For example, my wife's anti-aging doctor prescribed a 4mg/ml cream at 1/4 ml per day.

My wife however, can stand more test so she uses some androgel until sides appear and then backs off. Also, she uses a bi-est cream with sublingual progesterone. Another thing you could try is DHEA (about 25 mg/day). It converts to testosterone in women with normal estrogen.

 

[Suzr]

Thanks to those of you who replied.
Wilson ,I don't trust my current gyn since she was so wrong about the original dose. But I am glad at least that she is willing to prescibe. I am currently taking a pill form of estrogen and progesterone. It seems to be ok for now, no more hot flashes. What is proscar? How would it work differently from the test cream?
Spinesolid, At this point I am not interested in Viagra. But thanks for the info.
TexasGuy, I will start at 1 mg a day and see how that goes. What sides has your wife seen with adding andro gel? At what point does she know to back off? I would like to use enough to get some benefit in my weight training. I would like to take my squat up to 250lbwith in the next year, from 200lb that I can lift now. How is straight testosterone cream different from some of the other steroids used by women here?

 

[wilson6]

"I am currently taking a pill form of estrogen and progesterone. It seems to be ok for now, no more hot flashes."

I'd still go transdermal, less likely to have adverse effects on GH/IGF-I production, and muscle mass and body fat.


"What is proscar? "

It reduces the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is the conversion to DHT in the scalp that causes baldness.

"How would it work differently from the test cream?"

You would take it with T cream to reduce hair loss.

"How is straight testosterone cream different from some of the other steroids used by women here?"

You need to read up on anabolic steroids. Many sites out there. Do a search.

You may want to ask you GYN about oxandrolone. It is an oral androgen that has few side-effects. Ask her to put you on 5 mg/d for about 2 months. See what you think.

As far as your dose of T cream.

"Since no one can predict the sides. The best thing to do is start with a very low dose, even one lower than your doc would consider minimal, and slowly over a period of months, increase the dose every couple of weeks until the sides begin to appear, then cut the dose back a little."

If your voice continues to deepen, sex drive is too high, clitoris is increasing in size, then back off the dose. Many of these sides will plateau at some point. Ask for the oxandrolone (Oxandrin), you'll probably like the results, less sides than test, better for body composition.

W6

 

[Texas Guy]

My wife rubs on one Androgel pack a day which contains 50 mg of test. She hasn't seen any bad sides such as facial hair above the lip or acne on the back. If she notices any hoarseness, she stops for a few days. The hoarseness is a precursor to deepening of the voice. Clit enlargment happened, but it seems that once it enlarged to a point, it kinda stoped growing. So its not huge or anything, just easy to find in the dark. Also, as the Elite girls can testify, when it enlarges, it also becomes more sensitive and orgasms are more intense.

I think that the absorption rate from gels or creams is fairly low, about 25%, so she is not getting much more anabolics than a girl taking the usual dose of Anavar. Which is probably why the sides aren't there.

I don't think 1 mg of test per day is near enough for bodybuilding women. It's just what doctors normally prescribe for average women, not Elite women. Take enough to notice an effect without sides. When you see sides, back off and they disappear. Another approach is to take DHEA. It converts to testosterone in women.

 

[mr.huge]

Testosterone

Personally I believe that if the proper doses are administered testosterone can be very beneficial to woman especially during the age peroiod of menopause. A lot of times when you here people talk about testosterone you think of a male androgen well actually testosterone is found in both males & females. Females do have less testosterone but it is one of the 6 sex hormones found in them.

Woman produce about 1/4 of the testosterone that men do..

By the time a woman is 20 years old she is at her peak production levels of testosterone, progesterone, & estrogen. As woman age the become deficient same as males do. At the age of 20 woman feel physically & mentally great. As woman age there is a dramatic drop in testosterone. BY age forty, a woman has 1/2 the amount of testosterone as she had at age 20. One of the factors contributing to this decline is that at this age their adrenal glands are pumping out less DHEA. DHEA is broken down into a small amounts of testosterone when it is metabolized and for woman this is a main source of testosterone. By the time they reach menopause many woman are testosterone deficient.

There is nothing unnatural about giving a woman testosterone if they need it. Im not saying a 25 year old girl should take testosterone but, I am saying very small amounts of testosterone to a woman 25-30 or older would prove beneficial in most cases. Just as bosting testosterone levels can rejuvinate men it can do the same for women. Giving the proper doses women can benefit from testosterone just as much as a man. Im guessing 25-50mg per week dont but I am no doctor. Some say 50-100mg. I think the testosterone of choice for a woman would be test prop. at a dosage of say 25mg once every 3-4 days

The dosages you were taking were definately high for woman taking test. As for the hair balding problem Im not sure how reversible that can be. I do however think you may find this article below interesting. I believe there is a post on my websote as well on woman & testosterone therapy & DrJMW also answereda few questions in it.


You may find articles if I am correct on www.medibolics.com that may be of interest as well.



I have also seen friends taking Propecia & Proscar & other hair regrowth products but with little or no results.

This is a article that was posted by a former moderator on Mesomorph.net I know it talks about males but could be potentially something coming for woman as well....DNA DNA DNA..


DNA Shampoo May Help Bald Men

By John Ertel
November 20, 2001



Bald men may soon be able to use a DNA shampoo to grow a healthy head of hair.

The new development comes after scientists in Germany found ways of tampering with the gene which decides who keeps a thick head of hair.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Immune Biology in Freiburg say the substance is so new it has not even been named.

Thomas Schalke, the head of the team conducting the research, said: "We had amazing results once we had isolated the gene.

"First we worked out how to make a shampoo or cream that stops the gene working, that stops excessive hair growth which would be great for men with too much body hair or women who want to have smooth legs or to get rid of unsightly facial hair.

"Now we are conducting tests with a product that does the reverse and accelerates the process."

The breakthrough came after the researchers accidentally decoded the gene responsible for hair growth while experimenting on mice.

They were then able to use the information to create a DNA shampoo to make the mice bald, and want to soon bring another shampoo on the market that does the opposite.

But environmental groups have already said they will fight to stop the shampoo getting on the market.

Eva Nowotny, from Greenpeace Germany, said: "What happens when it gets in the drinking water? Will we end up with hairy fish or will people get hairy tongues from drinking it? It is impossible to tell what you change when you tamper with the building blocks of life."


According to Health writer Jeff Johnston, however, "Neither fish nor tongues have hair follicles and unprotected DNA degrades rapidly in the environment, as well as in the gut. Otherwise, we would sprout roots or leaves after eating a salad."

 

[Suzr]

Hr Huge,
Hair growth seems to be coming back, thank God. The rest of the permanent sides I can live with.
Do you think test prop (which is what I have ) would be better than the Anavar? Do GYN's rx anavar to menopausal women?
This is all new to me. so I thank all of you for being patient with my questions.
Are there any other older women that post on this board? I am trying to come to grips with this aging thing but I must say it is not fun. Luckily I am in bettershape now than I was in my 20's and 30's. I feel like I am exploring the frontier of what it could be like to be a buffed women in her 50's and 60's. I am willing to try.
We baby boomers are there