my girls labido and test gel??????? HELP!

[timber1976]

well my (30yrs)girl finally went to the doc for her no sex drive problem, they sent her to a specialist, the specialist sent her back to the original doc to do blood tests. well the tests came back that her SHBG is to high (binding testosterone). she is on nuvaring so they took her off with no test change. They have offered to put her on test gel at very low dose, 5mgs a day i think. But they keep on stating to us how dangerous this is to liver values and the possibility of getting pregnant while on this gel. The doc told me i need to where two rubbers and she needs to stay on the birth control. can anyone of you women shed any light on this for us please. Tatiyana????????

 

[musclemom]

5 mg a day is too high. Even if you only get 50% absorption you're still talking about 2 mg a day, and women naturally only make about 3 mg a WEEK.

As for triple birth control ... well first of if she's having hormonal problems she shouldn't BE on any hormonal birth control. I think two rubbers is excessive and basically talk about a killjoy

Secondly, doctors are morons when it comes to the female endocrine system, go to the health food store, get her NATURAL PROGESTERONE CREAM (it's about $30, one tube is usually good for a month). Put her on that for a few months (about 1/4 tsp. morning and nights for the two weeks leading up to her period). Between that and being off hormonal birth control see if she doesn't feel better, but don't expect it to happen overnight, it's going to take about two months.

Hormonal birth control is just awful stuff. Try to get her to use a diaphram.

 

[Thandie]

^^^^I agree with Bmom^^^^
that's really too high!. I'm 52 yo and my Dr. prescisbes 1 mg of testosterone cream once a day. I'd have her see an endocrinologyst..

 

[Tatyana]

Do you have exact values of all of her labs?

I am really dubious about the whole using SHBG to diagnose anything..........................

 

[timber1976]

Do you have exact values of all of her labs?

I am really dubious about the whole using SHBG to diagnose anything..........................

total test= 26 nanograms per deciliter (normal 2 to 45)

free test= 1.0 picograms per ml (normal 0.1 to 6.4)

SHBG = 137 nanomoles (normal up to 107)


this is what they are prescribing; oral testosterone at 1mg twice a day for 2 weeks and increase by 1mg every 2 weeks to a maximum of 5mgs a day.

what you think ????????????????

 

[Tatyana]

total test= 26 nanograms per deciliter (normal 2 to 45)

free test= 1.0 picograms per ml (normal 0.1 to 6.4)

SHBG = 137 nanomoles (normal up to 107)


this is what they are prescribing; oral testosterone at 1mg twice a day for 2 weeks and increase by 1mg every 2 weeks to a maximum of 5mgs a day.

what you think ????????????????

What else did she have done? LH/FSH, TSH, oestradiol, progesterone?? BUN, Liver function, CBC?

It is not good practice to take one test in isolation. Interpreting lab results just doesn't work like that.

Are they prescribing this on just one test?

Has she had any previous blood work with similar results?

In all honesty, from the experience I have had with helping people out with their labs and what we do with patients in the UK, I think that there is a tendency to rush into giving people drugs, treatments, or loads of inappropriate further testing in the US.

Giving women testosterone gel is not liscenced in the UK, I just checked the British National formulary.

This is quite new territory in hormone replacement for women, I would go on the side of caution and either go with a lower dose, or an alternative therapy.

I have also been on call all night, but there is something that I want to check on about SHBG, as I said, we rarely measure it as my consultant thinks it is useless.

I just can't remember right now.

I do know that testosterone (and probably SHBG) are not that accurate to measure at the lower levels, so I am surprised they are going to do this on the basis of one test.

 

[musclemom]

total test= 26 nanograms per deciliter (normal 2 to 45)

free test= 1.0 picograms per ml (normal 0.1 to 6.4)

SHBG = 137 nanomoles (normal up to 107)


this is what they are prescribing; oral testosterone at 1mg twice a day for 2 weeks and increase by 1mg every 2 weeks to a maximum of 5mgs a day.

what you think ????????????????

Tat is more of an expert in this than I am but just look at the total and free test, those numbers are fine, which means she's ovulating naturally something is taking up the hormone receptors, that's all. Her SHBG is a pinch high, that's impacted by estrogen issues and estrogen is strongly impacted by chemical birth control. The Nuvaring is chemical birth control, it contains etonogestrel/ethinyl estradiol (artificial estrogens) that's released through the mucus membrane of the vagina. A woman's sex drive is affected by both her test and estrogen, too much/too little of anything throws the balance off.

Get her off the Nuvaring and get her to go purely on a barrier method and wait a bit.

You can't just make a woman horny by shoving hormones into her. We're NOT, men it doesn't work that way.

 

[Tatyana]

Tat is more of an expert in this than I am but just look at the total and free test, those numbers are fine, which means she's ovulating naturally something is taking up the hormone receptors, that's all. Her SHBG is a pinch high, that's impacted by estrogen issues and estrogen is strongly impacted by chemical birth control. The Nuvaring is chemical birth control, it contains etonogestrel/ethinyl estradiol (artificial estrogens) that's released through the mucus membrane of the vagina. A woman's sex drive is affected by both her test and estrogen, too much/too little of anything throws the balance off.

Get her off the Nuvaring and get her to go purely on a barrier method and wait a bit.

You can't just make a woman horny by shoving hormones into her. We're NOT, men it doesn't work that way.

Exactly. Oestrogen increases SHBG. There are other natural ways of decreasing SHBG, such as foods with loads of fibre.

Until about 30 years ago, the female sex drive wasn't studied, it was assumed it was like the male sex drive, just lesser.

It is quite shocking that despite the fact that cadavers have been dissected for a millenium, bits of the female genitalia had also been overlooked, for example, we have as much erectile tissue as men, it is just on the inside.

Has she ever had a break from birth control pills?

If you are a committed couple, and you both have been screened for STDs, there are other methods of birth control such as temperature, the calender and the change in vaginal secretions over the month.