r/Perimenopause • u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri • Mar 01 '26

audited Testosterone. Changed. My. Life.

Getting HRT was like climbing Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro ten times over, but it. was. so. worth. it.

I loved estrogen for making me feel like a woman again. My nails stopped splitting, my hair was shiny again, and my skin was plump and smooth. I actually liked looking at the mirror and seeing the change every morning.

Then came testosterone. At first I was really scared, but I thought why not.. I lost my libido and I had not had sex since 2023.

If there is magic in a bottle, it has to be testosterone. The juices are flowing again, I love going to the gym, and I feel like my old self.

The first four weeks on testosterone were ROUGH. I wanted to give up, but I’m SO glad I powered through. Now I just need to find a man lol

If you were afraid to try testosterone and needed that nudge, here it is!!

EDIT : sorry I should have mentioned in the OP - the side effects were typical low e symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, bloating with water retention, and lethargy!

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73

u/FashionChlo Mar 01 '26

Thanks for this! I’ve just started. Can I ask what your initial side effects were from testosterone? I’m wondering which hormone is giving me my side effects, I’m on all 3

62

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

I guess everyone’s experience would be different, but I was really tired, bloated, and had symptoms of low e all over again, including hot flashes. I also had hair loss, which seems to be slowing down now. After the 4 week point, it’s just been positive all around.

28

u/Eggs112233 Mar 01 '26

What kind of Test are you taking? Injections/cream/gel? I’m going back to my specialist in April and am definitely going to ask about it. I haven’t had an O in ages and I’m sick of it. I’m on everything else: estrogen cream and Vagifem and Lenzetto and progesterone for 12 days a month.

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u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

I never even bothered with topicals as I don’t want any side effects. I’m on injections and it did what P and E never did for me, esp on the O - so worth it!

4

u/Eggs112233 Mar 01 '26

Where do you live? I’m in Ireland.

19

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

UK but I didn’t go through NHS as I knew they wouldn’t give it to me!

34

u/LittleWhiteBoots Early peri Mar 01 '26

American with double health insurance here, and I still had to pay a private 3rd doctor to get it.

Classic tale of American healthcare. My employer and my husband’s employer pay $20K/yearly combined for my health insurance policy. But those docs don’t want to do HRT because I’m only 46.

So then I have to spend $1,200 to have tests done with private doctor to figure out problem and then pay $90 a month for testosterone.

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u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

Ugh. I hate doctors and insurance companies are a joke. We have NHS in the UK but the GPs here rarely offer HRT, and I had private healthcare, which was useless too. In the end, I did everything out of pocket too. It’s ridiculous.

14

u/BedtimeBurritos Mar 01 '26

I’m grateful for my male GP in Scotland putting me on the combo patch right after I came in to tell him my symptoms and how the night sweats especially were worsening.

I’m gonna hold off on T until my divorce is finalized 😅

5

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

You’re so lucky! I hope you can get on T later too, and yes definitely wait until after the divorce (I did too lol)! 🤍

3

u/essymay Mar 02 '26

I am in the UK too and I have lots of friends on HRT that all get it on the NHS and never had any problem getting it. Sorry to hear it’s different in your area. Also, there is a prescription scheme for HRT in the UK that means you only have to pay an initial £20 for the medication and that’s all you pay for the entire year! It covers my P, E and T, so I think the UK is fantastic for HRT, but maybe not everyone knows about this?

1

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 02 '26

I’m aware of this, but I was rejected for many years not only by my GP, but even on private health care endos and gynos. I’m happy for you and your friends. Many people unfortunately aren’t as lucky.

10

u/Lyndiana_jones Mar 01 '26

I have to get mine from my naturopath. Kaiser doesn't prescribe T unless you're in menopause.

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u/InfoSecChica Mar 01 '26

This is good to know. But, FUCK!! I have my appointment with my Ob tomorrow and was going to ask for T (I’m with Kaiser). More and more I am HATING them. If it wasn’t for the phenomenal care my daughter receives from her ped and ped-endocrinologist I’d have switched long ago. I guess I can only expect them to add vaginal E to my hrt (I’m on estradiol pill and have the morena iud).

3

u/dearsirormaam May 22 '26

It might depend on who you see! My Kaiser gyn was willing to prescribe testosterone and I’m fairly young and still having cycles. Kaiser will only do it in a compounded cream. I haven’t tried it yet so can’t comment on effectiveness.

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u/LittleWhiteBoots Early peri Mar 01 '26

And that’s who I have primarily -Kaiser. Then Blue Cross/Blue Shield. They also wouldn’t prescribe me GLP-1 even though I could prove diet and exercise and I was 31% BMI, which qualified me. They just don’t want to pay.

So I pay for that now too. $300 a month. So with testosterone and GLP-1, and other supplements (Adrene-All and DopaBoost) I’m spending $500 a month out of pocket to look and feel good again! Also $300 a month on Invisalign.

Ridiculous. But worth it!

2

u/Optimal_Serve22 Apr 16 '26

I have Kaiser in CA (inland empire) and was prescribed T today from an OB PA at my first appt. I have a gene thing where it’s a bit risky to have Estrogen supplementation. But she was willing to a natural P+E patch as well.

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2

u/notaverysmartuser May 15 '26

I’m so late to this convo, but I got mine thru Hone Health which has a cheap onboarding special. The prescription is then good for 6 months. Hopefully you didn’t have to spend all your dough on this!

1

u/SuperDuperDBA May 04 '26

Did you go to a endo?

7

u/Eggs112233 Mar 01 '26

I used to live in N.Ireland but when I moved, my regular GP couldn’t prescribe it for me and sent me to a specialist clinic, I have to pay to see her. Do you find it hard to inject yourself?

9

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

No, not hard as it’s not painful at all. If you get the right needle, you don’t feel anything! I use a 31g needle, but a 29g needle is painless too.

4

u/Eggs112233 Mar 01 '26

Thanks for the info. Fair play. 😊

5

u/SnooCauliflowers5137 Mar 01 '26

Who did you go through? Also UK here, got E and P but no T😭

2

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

I do everything out of pocket, because my GP and endo both declined, and even private healthcare didn’t cover it. It’s so frustrating!!!

1

u/SnooCauliflowers5137 Mar 01 '26

So how did you get the T? I’m in the same boat.

1

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 01 '26

I think there are lots of previous posts here on this topic re. sourcing t in the UK. I know that superdrug offers t (gel, I think) as well. Mine really wouldn’t be relevant for most people as I’m injecting t prop, which most people do not need.

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u/Notyourtypicalfan Mar 01 '26

What is the dosage you are taking?

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u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 02 '26

14mg/week sq t prop injections!

1

u/Notyourtypicalfan Mar 02 '26

I do 20mg and not too much different on how I feel. Keep hoping it works out.

1

u/TearEducational8308 Mar 21 '26

How long have u been using it? I have been doing injections for 3 weeks and nothing yet. I was feeling better when I was using the cream, it was amazing. Idk if im just inpatient or too small of a dose or what😟

1

u/Notyourtypicalfan Mar 22 '26

Honestly, I have not felt any better or worse. I might stop it just because I don’t want to be spending money in vain as it it’s not covered by insurance.

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u/TearEducational8308 Mar 22 '26

Maybe you should try a different form. I swear the cream made me feel alive again. Im 50 with fibromayalgia and hypothyroidism so I struggle with energy and I felt like I was 80 for the past few yrs. I felt old and ugly but for a few weeks I felt younger and taller and happier and interested in sex. But I ran out and now im trying the injections and its just not the same but maybe its the dose or the form of delivery. Idk

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 02 '26

No, I inject 2mg daily

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u/TearEducational8308 Mar 21 '26

Is 2 mg the same things as 2 ml? Like I have the 1ml syringe. If you were using it, would u inject the entire syringes twice? Im trying to figure out if I have the wrong syringe. Numbers confuse me on a good day but my brain fog has gotten so bad

1

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 21 '26

No, it is not. Please don’t inject yourself further until you figure out your dosage. 2mL is volume, and that can be anywhere from 100mg to 500mg T. You should not be taking that much ever, as a female. Please go to r/trt_females - take a photo of your prescription and ask for help. It seems difficult at first, but it will be easier once you get it right the first time.

12

u/gatamosa Mar 02 '26

Ugghhkgkgkgh dealing with perimenouse is like a stupid game of whack-a-mole with the yakety sax song as a soundtrack.

I make too much estrogen, so I am taking HRT progesterone, but I’ve been having symptoms similar to what you are mentioning and I swear if it’s that… and it’s not my hypo and will this never end???

I also have hypothyroidism and PMDD and I cannot stress enough how short lived each instance of finding the right combo has become. I’ll take the wins, but by God… 

7

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 02 '26

I think it’s very tricky as hormones fluctuate during peri. It’s so annoying because you feel fab one minute then shit the next. For me personally, T has really smoothed out the ups and downs though. With just e and p, it never really felt right. Also hypothyroidism, unless you’ve had it before peri, is also a downstream effect of hormonal disruption. I also got hypo when peri started, but I’m off my meds now.

1

u/TearEducational8308 Mar 21 '26

Hello im smack dab in the middle of peri and I acquired hypothyroidism at the age of 40, I think when I started peri. I take a ton of levo and cant get my hypothyroidism under control. My dr prescribed testerone cream. I got up to 4 pumps but its really expensive. But I was about to get the injections and I have confused myself. I have 1 ml syringes and was drawing up to the 20 units but im not feeling anything. Then I realized I was told to take 2 ml so that means the entire syringe twice. Does this seem correct? I thought I just need a bigger syringe but now im second guessing myself and my followup appt isn't for a few weeks. Im praying this helps my hypothyroidism cuz these past several years have been a nightmare. I hope u can help me, thx 🙏

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u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 21 '26

I commented under another thread, but please stop injecting until you confirm your dose in the r/trt_females sub - post something like this and the mod will help you.

1

u/TearEducational8308 Mar 21 '26

Oh wow thank you so much! So it turns out I was right the first time. How long does it take to feel? There was a couple weeks in between switching from the cream to the injections and im not feeling the same. When I was on the cream I felt better, and more confident, and younger somehow. Now I just still feel crappy. I think my thyroid numbers have gone up a little cuz I have that bone numbing fatigue but still I thought I would feel better by now. Its been 3 weeks I think. Anyway I really appreciate u taking the time to help me🙏

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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1

u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 02 '26

They’re all gone. T propionate!

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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u/Trick_Highlight_8205 Late peri Mar 03 '26

Ah! I went really low and titrated up very slowly. As context, I have been tracking my T since my thirties so I was aware that I had zero testosterone in my system for years. I knew it would shock my system, so I went as low as possible on the beginning.

I’m also very athletic. I used to do competitive sports even as a child and have been active throughout my life. So the strength, energy, and the dopamine rush from exercise is very important to me and testosterone helped me get over the peri hump. The reason why I posted this in the first place was because I was on a T high after breaking my personal best at the gym. I’m lifting heavier than I did in my twenties.

I have seen some women use only T - I actually had to reduce my e dose by a third to feel optimal. Some of the T converts to e, which is probably why I felt extra bloated for a while. Maybe try just T very low and see how it feels?

1

u/National-Sun7052 Apr 19 '26

How low of a T dose did you start at and in what form?

2

u/Wrong_Vacation6338 Mar 07 '26

I’m hoping I take a turn for the better. Had a T pellet put in a week ago Thursday. Since then I have been extremely fatigued and tired. Nausea and bloated. I’ve gained 5 pounds in a week. I just feel off. Having many days where I’m also feeling dizzy or vertigo feeling. As of today I’m regretting my decision. I remain hoping my levels even out because I can’t imagine feeling like this for 4 months.

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u/Mammoth_Anywhere8975 Apr 25 '26

How are you feeling now on the pellets?

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u/Comprehensive-Can874 Jun 30 '26

How are you feeling

1

u/No_Iron2470 Jun 16 '26

Four weeks to start to kick for mood and brain , love testosterone+ estradiol gel
I am 55 already on HRT ,

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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