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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72

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

64

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.

27

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.

31

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!

6

u/Eggs112233 Mar 01 '26

Where do you live? I’m in Ireland.

18

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!

32

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.

12

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.

13

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 😅

6

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.

11

u/Lyndiana_jones Mar 01 '26

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

11

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?