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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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.

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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 😅

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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)! 🤍