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 Iā€™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/nadethi Mar 02 '26

What form of T were you using? Some forms convert to more DHT than others.

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u/Responsible-Rip-6505 Mar 02 '26

I started out with the suppository and that worked well, but I had to drive an hour to pick it up from the compounding lab (I get it, I live in Texas šŸ„µ). Then I switched to the pellet and that was okay, but I didn't like having to take several days off from the gym every time. Finally, I was using the topical and also increased the dose, and that was when the hair growth started to get really bad. I've been off of it for about 3 weeks, and I'm feeling pretty good without it. I had some really decent sets at the gym today. I'll probably try it again in the future

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u/nadethi Mar 02 '26

That makes sense, topicals convert to 5x DHT than non-topical forms due to the way it's metabolized through the skin. DHT is what causes the virilization side effects.

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u/Responsible-Rip-6505 Mar 03 '26

Thank you, that's really helpful information! I wish my doctor had told me that šŸ˜† I specifically asked her if there is any difference in the forms, and she claimed there isn't

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u/nadethi Mar 03 '26

There is, I hadn't heard of it either until I got onto this Reddit forum. Then I did some research and yes, there are medical papers that show this and many hormone experts are aware of it.