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Thread: Using Testosterone?

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Using Testosterone?

    I recently went for a check up at a holistic/anti aging clinic and found out that my testosterone was low. Not, low enough to be a disease, but likely lower than normal.

    I have been doing a lot of research and reading about how use of birth control , even after you stop, decreases your testosterone a lot. This is what causes low sex drive, feeling blah, and sometimes gaining fat on the pill.

    I am going to go ahead and do the therapy they use (very low dose, slow release, for women) and wanted to know if anyone had any experience with this. I am terrified it will make me gain weight--I work out a lot but still have struggled with not being as lean as I would like so I was hoping it would help with that.

    I am doing this supervised by an MD so I am not worried about the sides women get when they take stuff they get from shady people at the gym and do it unregulated.

    Any advice?

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    Moderator unbeleavable's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    I was a personal trainer for 5 years I did know a woman that was prescribed test in a pellet form & it was implanted under her skin & was slow release. From my conversations with her there were sides that she had that she didn't like but lived with. She did gain weight & voice was a little deeper & she told me her clit was bigger as well as her sex drive was very high. On the plus side she said it helped with the quality of everyday life....I would be very careful not saying not to do it just know what could happen.

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Yikes. Was she menopausal?

    From what i hear, normal levels of testosterone for women are 4-80, with optimal being around 40. Mine is about a 14. Thats why, I'm hoping that I wouldn't get sides, because if its from 10 yrs of birth control i hope it would just balance what is supposed to be there. Was your client there doing it for muscle gain or for health?

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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    She was doing it for health reasons & came to me after she gained weight & needed help getting it off.

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    I've heard mixed things from the forums...I hear that it can make you hungrier, which can make you eat more, hence, gain weight, but i think people tend to lie about their diet.

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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    This is true about the diet but the problem with test is your estrogen goes up too which creates water problems & when you stop taking test your estrogen is high if not higher.

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    God/dess seashell's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    "If it ain't broke..."

    Honestly I think you probably don't need the testosterone unless you're really concerned about the low sex drive/"feeling blah." Hormones WILL have side effects if you take them... they're a huge part of how your body works, and messing with your natural hormone levels might lead to more problems than you already have.

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    Banned Eric Stoner's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    This is a toughie. I've been on testosterone for years with ZERO side effects. I was tested and I was found to be "low normal". When I'm on it I have more energy and I've improved my lean muscle mass. I use prescription Androgel for 6 weeks on ; 2 weeks off.

    I'm leery of some of these cenergenics clinics. There aren't enough studies demonstrating the safety of long term HGH use ( more than 10 years ) for one thing. Secondly, the prices some of these places charge are outrageous.

    For a woman ? What other options have you explored ? How is your testosterone level compared to your ESTROGEN level ? Before taking testosterone I'd try a high protein, low carb diet with plenty of B-Complex high in choline and inositol and lift weights. Weight lifting can boost your testosterone level. I'd also avoid caffeine and alcohol.

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Hmm..

    I appreciate everyone's input..but i want to remind you...i have been using birth control for 10 years. That is a synthetic hormone I have been putting in my body that has caused my testosterone to be that low (my estro and progest were in normal ranges, but I have been on the pill forever). So, its not like using testosterone would be any different.

    I already eat a really, really healthy diet and my IGF-1 levels were awesome. I have read a lot of research that says that birth control use causes your body to suppress natural testosterone, so its hard to overcome that naturally. My levels were a 14...under 24 is low and 40 is optimal.

    I spoke iwth some patients that had zero side effects. They actually lost weight, not gained..the ones that gained were using it with progesterone. I don't think test aromatizes into estrogen if the levels are already low. The sides i hear of women that have normal testosterone and try to get bigger and take abnormal amounts.

    I guess what Im trying to say is that I have alreayd f**ed with my hormones with birth control, and from the research reports I read going off of it now won't make much of a difference. So, I'm trying to balance them back to normal, not unnaturally lift them..since they are synthetically lowered now.

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    God/dess Jay12's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    I'd like to try that: I want bigger muscles!!!!!





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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Quote Originally Posted by heavenlyheidi View Post
    I am going to go ahead and do the therapy they use (very low dose, slow release, for women) and wanted to know if anyone had any experience with this.
    I finally made them test me for low T and hormone levels, and I had almost ZERO... Which might explain my fatigue for the last 8 years and sucky libido which has ruined my life!

    The doc I went to didn't know jack about prescribing it, but she finally did a low dose and I had to get it from a compounding pharmacist. I didn't notice a darn difference and didn't go back. I didn't gain weight and am now looking for another doc to properly regulate me.

    After doing a lot of research , i have not found much for women. The stuff the guys use is way way way too high dose for a woman. And it is not prescribed for us, from what I could find, there is nothing made for women that is available unless it is compounded.

    Please let me know what they prescribed. I am curious too. I just hate the fact I have to go to a menopause doctor to get my hormones looked at. Where does a girl find a doc that can treat a gal in her 30s.

    Good luck. Try it, what can it hurt. And, I was on the pill for about 8 years, but can't do it now or i gain tons of weight.

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Thanks Judy!

    Yes--no offense to the guy's on the board but I really needed a personal woman's experience. It's difficult if not impossible to compare how it works for men vs women.

    I am using a compounded formula meant from women. I will let you know how it goes.

    It really, really is a problem, and definitely from the pill. I work out all the time, I eat healthy, and I am otherwise in perfect health. But, having synthetic hormones put into your body for 10 years without anything to counteract it has to have an effect.

    Here was an interesting article..
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/35663.php

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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Quote Originally Posted by heavenlyheidi View Post
    Thanks Judy!

    Yes--no offense to the guy's on the board but I really needed a personal woman's experience. It's difficult if not impossible to compare how it works for men vs women.

    I am using a compounded formula meant from women. I will let you know how it goes.

    It really, really is a problem, and definitely from the pill. I work out all the time, I eat healthy, and I am otherwise in perfect health. But, having synthetic hormones put into your body for 10 years without anything to counteract it has to have an effect.

    Here was an interesting article..
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/35663.php
    Boys and gurls are just plain different!! LOL Thanks for that article, I never heard about that. AND to TIP it OFF, I did 5 sequences of major hormones for IVF. Injections, stimulation, suppression, major mess with my hormones, I am sure I have messed my system up in a major way, but need a great doc that will treat me like yours seems to be treating you. I am glad you found someone who at least recognizes that there might be a prob.. Keep in touch, can't wait to see how it goes. I should refill my prescription and do it for a full months just to see if it worked once again.

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Judy--

    It's totally true! People think its only to make you aggressive, hairy, or big. But, its important for your bones, mental acuity, mood, and heart too. And..its an issue of if you lowered it through artifical means, the levels you have are no longer your "natural" levels.

    Its tough for us 30's women...all the stuff on hormones shows older women riding bikes or walking on the beach. What about us?! Almost every article I find is on menopause....yet, so many young women are taking birth control for long periods of time, doing IVF, and eating soy products that produce estrogen. I wonder if that has anythign to do with so many young women being depressed and low energy too...maybe instead of just giving everyone anti-depressants they should look at their hormone levels.

    I am getting a pellet done that is slow release..I will let you know my results!
    Here's another article..
    http://www.mesomorphosis.com/article...inology-01.htm

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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Quote Originally Posted by heavenlyheidi View Post
    Judy--

    ...maybe instead of just giving everyone anti-depressants they should look at their hormone levels.

    I am getting a pellet done that is slow release..I will let you know my results!
    Here's another article..
    http://www.mesomorphosis.com/article...inology-01.htm
    Ohh a time released pellet... hmm , I got this crap cream that i wondered if it even got absorbed while on my hands and legs, etc. What a waste for me. Your pellet sounds good...


    I love how they docs blame everything they don't want to take time researching on depression..., i know something is wrong. Why does it all change around my cycle, mid cycle, etc. I am so frustruated, we shouldn't have to live with something because doctors are lazy or won't test us. I feel like my life has been stolen and on hold for the last 10 years. We should talk! PM me any time. Thanks so much for the links. Gonna read more tomorrow, eyes are killing me and I gotta cam in the morning.

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    Veteran Member heavenlyheidi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    I think the problem is that people assume that women hormones can never be harmful to your balance. They act like taking birth control is totally normal and ok, but taking a "male" hormone (which, is both a female and male hormone) would be so freaky and abnormal, and something only body builders do. Its totally not true...the pill and estrogens in our food and water supply make our estrogens go through the roof, and then of course we are unbalanced. So many dr's are quick to write an Rx for anything, but never want to look deeper into the problem. I will keep you ladies posted on how it goes.

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    Default Re: Using Testosterone?

    Good post. I too was on the pill from 15-40 with a few breaks. very few. My low libido sucks. I too want to look into some sort of low test. treatment.

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