I had uterine cancer 18 months ago-luckily all dealt with and I am ok.
I have not been allowed estrogen and have got over the worst of hot flushes and anxiety.
Unfortunately my libido also completely disappeared.My nipples became numb and I could no longer have an orgasm.
After talking with my doctor I decided to try testosterone gel.
It brought back sensation really quickly but I was using too much and it made me feel very anxious and aggressive.
I also actually stopped having any loving emotions at all.
I gave it a rest for a month on the advice of my doctor during which time I suffered terrible anxiety followed by depression-all related to the testosterone overdose.
I have recently started it again-very cautiously- and all the sensations are there.
However, I do not have any emotional loving feelings and lose interest during sex really quickly.
I only used a little for 2 days and then stopped but even that was enough to put me on edge and now I am back to feeling empty. It isnt just with sex-I just feel flat and mildly depressed.
Is sex different with just testosterone?
I have been told that some testosterone converts to estrogen anyway so I dont think lack of estrogen is the problem.
So where have all the romantic loving feelings gone? Is it normal to feel like this after menopause?
I had my hysterectomy so quickly after the cancer diagnosis and wasnt through the menopause at that point, so i dont know how I am supposed to feel.
I thought testosterone would solve all my problems but something is just not right.
janet c

Hi Janet C,

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. It's so hard to deal with losing our sexual feelings and all that great stuff that we can remember having. I have dreaded this whole meno thing.

I still have most of my parts, but only one ovary left. After that surgery, I felt like peri hit me hard. Over the past 5 yrs, many things have changed, I did lose my libido and was just sick about it.

I am currently taking Estrogen and Testosterone, but you are right, we can only take this in small doses, because it makes me very aggressive also. If you have no estrogen, then sometimes ( I have read this), T will convert to the lost E, and therefore you do not get the full benifit. Not sure if this helps you, but I remember reading it.

The E and the T must work in harmony. If you have no E, due to the surgery, then this can explain why you are feeling "blue" and depressed. I'm not sure what I would do in your situation, because taking the E has helped me so much, I would hate to give it up.

My heart goes out to you, I hope that you can find some answers that may help you.

Juliann

Hi Juliann
Thanks for your quick reply. Its very helpful!
Although I haven't been allowed to use estrogen up to now I have been told by my surgeon that I can have it in November. He is not really concerned about a recurrence because the cancer was caught really early.
I am having acupuncture and she has helped me a lot. She has advised me to avoid estrogen because it is not particularly helpful for mood etc and I would only have to come off it at some point and go through all the hot flushes etc again.
So now I dont know what to do.
I could use a local estrogen cream I suppose because a little does go into the system. I have wondered all along if this is the missing link. My acupuncturist is all for doing everything the natural way and told me that lost libido is usual for women of my age anyway and that most give sex up. I dont think she really approves of HRT and she used to be a gynaecologist !
She certainly isnt keen on my using testosterone but I felt like I was turning into an old lady before and I have so much more energy with it and Im not going to give it up.
Do you feel ok on estrogen then?
The few times I tried it in peri it made me grouchy and gave me sore breasts.
janet c

Hi Janet C,

There are so many different thoughts about estrogen, everyone has a different opinion. My thoughts on it are, when you are in peri, your levels are going up and down all the time, hence why you could feel grouchy while on it. But once you level off, and your levels STAY LOW, then replaceing the lost E can make a huge difference!

When I transitioned into the awful phase of entering menopause, I knew that I was feeling bad all the time. I could not sleep a full night, the sweats and mood swings were driving me crazy, the loss of all my energy during the day, nothing could prepare me for this.

I read so many books and consulted with many different sources. I found that Beta 17 estrodiol, is the bioidentical form of estrogen. I refused my doctors offer of synthetic type estrogen/progesterone. I stuck to my guns on this.

I feel it is the missing link, it was like day and night difference for me. I feel better and think better (all in all). There are still those peaks and valleys, because I still get an occasional period, so I'm still in flux sometimes.

Because they took my ovary, I was never the same and I knew it. Hormones run almost every system in the body, when these hormones are non-exsistant, then we can certainly feel off.

It's a risk that I'm willing to take, but only with the bioidentical.

Janet you have been through so much, it has been a long hard road for you, I guess you need to decide if it's worth a try or not.

When I was feeling badly, I tried everything, every herb and vit, daily for months on end, nothing worked well for me. We are all different, I know some women who have gone through surgery and don't take anything, amazing to me that they can feel good. Then I know others, who almost lost their minds until BHRT saved them.

I know that you can make this decision for yourself, and I do hope that you feel better soon. I am here if you need to talk or if I can help.

Hugs, Juliann

I remember hearing Fran Drescher talking about her uterine cancer on Larry King and she said that is grows very slowly and rarely spreads until very late. I don't know if that is true, but it might be a good thing to investigate and see if other doctors agree with that statement. Because I believe she is allowed to use estrogen to balance out menopause symptoms.

Like I said, I don't know much about it, and you will want to work with your doctor, but thought you might want to get a second opinion if you are interested in trying a bit of estriol or something like that. Estriol is extremely mild, and it is believed to actually prevent breast cancer, as opposed to estrone (the worst) and estrodial.

On the other hand, if the worst of estrogen withdrawal is over, you may be fine with just a tiny amount testosterone. Is the testosterone bioidentical?

I wish you the best in solving this. I have very low desire and am thinking about trying a little bit of testosterone.

Hi there
Yes I read the fran Drescher book. Her cancer was a higher stage and grade than mine and she was allowed HRT straight after her hyst!
I live in the UK and the doctors here are much more conservative in the aftercare of endo cancer. They don't say never to HRT but they like to wait for 2 years in case of recurrence.
I will be able to have it in November if I want it but I am actually doing really well now without it. I was in hell when I first had my ovaries removed because my body was overloaded with estrogen before-thats what caused my cancer. I thought was going to hell in a handcart and it was only acupuncture that saved me.
I have doggedly worked through the worst of it and now I just use soy which helps.
I see taking estrogen now as a retrograde step-I never want to go through that withdrawal hell again and they wont let me stay on estrogen forever!
I just wonder if my huge overdose of testosterone hasnt cleared out of my system yet. My doctor was very naughty-she gave me 5g sachets of Testogel for men and just told me to rub it in. She didnt give me any warning about how little to use and I was putting on a quarter of a sachet daily until I almost went berserk!
I left it alone for a month but during that time mentally I was all over the place. Having tried a much smaller amount for 2 days this week I began to get depressed again.
So I think I am going to wait a bit longer.
As I said I still have plenty of sensation there so I probably dont need to rush back to it.
I dont know if the test is biodentical. Does that just mean natural-because yes its natural.
janet c

Hi Janet,

One of my books says that only oral testosterone converts to estrogen, not topical testosterone (Preventing Menopause). You need to have enough estradiol AND testosterone for libido and sexual response. Good luck for November! I think you will start getting your feelings back when your figure out what the right ratio of estrogen to testosterone is for you to feel good.

Kathy

Hi Kathy.
That is odd because I have read the leaflet on the Testogel and researched it on the net and some of it most definitely converts to estrogen. It actually warns men that one of the side effects is that they can grow breasts!
I am still unsure about taking estrogen again. After all- it did cause my cancer and I know I wont be allowed to have it for very long so it means withdrawal symptoms all over again.
I dont think the surgeons are very interested in libido. They only care about overall health and not risking recurrence in the long term.
Oh dear I am in such a muddle. I am beginning to think it would be better to forget about libido altogether and give up sex
janet c

ANY time female hormones are upset, depleted, or removed, libido is also upset but a great part of this loss is knowing that part of you, the part that you believe identified you as female, has been removed from you. IF you had not known or understood what was removed, you would most likely NOT be experiencing some of these things since they would not be a part of your conscious levels of identity.

I had been given only a short time to live in my late 20s unless I had a hysterectomy. I, of course, didn't understand any of this, or even that a hysterectomy might be performed when I was taken into surgery. Only a brief 30-60 seconds before being completely under was I given a waiver to sign with a VERY brief explanation of what might need to occur.

I had serious hot-flashes after I went home and some other emotional issues, but they didn't last very long since I didn't really understand what I didn't see (being ignorant is sometimes better). What I could see and feel was better so I remained VERY sexually active.

I do not agree with the idea that you should give sex up.....not for anyone and not at any age! I do believe that you should just relax and enjoy being a partner even if you are not having any or all the fireworks at the moment BECAUSE, those fireworks in time, will return unexpectedly for you as well. But you need to stay in the arena at least on a half conscious level while you wait. It is only through practice and participation that this kind of health and healing can happen.

Think of it this way..... when any kind of surgery happens, the largest part of the healing process is physical therapy. If you do not do the therapy, you will atrophy! PRACTICE!!!

Thanks for your valuable comments but I am afraid in this case I do not agree with you.
I do not know whether when you had your hysterectomy(how awful for you to have it so young by the way!)- you had your ovaries removed? This is what makes a huge difference. You were also very young so your body was probably making lots more hormones in other areas.
When I had my op I had no idea that it would adversly affect my sex drive so dreadfully.
At first after the op, for about 6 months I was fine and then gradually everything dropped away and my nipples became completely numb as well as no sensations in the obvious areas. I dont know if everyone is affected but I believe most are.
It was only then that I discovered that this is a real problem. The ovaries produce half the sex hormones your body needs and when they are removed everything is reduced by 50%.
This is not about knowing too much. It is not about going off sex. It is a real loss of hormones that our bodies are supposed to have. It is similar to having your thyroid gland removed and then not replacing the thyroxin!
As far as doing the therapy-I have continued to have regular sex to keep everything going along and when I said I was thinking about giving up sex what I really meant was I was thinking of giving up trying to have any sexual feelings of my own .
I would never stop making love with my husband. I was really just being ironic I suppose. I think sometimes its good to just sound off!
janet c

Hi, Janet,

Your acupunturist is wrong about the effects of estrogen on mood. In my case, it has been extremely helpful not only for mood but for sexual feeling as well. There are books that discuss this--one I liked was "Hormones and the Mind' by Edward Klaiber. Also, why would she say that you would eventually have to come off of it?

Too much estrogen will give you sore breasts (had this happen--am reducing my dose & feeling better). If you were give a combination hrt -- estrogen & progestin together--this could have made you grouchy.

I am all for natural, but natural doesn't always mean a good quality of life.

Colleen

Hi Colleen
This is my dilemma-so many different people with so many different opinions!
It was both my surgeon and my acupuncturist who said I cant be on estrogen for more than a couple of years. My acupuncturist doesnt agree with any HRT at all-even though she was a Gynacologist .
I am in UK and here the protocol for all menopausal women is "the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible time"
I know of quite a few ladies who were happily on HRT and had to come off it after 5 years and were really unhappy because their doctors gave them no choice. There is a real drive on it here! They are worried about all the long term health risks because we have such a huge compensation culture at present.
I was estrogen dominant for years- I didn't know that's what it was until my cancer was diagnosed. So my doctor had been giving me HRT full of estrogen which actually made me worse!
I did have all the symptoms of estrogen dominance and surely if I were to start estrogen again now I would be by default estrogen dominant as I would not be having progesterone?
Im not trying to be argumentative-just trying to make an informed decision.
I am wondering if I were to have a local vaginal cream-would that help?
When I used vagifem they definitely caused sore breasts and loss of libido but they also got rid of hot flushes.
I am so SICK of feeling grim-maybe I should try it.
All the ladies here seem to think it is great. Dont you US ladies have to come off it after a few years or are you allowed it indefinitely?
janet c

I truly believe that there is no "one size fits all" hormonal treatment. We are all so different that it really MUST be trial and error when it comes to hormonal balance. What works for me will not work for you.

Personally, I am 3 years post menopause, and I actually feel more energetic and "sexy" since my monthly hormonal swings have stopped. I feel much better now that the natural estrogen in my body has diminished. I could never take any form of birth control pill when I was younger. The estrogen in them made me feel nauseous, sick, fat and bloated. I felt this same way during my monthly cycle when my natural estrogen levels were high. So, estrogen is really a "poison" for me too!

I hope you discover the right treatment to feel good soon.

Yes. I was only on HRT for 5-6 years only and wasn't given it until I was in my 50s. My doctor reduced my dosage in half and I was only on .065 m in the first place. I didn't realize that some odd symptoms that gradually started to occur when I was on it were actually being caused by HRT:

1. frequent, severe and sudden nausea (felt like someone fisted my stomach)
2. severe joint and back pain
3. Ocular migraines
4. urinary problems

After being on it for awhile, some symptoms were no longer helped such as being able to sleep. When the dose was cut to half, ALL symptoms began to return so I went ahead and simply weened off. Since then the worst symptoms have disappeared (those above), and hot flushes are mostly what I still feel but they are mild.

You see this is the problem. One lady says HRT is fantastic and another says its awful.
From what I understand estrogen does not really do anything for libido. All it does is keep the vagina moist.
However I have been suffering so much because I have absolutely no estrogen at all that maybe a tiny bit might help-especially with the anxiety and hot flushes.
Thanks to all the ladies who have replied. You have all been great!

I think you may have misunderstood me. Other than the problems I listed above, HRT was such a relief for me during the time I took it. I could relax, hot flashes were gone, anxiety was wayyy low. When I knew I needed to wean off I was at first upset.

With many medications there are pros and cons, good and bad, or simply side effects that are nuisances. You need to look at the kind of relief you need or want and weigh that with the possible bad. Sometimes it takes being on a medication or in this case HRT for a time before deciding.

In your case I think any relief at the moment would be helpful to your ongoing recovery.

Please bear in mind that while some women here are in peri and do have estrogen, manyL of us here, especially those of us in post-menopause, do not have ovarian produced estrogen any more. But the human body, both female and male, produce estrogen via other areas of our physiology. Don't think for a moment that you are the only woman here with absolutely no estrogen because you are in Great like-kind Company.

Hi Janet,

One of the reasons why some say HRT is fantastic and some say it is awful is that HRT can be very different depending on what the doctor decides to give you. Many women in the US are given prempro which is horse estrogen + estrone (human fat produced estrogen) and proveria which is a progesterone type drug. You can either take the progestin part continuously or intermittently. Another option is taking human estrogens plus human progesterones. There are three different human estrogens and multiple combination possible, some good and others worthless. Many doctors give the progesterones/progestins every day of the month. Many women will feel awful from the progestin or progesterone and blame it on the estrogen. Even though the ovaries produce more testosterone than estrogen doctors are often clueless about replacing testosterone. If your testosterone drops by one half after menopause and only estrogen is replaced (but with horse estrogen) how can we expect to feel good? We are not horses and we make testosterone for a reason. In addition we should not be given a hormone like drug when a safer real human hormone alternative is available.

Another thing to consider is that many women are given oral estrogens (prempro for example). Oral estrogens cause the production of extra sex binding hormone which binds testosterone. So a side effect of oral estrogen is lower testosterone. If we already have low testosterone because we are in menopause and then our estrogen reduces our T level even further and our doctor is clueless and does not offer extra testosterone—how can we expect to feel good?

There are so many complicating factors with HRT. One size does not fit all. If your doctor is clueless like many are it is going to be difficult to feel good with HRT unless you educate yourself and become smarter than the doctor and know what to ask for and demand. The books by Dr. Vliet are a good first step to becoming educated with what to ask for.

I cannot imagine ever going off my hormones and I will never give them up without a huge fight. In the US many doctors want women to go off their estrogen as well but I am not planning on seeing any of them!

Kathy

Thanks Kathy-very interesting! You are very clued up!
I am actually feeling really good now with just testosterone replacement.
The problem has been finding the right dose-I was using far too much in the beginning-and now I have found it everything is great.
My hot flashes are virtually gone and my libido has returned-better than its been in years.
My only problem is that despite using Replens I get very sore. I am going to have to use an estrogen cream in that area to fix it but that is all!
I definitely do not want to use estrogen replacement and I am glad now my Surgeon would not let me have it straight away.
I have come off it the hard way-it was hell for 18 months but now I am free!
The testosterone has given me back all I need and more. I have energy, strength, enthusiasm for life and a good libido.
I always felt that estrogen was a much overrated hormone. Great for childbearing but not much else. I always made too much of it which made me miserable and then it caused my cancer- so good riddance I say!
You are right about the testosterone. It is actually usual for testosterone levels to stay pretty much where they were at Menopause and for estrogen to drop because a body just does not need it any more.
This is why we hear of older women with good sexual appetites-they have lost their estrogen so their testosterone can work properly!
It is only if ovaries are removed that the test levels plummet.
Janet c

Hi Janet,

I have my ovaries but my testosterone tested at “not detected”. I need both E & T to feel good. Estrogen levels drop not because we do not need it any more but because we have outlived our egg supply. See “Preventing Menopause” by Beth Rosenshein for details. Estrogen is needed for so many things besides childbearing.

I am glad you are at peace with your testosterone. I hope it continues to work well for you. Good luck.

Kathy

Hi Kathy
Can you tell me why I need to use estrogen now, then? I really want to know what extra benefits I would get.
I am aged 55, I have strong bones, keep fit and healthy and I am not overweight.
Small amounts of testosterone convert to estrogen in the body anyway.
If it is that good for older women then why does the medical profession insist that women should only use HRT for transition?
I can see that women having a hard time during meno would need to use HRT to help alleviate their symptoms-although I hated it-it made me feel terrible! But why continue when its no longer needed?
Believe me-I had to go cold turkey after my cancer and I would have killed to have a bit of relief!
I am truly interested because I feel so well now i cant see what else there is to improve on .
I am going for my six monthly check up soon when I will be offered estrogen if I want it.
I need to know- do I still need it?
janet c

I think only you can decide that!

Zelma

Hello ladies. Well for the past 5 months I've had little and now recently NO libido what so ever. And to top it off any sex I do have with my husband it hurts bkz it seems my JJ tightens up on me and becomes dry. I've tried KY and it helps the dryness but not the tightness which causes pain.

I've been on progesterone cream for the past 8 yrs. and it was great until now. I've started having hot flashes again. So I started using a little estrogen cream too. It helped the flashes but not the libido or sex pain. So now I'm at a loss for sure! 3 days ago, I stopped the estrogen to see what happens. I also recently ordered some testosterone cream and when I get that I want to try it once per day only and just see what happens.

Now, after reading your posts about aggressiveness and anxiety I'm a bit leery about trying it. I certainly don't want any anxiety; that I suffered with severly prior to using progesterone cream. So I don't want to go there again!

What do you ladies think? I'm also frustrated and feel like an old f**t and I'm only 49, HELP. I hate this meno thing.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Susan

Hi mysticforest,

I'm 50, in peri. A couple of years ago I tried testosterone cream for libido and it didn't help. This year I finally got some estrogen supplementation (patches) and then started the testosterone cream again ... and now it works. Apparently you have to have enough estrogen on board to keep your testosterone receptors functional.

Estrogen helps a LOT with pelvic and vaginal tone, suppleness, lubrication; testosterone helps you regain sensation in nipples and clitoris, and helps you orgasm.

Too high of a dose of T made me more than irritable - I was in a rage! But a tiny dose actually lessens anxiety and gives me more energy.

hope that's helpful!

I started testosterone supplementation about 18 months after my ovaries were removed as I lost ALL sensation in my nipples and clitoris.
I wasnt on any estrogen at the time because I had cancer of the uterus so I just used testosterone.
It was not very nice-I overdosed very quickly and it made me aggressive and anxious. I got all my sensations back and could have an orgasm but it was pretty souless as I had no loving emotions-I felt so cold.
I have since found out that I was given much too high a dose which was what gave me the side effects.
Once I stopped using it for a while I still felt physically better than I had without it-more energy and interest in life but I completely lost interest in sex because I had just lost all my loving womanly feelings !
After a good check up I was allowed to start using a little estriol cream around the outside of the vagina and I cant tell you what a difference it made!
It is only a little I use about 3 times a week but it makes me come alive and I also feel emotions again.
I am very sensitive to all hormone supplementation but I would say-try testosterone but go very carefully because less is more. I only use a tiny dab about once every 4 weeks now my levels are up and that is plenty.
If you are already using some sort of estrogen then you will find the two together bring you back to normal libido.
Please dont be afraid to try testosterone but just be cautious.
janet c

Hi mysticforest

I use progesterone cream as well, having suffered anxiety prior to using it.

I'm contraindicated for systemic estrogen supplementation and like you, was experiencing dryness and pain in the vaginal and vulvar area, which are symptoms of low estrogen. I now use an estrogen cream (estriol) locally in those areas twice a week. It plumped up the whole area and things are no longer painful. I also use a lubricant containing phyto-estrogens twice a week, which you just insert inside the vagina (a bit like Replens I imagine, although I've never used Replens).

I couldn't comment really on lack of libido except to say that when attempts at penetration made me nearly hit the ceiling because of the pain, I had no desire for sex!! Reduced estrogen had had quite an effect on me in that area with shrinking, as well as dryness. When estrogen cream made the whole area plump up more, I began to feel sexual again. Also, if you've avoided penetration for a very long time, as I did because of the pain, then it may take a little while of reintroducing it again after using estrogen, for it to become comfortable. I find that the more frequently I do it, the better it is and the more relaxed I am about it. Even recently however, I still used to tighten as you describe, I think in anticipation of it being painful because for so long that was the reality.

Perhaps the estrogen you used in cream form wasn't enough to have an effect on those areas? When I took HRT orally, the high estrogen content in the HRT was enough to ensure I had no problems whatsoever in that area. It was only when I stopped taking oral HRT because of other health problems related to estrogen that I then experienced dryness, shrinkage and pain with the vagina and vulva.

Hi jasmintea

It's interesting to hear that testosterone relates to sensitivity in clitoris and nipples and also to ability to orgasm. I didn't know that. I'm not supplementing with testosterone. Despite experiencing the effects mentioned above due to lack of estrogen (which were pretty miserable) I never experienced any loss of sensitivity in clitoris or nipples or any loss of ability to orgasm. So I suppose my testosterone must be at adequate levels. Once the dryness and soreness problems due to lack of estrogen were sorted out I again experienced a relatively healthy libido. However whilst my sex drive is persistent - more so than before menopause if anything when I had menstrual cycles - it's tamer somehow, not as powerful. It also takes longer to reach orgasm, which I've read is common in menopausal women. The orgasms can still be pretty powerful though.

I wonder if adding a bit of testosterone would help or whether I should accept that it's all different after menopause anyway and just accept this is a good level.

Dr. Louann Brizendine in her book The Female Brain says that libido is due to a subtle cocktail of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.

Hi Interactive,

You sound pretty happy with the way things are going for you! If you wanted to find out, you could try a little dab of T cream (I found it works best in a little dab the size of a small pea, right on the clitoris) and see what it does for you. A compounded cream is not expensive in the tiny doses we women use. It might not make a dramatic difference for you if you're not having many of the classic symptoms of low T.

Yes, it's that groovy hormonal "subtle cocktail" that makes for not only libido but so many other aspects of physical, emotional and sexual health. I'll second what you said about the "plumping" effect of estrogen and how important that is, and also the emotional enlivening (womanly feelings of compassion, love, softness) mentioned earlier in this thread. The loss of all of that softness, physical and emotional, was really affecting my marriage, and having it back makes a world of difference.

Goodness Janet you must be sensitive to hormones if using estriol cream externally has restored loving, womanly feelings. I'm glad it has btw.

I'm also in the UK so suspect that we're using the same estriol cream. Like you I don't want it to have too much of an effect on other parts of the body, the uterus included (because of fibroids in my case). I asked my doctor if applying it externally in that region would mean it was absorbed into the rest of the body and she said "minimally". I do seem to have had benefits in the relevant area with minimal effects on the rest of the body (hopefully!) in that I'm not getting breast tenderness (I was investigated for a breast lump) or abdominal pain (from fibroids and on one occasion, a suspected ovarian cyst) which I was when taking oral HRT which had a high level of systemic estrogen.

In 'The Female Brain' (again!) Dr. Brizendine says that estrogen and oxytocin are the hormones that produce loving, nurturing feelings in women and both decline at menopause. I can't remember if oxytocin is linked to estrogen in any way. Certainly oxytocin has been demonstrated to be influential in the creation of trust and emotional bonds. I seem to recall that Dr. Brizendine says that post menopausal women who are not supplementing with estrogen may well begin to feel more as men do, in that they no longer look at things with that desire to nurture and care for that we have in our child bearing years. She attributes so many women wishing to separate at this age to this - apparently women start seeing the issues in what was possibly a less than satisfactory marriage and no longer have high levels of estrogen prompting them to hold the marriage together and gloss over the problems. Certainly this was the case with me when I abruptly stopped oral HRT and my estrogen levels plummeted. I didn't realise it would have an effect on my personality as well!! However if women still have young children at home (or presumably grandchildren also) then the frequent contact and hugging having young children entails, promote the production of oxytocin. Presumably this might happen if one was very physically affectionate with one's partner as well, although I don't remember her mentioning that. I hope I've represented what she said accurately!

I also noticed a difference when I started using the estriol cream on the vulva and vagainal entrance having gone for a year without any estrogen supplementation whatsoever. However I hadn't thought of it in terms of a direct effect upon the emotions, more a physical effect in that area which then sent signals to the brain. However the fact that it's restored loving feelings for you is fantastic.

I still don't feel as I did pre-menopause or even as I did when I had a high level of estrogen from oral HRT. I certainly do have loving feelings, but somehow, I'm not at everyone's beck and call any more and not such a pushover when family members try to get me to do something by presenting as helpless. I'm a lot tougher I suppose and in that way, I do feel more like a man than I did before.

Thanks for the advice about the T cream. It's that kind of experience from people who are using it that is so helpful. I'll ask my doctor about it next time I see her.

I'm really pleased to hear that supplemention has produced such good results for you. The things you mention - the physical restoration ('plumping') and the womanly feelings are so important aren't they? When the estriol cream restored the physical properties to that area for me, just the subtle physical sensations I then started getting gave rise to feeling more feminine and experiencing desire. I'd forgotten how it used to feel.

Okay, heres my story...When I had a complete hyster-ovaries and all- I was three years post. Prior to that I had been on Prempro. Since the surgery I have been on the Vivelle Dot patch. My libido was never the best pre surgery and has gotten worse yet! Would a testosterone supplement help? Where do I get it? WHAT do I get? Can this be ordered online or do I need a prescription for it?
Sorry thats alot of questions, but you don't know till you ask, right? I don't even know if I posted in the right area! Just need some in put here.

Hi Anna,

I just started testosterone 3 months ago. I had one ovary removed and just after that my libido went south and that was 3 years ago, my husband is not a happy man but sticks by me. Anyway, I finally decided to get checked and my testosterone was negative something so I am taking 5 mg a day. There is FDA approved testosterone for men that you can get a regular pharmacy with your doctors prescription but I've been told by a few posters to stay away from that. So then you need to have your doctor mail a prescription for testosterone in a cream, or oral dose to a compounding pharmacy. You can use the pharmacy on this site. I use a different one b/c my doctor has her own set up with one midwest. I'm now taking the testosterone in a cream still at 5mg and my doctor says that the does is small and so far I don't think it's working b/c I haven't had any boost in that area yet.

So get a prescription and set up an a/c with a compounding pharmacy for a testosterone cream.