I have posted many times on the fact that I am using topical testosterone as my only HRT. I had endo cancer three years ago and was not allowed estrogen following my TAH/BSO.

I was so devastated at the loss of my sex drive after my surgery that I persuaded my doctor (here in UK) to prescribe me some testosterone gel-(really only for men).

I have been allowed to have Estrogen if I wish for over a year but I am so sensitive to it I have given up. I am now feeling very well and have got over the worst of my surgical menopause and just use testosterone.

I know the general concensus seems to be that it is not advisable to use testosterone without estrogen-we have had discussions here many times when this is brought up.Indeed people are led to believe that T won't work unless E is present but I have found this not to be true.
I just wanted to post here the link to a fantastic study done in Australia. The full transcript of an in depth discussion is provided as is the recorded broadcast if you are able to listen.

For anyone who is interested it is great stuff! I am thrilled that something I have chosen to do instinctively has come out so well in a controlled trial.


http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stor...008/2413463.htm

Hope some ladies will find it interesting!

janet c

Thanks, Janet. Just read the transcript. Let's hear it for our friends in the Commonwealth. I'm so glad you listened to your body and that your MD listened to you. I experience testosterone as a vital player in my overall sense of well-being, including matters sexual. I know it's touted primarily as hormone of desire and so on, but for me there is a much broader effect that seems like an invisible antidepressant. Testosterone is also beneficial to bone and muscle health, and to cardiovascular health.
Thanks for posting.
GK

Thanks Janet,

It sounds like that is the Proctor and Gamble patch that was approved in Europe but not in the great USA. Sometimes I wonder if testosterone is the reason why the women who use the pellets have much more success in terms of getting their libido back, personally I think so! Estrogen and progesterone has given me some of my libido back whereas before there was nothing, so I'm hoping that things improve further. My free testosterone is high but I'm sure estrogen is bringing that down. My total testosterone was in the middle of the range.

Again thanks for the info!

TJ

That was a agreat broadcast on testosterone. I am interested in the effects of using it pre menopausal. I am using it now while using a small amt of progesterone cream. I am weaning the progesterone cream as I feel the amt I was using was too high, causing at first progesterone dominance and then estrogen dominance. She mentioned that testosterone can cause sensitivity and insulin resistance, which I am experiencing( can not tolerate simple sugars)but at the same time the testosterone makes me feel better. It was also mentioned that testosterone can convert to estrogen(I think I need estrogen). I wonder it what instances it doesn't convert. I think I can't convert it to estrogen for some reason. Any thoughts?? Thank You

I am glad you enjoyed the broadcast!
Owing to the fact that I am using testosterone alone I have done lots of other research into the whole subject.
Susan Rako who has been a guest at Powersurge and wrote the book "the hormone of Desire" has discussed your point.
Apparently all forms of natural testosterone will convert to estrogen. The body makes all its own estrogen from the testosterone produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands so if you supplement testosterone some of it will end up as estrogen,though probably not much. I am really pleased about this because I cannot take estrogen from outside sources-it makes me feel ill, so to know that part of my testosterone is converting naturally is great!
Actually there is a synthetic version called methyltestosterone which does not convert to estrogen. I believe it is often given to men and also women who must not have any estrogen at all.
You probably will need to still supplement with estrogen if your body is used to higher levels. I don't need much because I had my ovaries removed three years ago and my body has got used to a lower level.
janet c

Thank You Janet, it's so interesting because I also suffer from adrenal fatigue. Maybe that's why I may not be converting it to estrogen. I recently got part of my blood work back but the estrogen level page was missing(i'll have to wait until I see the dr). Do you supplement with high amounts of testosterone. I am using a half a ml of 5%(so, 2.5) right now. I could tell when I lowered it from the full 5%. I have more energy when it's higher but my two other hormones are out of whack,, so I lowered this.

If you are suffering from adrenal fatigue then your adrenal glands may not be producing their usual share of testosterone-hence lower estrogen.

No I don't use very much testosterone at all. I cannot tell you exactly how much I use but it is a very tiny amount, now that my levels are up. If I use too much I feel dire-really agitated and bad tempered, so there is no point.

If your body produces estrogen, or if you supplement with it, then it ties up some of the testosterone so the body is unable to use it so effectively. This is why a woman on HRT often needs more testosterone
Because I don't supplement with estrogen my testosterone is not tied up so a little goes a long way.
Hope that makes sense? Its all quite complicated isn't it?
janet c

It is so confusing. As soon as I think I have it figured out---I don't!! I believe I was still making estrogen in small amounts because I could tell the ebb and flow during my cycle, but when I added the progesterone, everything got off kilter. I'm thinking I should just go off of it and see what happens or maybe even use the over the counter progesterone like I used to. It's interesting what you said about tie ing up the testosterone. On my last blood work , my testosterone levels were undetectable even though I had been using the 5% cream. I'm thinking the progesterone made me over produce estrogen and threw me into estrogen dominance which lowered my testosterone?? Does that make sense???

I am not sure about that. I thought the opposite was true-that if you have sufficient progesterone it balances estrogen so you wont be estrogen dominant. Does progesterone cause over production of estrogen?Its not something I have heard but it could be true.
Even if that is the case your bloodwork should still show your total testosterone level (even if it is tied up).
Are you saying that your total testosterone levels were undetectable or just the free level ?
I don't know too much about how hormones interact with each other but I dont think total testosterone can actually be reduced by another hormone -just made unavailable.
I wonder if the problem is due to the adrenal fatigue?
I don't know.
Maybe you should go right back to the beginning and start again?
janet c