Could testosterone be the missing piece to your menopause jigsaw?
You may have recently seen all of the talk about testosterone and how it could help some women with their menopause journey, well, here we will share some of the information we have collated.
As we all know, hormones play a vital role within our bodies and most women will probably be more familiar with estrogen and progesterone but what does testosterone do for us ladies? Even though you may be mistaken for thinking this is a male hormone, testosterone is actually produced in our ovaries and its decline can also affect women too.
What does testosterone actually do for us ladies?
Testosterone does many important things within our body:
- Helps to support the maintenance and growth of bone tissues
- Promote a healthy libido
- Assists with lifting mood
- Help with cognitive function
- Increase and maintain muscle mass
- Decrease vaginal dryness
- Decrease the amount of fat storage
How do you know if your testosterone levels are low?
Indicators that you could be suffering from a decrease in your testosterone levels could be:
- Thinning of the hair
- Drier skin
- A lower sex drive
- Loss of strength and muscle tone
- Low energy
Suffering from any kind of low hormone can be very detrimental to your body and testosterone is no exception. Just like estrogen and progesterone, you can also request testosterone replacement therapy through your GP.
If you have noticed a decrease in sexual desire and have little to no libido you could be suffering from Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD). This is a condition where women have no libido, sexual thoughts or desires and have difficulty becoming aroused and may even try to avoid sex altogether.
Testosterone can help to improve your general vaginal health. During the menopause it can be common for women to notice some vaginal dryness. As the tissues of the vagina become thinner and less lubrication is produced this can create soreness and discomfort during sex. Testosterone can help to improve vaginal lubrication making the vagina less dry and help to prevent tearing.
Another reason for considering the use of testosterone during menopause is the improvements it can have on your bone health and muscle mass. Testosterone affects the strength & density of your bones, it can even affect where your body fat is stored. If you suffer with low testosterone you could be at risk of suffering from weaker bones, loss of muscle, weaker muscles and more belly fat. Increasing your testosterone levels to within a normal range could reduce these risks, make you feel stronger, lower the risk of osteoporosis and help reduce visceral fat.
For many women as we try to navigate the menopause journey we sometimes just don’t feel like ourselves and can tell when something just isn’t right, this can often be down to an imbalance of hormones within our bodies. It is so important that we talk to a medical professional, have our hormones checked and symptoms monitored. It is important to know that it can often take weeks, sometimes months to see the benefits of testosterone replacement. Often if after 6 months there has been no improvement of symptoms then it is considered unlikely that the replacement therapy is going to work.
You can find out more about the benefits of HRT & TRT from Dr Louise Newson of the Newson Health Menopause Society here Easy HRT prescribing guide (nhmenopausesociety.org)
Find out more about Testosterone for women at Women’s Health Concern – Fact Sheet 22-WHC-FACTSHEET-Testosterone-for-women-NOV2022-B.pdf (womens-health-concern.org)
