Sex Drive...What do I need for it to returrn

Hello,
I have been reading the pull down messages and I was wondering what should I ask my doctor for? I understand a few women have taken the testosterone gel or cream. I guess what I am totally confused on is...what makes the drive return? Is it a combination of the testosterone gel and your HRT or should I just talk to the doctor about trying the gel. My sex life is going down hill ladies..I am afaid for my marriage at times. I am currently on Premarin but I havent taking any for about two weeks simply because I have HOT FLASHES so bad! I wondering if the stuff works. Also, can you take the Blak Cohosh with Premarin?

Hi! Testosterone is the hormone that is responsible for libido (sex drive) and primarily responsible for sexual response as well. We always think of it as a male hormone but we women have it too, just in lower amounts.

I'm using a 1% compounded natural testosterone gel now. You can also get it in a cream form. Both are available by prescription from a compounding pharmacist. The commercially available products you may see on line are prepared in concentrations required by men and are too strong for us to use; most of them are not natural testosterone but are synthetic modified androgens which can be many times more powerful than natural testosterone and also can break down in the body into byproducts which can cause us undesirable and unnecessary side effects.

The transdermal testosterone is applied to the vulva, and is very helpful for reversing vaginal atrophy and urethral atrophy as well as eliminating vaginal dryness. It takes a while to build up an effect on libido (for me it took two weeks) but it does work to restore sex drive to a normal (in my case better than pre-op) level. Also if you do your kegels, it can help reduce urinary incontinence by building muscle mass in the pelvic floor muscles. For many women, it gives us an increased energy level and a feeling of being "ourselves" again where estrogen and/or progesterone didn't quite do that.

So, what is the downside? For one thing, a little testosterone is a wonderful thing, if you need it (I would recommend having your serum free testosterone level tested before trying it) and a lot of testosterone is a very bad thing. You can get all kinds of nasty side effects like acne, facial and body hair, male pattern baldness, deepening voice, even enlarged clitoris... need I go on here? So, be careful, don't try it without your DR's OK.

Also, for those who absolutely, positively can't have even the tiniest bit of estrogen, it's a bit risky because your body can convert testosterone to estradiol. If you want to try it and you fall into this category I'd recommend having your estradiol level checked beforehand (at the same time as you have your free testosterone level checked) and then again after you've been using it for a while to see if you are indeed making any estradiol from it.

I hope this helps... testosterone is wonderful for some ladies (I am one of those) but not for everyone.
s,
-Linda