Low Testosterone in Women – Symptoms and Solutions
Low Testosterone in Women
Symptoms and Solutions
Testosterone production in a woman’s body is aproximatley ten percent of the amount made by the typical male. It is produced primarily in the ovaries and adrenal glands.
Along with progesterone and estrogen, the two other vital hormones a woman’s body creates – testosterone production declines with age and in some cases prior to menopause. The most notable symptom of low testosterone in women is low libido. However, low testosterone in women can also contribute to depression and osteoporosis, loss of muscle mass and difficulty in losing weight.
Most Body builders and athletes know that the role of testosterone in maintaining muscle mass and losing body fat is vital. Yet, it is a conversation that is often absent in the medical community. Many women begin to gain body fat regardless of their efforts about ten to fifteen years before menopause and this often continue after as well. The connection between low testosterone production and the deterioration of a healthy body composition seems obviouse but is rarely made.
Often women on hormone replacement therapies are only given estrogens and progestins but not testosterone. Yet there is evidence that suggest with out treating low testosterone it is almost impossible for these women to lose fat.
In the book What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Premenopause, Harvard trained family physician Dr. John R. Lee describes his experience with low testosterone women. Based on several clinical studies he reported that using a small amount of natural testosterone supplementation may enhance the possitive effects of the other hormones.
Dr. Lee observes that testosterone production is dependent upon sufficient progesterone levels in the body. In a healthy human female body, progesterone plays an important role in testosterone convertion. If progesterone levels are too low wich is common, low testosterone may be the result. As a treatment, Dr. Lee recommends using natural progesterone cream supplementation first for at least six months and in dosages that mimic the same amounts the body would normally produce. He found that natural progesterone supplementation often solved the problem of low testosterone and low libido in women.
While low testosterone levels for a women is one side of the problem, too much testosterone can also cause problems. What often happens when women approach menopause and ovarian function slows down is that symptoms of androgen dominance can occure. In this case, testosterone supplementation will only make things worse. Androgen dominance symptoms in women include male pattern baldness and facial hair growth.
It all comes down to hormonal balance. The clearance of testosterone from a woman’s body is related to the correct balance of estrogen and progesterone levels. Too much estrogen will slow down the clearance of testosterone. Progesterone on the otherhand enhances testosterone clearance. When testosterone stays in the body longer than necessary, testosterone can produce the symptoms described above. Again, the supplementation with natural progesterone cream tended to reverse the androgen dominant characteristics in Dr. Lee’s findings.
Dr. Lee along with most Doctors in this feild recommend using only natural testosterone, not one of the synthetic testosterone drugs that have been linked to undesirable side effects. Natural testosterone is easily available from compounding pharmacies, however you will need a doctor’s prescription to obtain it.
For more information about Bioidentical Hormone Replacement please check out our home page at www.bioidenticalhormonereplacement.net
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One comment
Earnest Bioidentical Hormone Replacement on September 24, 2009 at 1:17 am
When lifestyle is not a factor and a woman’s diet is well balanced then there is no need of replacement plans of hormones. The alternative hormone replacement therapy for women that consists of bio-identical hormones may have shortcomings in that hormonal levels can vary from day to day.