Why I Take Testosterone Replacement Therapy!

I've been open about last year BEing in a dark place…Perimenopause hit hard and as someone with no history of depression / sadness or just generally "blah" feelings, I had no idea what was happening. It was dark. I had very little hope, no motivation, and everything felt incredibly heavy and overwhelming. But I just didn't care. About anything. My business. My house. My relationships. I had no vibrancy, no zest for life – for anyone who knows me, this is not the Jennifer I am. When I told my adopted mom that I was legit going to fly to Bali, give up my phone and I didn't care what happened to anything I owned, it felt "true" and like that was my best option. And when she was shocked, I just was like "no really, that's what I'm going to do" as if it was the most natural decision to make.  

However, a little voice inside said "it will follow." Whatever "it" was, the voice made it known that disappearing wasn't going to make "it" go away. So I dove into my own research, and…after copious podcasts I self-diagnosed with Perimenopause. Note, no Dr "diagnosed me." I was offered SSRI's (anti-depressants), mold detoxes and parasite cleanses…but no mention of Perimenopause as a 40-something year old woman. 

A podcast by Kelly Casperson gave me the lightbulb moment. She's a urologist, treating MANY a men for TRT, and started to realize a pattern in mid-life women that wasn't simply "libido" based. She talks about how she has changed women's lives with Testosterone - even though this is still NO FDA APPROVED DOSAGE for women. Yup, even though we run on Testosterone just as much as our other hormones, we don't get any dosage from the good 'ol government. 

My experience with Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) positively Changed. My. Life. I need to share, BEcause I am fairly certain this could be interesting information for at least some of you, and if not you directly, someone in your life might need to hear it. 

And no, actually - it wasn't my libido that drove me to TRT (hilariously, insurance may only cover you on TRT if it's libido related - cause you know, that benefits the male, who cares if you have zero desire to live life!). 

Most people think testosterone – the "male" sex hormone - is just beneficial for strength, energy and libido; and yes, it is good for all of those. It also contributes to motivation and drive, body composition balancing, bone health, cognition, memory, and the stabilization of mood disorders (!!!!) - what sold me on it was that Kelly Casperson talks about it as giving: "Vibrancy for life." And boy, that's exactly what it did. 

BTW, Men, if you're curious about TRT - this relates to you too! 

(Dig into this at all and you might find it as curious as I do that the medical research focuses solely on the benefits of testosterone for men. There are some tiny mentions of "women also make testosterone" but there has been very little research on how supplementation of this hormone – which we produce ourselves!! – could improve our lives if we're low!!)

This brings me to my next point, which is that testosterone is typically not prescribed to females for this reason: there is no specific research to say that it has a benefit. But let me tell you – from my own experience – this hormone has given me my life back. And now, Dr's like Kelly Casperson and women's hormone and health doctors are prescribing more and more as they see women "come back to life" when they have tested with low T. 

Cream is the most common but that didn't appeal to me as I don't want to rub it on me and…it can rub off onto your pets and I have one snuggly little gal. You can also get pellets inserted but I didn't want that either (that provides a high dose all at once and it requires a visit and someone to insert it into your behind). 

I self-administer two injections weekly in my thigh or abdomen. And it works best for me. It's relatively painless and I have to say, even if it hurt like $h*t, I'd still do it BEcause I feel so much BEtter. It took a couple of weeks to start to feel the effects, but once that shift happened, I felt my motivation return: clearing out my house, making plans, excited to start the day and get to work and do big things. I was excited to live again, to conquer some challenges, to go and do and just BE. And yes, it definitely does also have a positive affect on libido and amped that up for me too - and who doesn't enjoy that ;-) Also nothing wrong with going on TRT just for that reason if that speaks to you. My bestie went on it a month ago and called and said: "Thank you!! I'm having SO MUCH SEX AGAIN" so for her, that was a huge benefit. 

For me, what I desperately needed I got: I felt more positive and thoughtful about the future. Life started to be in color, instead of black and white. 

Now, I am of course not a doctor and am not giving medical advice. Everyone's body is different and what works for me might not work for you. But I do think it's important to empower my community and my compatriots in womanhood with information, and if this could help you, you might consider bringing this up with your doctor or hormone specialist. There is simply not enough conversation happening around this topic and if we could imagine how much more life we could all be living by simply replacing something our body is not making as well as it used to… wouldn't our world be a slightly lighter, more resilient, more positive place? You deserve to know this is an option. You deserve to not feel stuck in a dark place. You deserve to feel alive and excited about your life.

Keep taking care of you. Keep BEing curious. Keep pushing back on the status quo.

xo