Women Already Taking Estrogen Saw Unexpected Changes After Adding This
You can be doing everything you're told to do for menopause and still feel like something is missing.
Maybe you're sleeping poorly, your energy has tanked, your joints ache, or you can't quite find your usual focus. And if you're already taking estrogen, it can be frustrating to wonder what else might actually help.
Testosterone rarely enters that conversation unless low libido is involved.
But a recent study of women already taking estrogen therapy looked at what happened when they added testosterone, and researchers saw changes across a much wider range of menopause symptoms than sexual desire alone.
About the study
Menopause isn't only an estrogen story.
Testosterone also declines with age, and while it's often associated with sex drive, the hormone has other roles in the body, including supporting muscle, energy, and sexual health.
Researchers reviewed medical records from 279 women who had been taking a stable dose of estrogen therapy for at least three months.
The women then started testosterone gel or cream and completed a 24-symptom questionnaire before treatment and again about three months later.
The goal was simple: to see whether adding testosterone was associated with changes in the symptoms women were still experiencing despite estrogen therapy.
The changes went well beyond libido
After three months, 15 of the 24 symptoms had improved.
Vaginal dryness showed the largest change, improving by 59%. Hot flashes and low libido followed, both improving by about 55%.
Women also reported improvements in energy, muscle and joint pain, mood, memory and concentration, urinary and vaginal symptoms, and night sweats.
Not everything changed. Nerve-related symptoms, such as tingling and numbness, stayed about the same, as did heart and lung symptoms such as palpitations and breathlessness.
That's notable because these women were already using hormone therapy.
Before adding testosterone, fatigue and low libido were their most common complaints, followed by memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and irritability.
There's an important catch
It's tempting to look at those numbers and conclude that testosterone was responsible. The study can't quite make that claim.
Researchers looked back at existing medical records rather than randomly assigning women to testosterone or a placebo. There was also no comparison group that continued estrogen therapy alone.
That means the researchers couldn't separate testosterone's effects from other changes that may have happened over the same period.
The picture is further complicated by the fact that some women had their estrogen or progesterone doses adjusted around the time they started testosterone. Researchers also didn't track blood testosterone levels, and the symptom questionnaire wasn't a standardized menopause assessment.
There's another important piece of context.
Testosterone therapy for women is generally approved for low sexual desire associated with menopause, so using it for symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, or mood changes may be considered off-label depending on where you live.
What to do if you're curious about testosterone
If you're still struggling with perimenopause or menopause symptoms despite estrogen therapy, you don't have to figure out the testosterone question on your own.
- Talk to a menopause-trained clinician: They can look at your symptoms, medical history, current hormone therapy, and whether testosterone makes sense for you.
- Ask what's actually approved: Treatment rules vary by country, so find out what testosterone is approved to treat where you live and what would be considered off-label.
- Keep an eye on your symptoms: If you do start treatment, tracking how you feel over time can help you and your clinician decide whether it's making a meaningful difference.
The takeaway
Testosterone's full role in women's health is still being mapped out, and looking back at patient records can't prove cause and effect.
But if libido isn't your only lingering complaint, that's worth raising with a clinician trained in menopause care.
