At long last I finally got some help with getting my hormone levels back up. I’ve been taking estradiol and progesterone for a couple of weeks and feel better than I have in over a decade. I just got my testosterone cream scrip today, the concentration is 2 mg/ml, and the daily dose is 0.5 ml/daily (1 mg testosterone). I can’t find much online about doses, does that seem low to y’all?
My testosterone measured <3, free testosterone 0.3 pg/mL. I have a very physical job and used to love lifting weights, I’m very anxious to get some strength and energy back!
How do you know how much you are taking? My doctor prescribed it but just told me to use a pea size amount everyday. Mine says Testosterone Gel 1% and under that: 50mg testosterone per 5 gram tube and I probably use one tube for 5ish days?
It’s not a bad thing to start with 1mg/day - 7mg/week is within the range of normal starting doses. I started at 2mg/day of the transdermal gel and it worked well and I’m now at 2.5mg/day, but it’s been 2 years of creeping upwards.
Ok yes thanks for the information. Today was my 2nd dose, and I had a burst of energy that make me feel spinny and ungrounded for a little while so I can see the wisdom in starting off so low. I’ve been feeling like hammered dog poop for over a decade now, so long I forgot what it felt like to have any energy so I guess my body and mind both need some time to adjust!
Hormones are such an adjustment when we first introduce them because they interact with so many other hormones and other biochemical pathways in intricate ways, it’s always a toss-up if we’ll feel instantly better or worse or have weird transition issues! I had some oily skin and acne for a few weeks while my body was working out the testosterone transition, then that all disappeared completely despite staying on that same dose. Other women on the sub never had that transition at all. If you do feel weird, as long as it doesn’t feel like anything truly dangerous, I’d stick with it 6 weeks or so before making any adjustments up or down in dose.
From what I understand 1 mg is low but some women on the old Reddit sub were on that dose. Some were higher. Like 5 mg? I can’t remember. I’m on 2 mg but started at 0.5/day because I’m super sensitive to hormones.