What Testosterone Can and Can’t Do for Perimenopause Symptoms
Emerging science suggests testosterone may be an effective treatment for certain perimenopausal symptoms, although more research is needed.
Low Libido
Testosterone has shown the most promise in treating an unwanted decrease in sexual desire, a symptom that may impact as many as a third of women in perimenopause.
“Testosterone therapy has demonstrated moderate effectiveness in postmenopausal women with distressingly low sexual desire,” says Rosser.
She points to a comprehensive meta-analysis involving 8,480 participants that found testosterone significantly increased satisfactory sexual events, sexual desire, pleasure, arousal, orgasm, and responsiveness, while reducing sexual concerns and distress.
“[Low libido] is the only evidence-based indication for testosterone use in women,” says Rosser.
Hot Flashes
But some research suggests testosterone shows promise in that area. An observational study of 78 perimenopausal and menopausal women treated with testosterone pellet therapy over the course of 10 years reported that their hot flashes were significantly reduced.
Mood and Brain Fog
Rosser says that the current evidence doesn’t support testosterone use for mood and brain fog.
“Available data show no effect of testosterone therapy on depressed mood, and there is insufficient evidence to support its use to enhance cognitive performance or delay cognitive decline in postmenopausal women,” she says.
She pointed to one small pilot study which suggested improvements in mood and cognition with testosterone therapy, but it was a retrospective study without a control group and requires confirmation in randomized trials.
Fatigue
Testosterone therapy is commonly used to address fatigue in men; however, there is less evidence to support its use in perimenopausal and menopausal women.
Results from the previously mentioned pellet therapy study found that fatigue improved considerably after treatment. More studies are needed to confirm their findings.
Read the full article here
