23 Female- seriously lifting just under 2 years. symptoms include low libido severe fatigue had my testosterone levels checked and they came back at 11 ng/dl. free wasn’t tested because they said it’d be a percentage of my total and if it came back abnormal they’d test. provider doesn’t seem to be worried about thee els so right back at square one. i never assumed low test because i’ve made serious gains this year. everyone i’ve asked recommends hrt through an online clinic but i’d like to see if i can weigh my options naturally?? or if it even matters. do these levels seem worrisome and i can chuck my fatigue up to something else or should i take the plunge and do hrt?
Female hormones are trickier than men’s. At what cycle day did they test your T? What was the range the lab used for TT? At 23 you should try to avoid any HRT. Especially estrogen replacement, you don’t want that.
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the range was average being 7-80ng/dl
What cycle day? Your T is going to be lowest the first couple days and peak at ovulation.
DHEA can increase testosterone naturally in females, and estrogen in males. Also, if you’re not getting good sleep, this can cause fatigue and can affect your hormones as well.
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Before you even THINK about TRT, get 2 more panels of testing to confirm youre even low. Last thing you wanna do is goof up your hormones unnecessarily.
A lot of these online telemedicine clinics don’t dive deep enough into what’s causing your symptoms and offer HRT as a cure all, even though your medical problems may not be hormone related.
You need a doctor that’s going to dive deep into your life, and medical records to help determine what is causing your issues. Too many people start TRT/HRT to fix their problems and sometimes it works, for a little while, and then the same issue creep back in to their life.
You’re pretty lean. Are you eating low calorie? Reduced calories over time play havoc with female hormones. Has this become a thing as you’ve gotten leaner?
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Assume this started when you jacked up your training? A couple of things, take a look at your training program. Perhaps revise your volume and/or intensity for a while and see if this has an impact.
Consider rethinking your diet. Are you getting enough calories, carbs, etc. for the volume of training you put yourself through? I see a number of your type, extremely disciplined in both training and diet. If they say they eat 140g protein a day they do not mean 141. They tend to be very low carb.
Sleep? Relationship? Obvious stuff, I know. Did you have thyroid checked? Normal menstrual cycles? Contraceptives? They increase SHBG and decrease free testosterone. So, yes, that should be checked anyway, but especially if using oral contraceptives.
No one will give you estrogen, contraindicated in your situation. DHEA converts a little to testosterone, more in women than men actually, but doesn’t raise testosterone much. However, some women report DHEA has a significant impact on their libido. Maybe worth a try. Was that checked?
One last thing, nothing wrong with trying a few months of testosterone and see how you respond. I’d stay on it long enough to re-evaluate levels and make a dose change, if needed.
Good luck.
Glad to hear that. That’s what I was scared of. She would pick a random clinic and may get a full replacement pusher. Didn’t know if that was common. Correct me if I’m wrong but a small dose of testosterone to bring her up in range would be least impactful to the HPGA aside from DHEA.