self introduction
Greetings. I'm a 33yo het female, non-trans, in a relationship with the coolest 'metro-sexual' het guy. We're 100% queer-friendly, vote Dem/Green, non-religious, etc. I'm here because there's really nowhere else to turn for community and info for a woman in my situation, currently...
Hormone biography:
Back in 2003 I read some article in The Stranger (Seattle's indy newspaper) by a woman touting the wonders of 'continuous birth control' dosing. This is where one takes birth control pills and skips the sugar pills in the 4th week and starts another pack immediately. By this method, one does not menstruate, nor cycle up down, nor experience PMS and, in theory, one will reduce chances of female cancers. Nature designed us to start periods at a later age than we now do, have more pregnancies, breast feed (breast is best!) and so on. A modern woman will, for a variety of reasons, have 3x more menstrual cycles than was meant to happen. Etc.
Seemed like a good plan. I was already in my late 20s and starting a family was not on the horizon so I thought this was my last window of opp to reduce my risk of female cancers by this method. A few months later I started a new relationship (see above) and of course we experienced the 'honeymoon' phase where things go swimmingly. Then things settled down, as they do, but my professional plans went in the toilet by summer of 2004. I lost my job and had to go on unemployment + go back to YET MORE college + a host of other stressful BS. It was too much for a young, hopeful relationship to have to weather.
Summer of 2004 to Summer 2005 we had very little sex and a LOT of relationship problems. Depression had set in, I had terrible pain and stinging with sex. We despaired greatly over our future. We wanted to finally get married, start a family, etc, but we were miserable together. Frankly, I was the one who was miserable and dragging him down with me. Planned Parenthood had handed out the pills but were ZERO help in addressing this issue for me. (The impression I got was that this was an 'old' person's problem not a teenage problem.) I turned to a naturopathic physician at Bastyr University who was able to turn my world around... over the course of the next year.
Turns out, birth control pills will elevate levels of "sex hormone binding globulin" or SHBG in a large percentage of women... and the levels will NOT go back down once stopping BC. At this point there is no data to predict how much time must pass before a woman's normal SHBG levels will return.
My naturopath started by switching me from Saint John's Wort to 5-HTP, a natural substance in the body that is a stop in the chain reaction converting the amino acid Tryptophan into Serotonin, the neurotransmitter that gives us a sense of well-being. Later in the day, Serotonin becomes Melotonin which gives us a good night's sleep. Look it up on Wikipedia.org
She urged me to get off the BC pills which I eventually did. Then, she started me on Pregnenolone, which is upstream from Testosterone by 2 levels. It helped some but didn't give me my mojo back. Results may vary for other people. Then we tried DHEA, downstream from Pregnenolone but upstream from T. This helped a bit. The mojo was starting to flicker a bit but not at the level I needed. A bit of good news: a few weeks after going off the BC pills, pain and stinging with sex went away.
I could kick that writer from The Stranger in the teeth. I just wonder how many women have had their sex lives and even relationships trashed by this advice. Anyway...
I'm still on 25 mg daily of DHEA to this day. Months later in Spring of 2006 we concluded that I was ready to try real testosterone. The other substances were all available at vitamin/supplement stores. The naturopath informed me that in the State of WA her hands were tied to prescribe me this stuff for another year. Some law had passed that would broaden the kinds of things naturopaths could prescribe but there was a phase-in period and my relationship could NOT wait another year. She referred me to a nurse practitioner (nurse with a PhD) who was also a naturopath that prescribed the pharmaceutical T to me.
With both naturopaths I was tested for my level of free (unbound) testosterone. My levels had sunk to levels experienced by post-menopausal women. They worried about my bone density. Imagine being only 33 and having osteoporosis set in for no reason other than having been duped into taking birth control pills! I wasn't ready for that.
We started on pills. All the pills are clearly formulated for men or FtM folks. The smallest doses were too big for me and I had to cut them with a pill cutter in 1/4 pieces. Pills are only meant to be cut so many times and mine frequently turned to crumbs and dust. My 2.5 mg doses were probably a bit smaller. I saved all the dust for the last doses in the prescription. I could feel some better mojo returning. I also got an outbreak of tiny zits on my forehead like I'd never had before. I was all prepared for secondary hair growth but it never came. We have 'good hair genes' on both sides of my family so I wasn't worried about male pattern baldness.
I went back to my new naturopath/nurse. It was clear we were going in the right direction but I needed greater control over dosing. I was switched to a type of T gel product. Currently I apply roughly 3/4 pumps to my arms or belly daily + the DHEA and other stuff. I read the info insert in the product and it's all marketed and tested for men only. There were all this cautionary almost hysterical statements about "for god's sake, keep this product away from women". I could laugh in their faces. This stuff has transformed my life in more ways than just sexually.
Before all this process, I had been on Saint John's Wort for inherited depression for about 9 years. SJW is basically good but really only knocked out depression 80-95%, depending on other factors (stress, seasonal affective disorder, etc). 5-HTP REALLY took care of business - and I began to sleep like a rock. But, testosterone took it all to "another level". I could write another book here about the transformation in my mood, attitude and even personality since getting on this stuff.
I have no zits from T anymore. My menstrual cycles are longer and my PMS nearly non existent - sometimes I don't even know my period is going to start until it just does. I never got the secondary hair growth as promised. I pluck a little here and there but it's all normal creeping hair for a woman of 33 (you should see my grandma's chin!). I'd love to get some free extra muscle and lower body fat out of this deal but so far nothing noticeable. (Damn!) I think my clit and labias are a little bigger now which my BF and I both think is wonderful. (I see pictures of big clits and big dicks on the web and I find both equally hot. It's a really interesting perspective.)
Anyway, I could go on and on about this process. I hope some of this has been interesting or useful to you all. I'm interested in learning more about enhancing my T levels. For women the few places right now are FTM sites and a >little< bit on body building sites, although the focus there is not quite right. Please feel free to reply, thanks.
Hormone biography:
Back in 2003 I read some article in The Stranger (Seattle's indy newspaper) by a woman touting the wonders of 'continuous birth control' dosing. This is where one takes birth control pills and skips the sugar pills in the 4th week and starts another pack immediately. By this method, one does not menstruate, nor cycle up down, nor experience PMS and, in theory, one will reduce chances of female cancers. Nature designed us to start periods at a later age than we now do, have more pregnancies, breast feed (breast is best!) and so on. A modern woman will, for a variety of reasons, have 3x more menstrual cycles than was meant to happen. Etc.
Seemed like a good plan. I was already in my late 20s and starting a family was not on the horizon so I thought this was my last window of opp to reduce my risk of female cancers by this method. A few months later I started a new relationship (see above) and of course we experienced the 'honeymoon' phase where things go swimmingly. Then things settled down, as they do, but my professional plans went in the toilet by summer of 2004. I lost my job and had to go on unemployment + go back to YET MORE college + a host of other stressful BS. It was too much for a young, hopeful relationship to have to weather.
Summer of 2004 to Summer 2005 we had very little sex and a LOT of relationship problems. Depression had set in, I had terrible pain and stinging with sex. We despaired greatly over our future. We wanted to finally get married, start a family, etc, but we were miserable together. Frankly, I was the one who was miserable and dragging him down with me. Planned Parenthood had handed out the pills but were ZERO help in addressing this issue for me. (The impression I got was that this was an 'old' person's problem not a teenage problem.) I turned to a naturopathic physician at Bastyr University who was able to turn my world around... over the course of the next year.
Turns out, birth control pills will elevate levels of "sex hormone binding globulin" or SHBG in a large percentage of women... and the levels will NOT go back down once stopping BC. At this point there is no data to predict how much time must pass before a woman's normal SHBG levels will return.
My naturopath started by switching me from Saint John's Wort to 5-HTP, a natural substance in the body that is a stop in the chain reaction converting the amino acid Tryptophan into Serotonin, the neurotransmitter that gives us a sense of well-being. Later in the day, Serotonin becomes Melotonin which gives us a good night's sleep. Look it up on Wikipedia.org
She urged me to get off the BC pills which I eventually did. Then, she started me on Pregnenolone, which is upstream from Testosterone by 2 levels. It helped some but didn't give me my mojo back. Results may vary for other people. Then we tried DHEA, downstream from Pregnenolone but upstream from T. This helped a bit. The mojo was starting to flicker a bit but not at the level I needed. A bit of good news: a few weeks after going off the BC pills, pain and stinging with sex went away.
I could kick that writer from The Stranger in the teeth. I just wonder how many women have had their sex lives and even relationships trashed by this advice. Anyway...
I'm still on 25 mg daily of DHEA to this day. Months later in Spring of 2006 we concluded that I was ready to try real testosterone. The other substances were all available at vitamin/supplement stores. The naturopath informed me that in the State of WA her hands were tied to prescribe me this stuff for another year. Some law had passed that would broaden the kinds of things naturopaths could prescribe but there was a phase-in period and my relationship could NOT wait another year. She referred me to a nurse practitioner (nurse with a PhD) who was also a naturopath that prescribed the pharmaceutical T to me.
With both naturopaths I was tested for my level of free (unbound) testosterone. My levels had sunk to levels experienced by post-menopausal women. They worried about my bone density. Imagine being only 33 and having osteoporosis set in for no reason other than having been duped into taking birth control pills! I wasn't ready for that.
We started on pills. All the pills are clearly formulated for men or FtM folks. The smallest doses were too big for me and I had to cut them with a pill cutter in 1/4 pieces. Pills are only meant to be cut so many times and mine frequently turned to crumbs and dust. My 2.5 mg doses were probably a bit smaller. I saved all the dust for the last doses in the prescription. I could feel some better mojo returning. I also got an outbreak of tiny zits on my forehead like I'd never had before. I was all prepared for secondary hair growth but it never came. We have 'good hair genes' on both sides of my family so I wasn't worried about male pattern baldness.
I went back to my new naturopath/nurse. It was clear we were going in the right direction but I needed greater control over dosing. I was switched to a type of T gel product. Currently I apply roughly 3/4 pumps to my arms or belly daily + the DHEA and other stuff. I read the info insert in the product and it's all marketed and tested for men only. There were all this cautionary almost hysterical statements about "for god's sake, keep this product away from women". I could laugh in their faces. This stuff has transformed my life in more ways than just sexually.
Before all this process, I had been on Saint John's Wort for inherited depression for about 9 years. SJW is basically good but really only knocked out depression 80-95%, depending on other factors (stress, seasonal affective disorder, etc). 5-HTP REALLY took care of business - and I began to sleep like a rock. But, testosterone took it all to "another level". I could write another book here about the transformation in my mood, attitude and even personality since getting on this stuff.
I have no zits from T anymore. My menstrual cycles are longer and my PMS nearly non existent - sometimes I don't even know my period is going to start until it just does. I never got the secondary hair growth as promised. I pluck a little here and there but it's all normal creeping hair for a woman of 33 (you should see my grandma's chin!). I'd love to get some free extra muscle and lower body fat out of this deal but so far nothing noticeable. (Damn!) I think my clit and labias are a little bigger now which my BF and I both think is wonderful. (I see pictures of big clits and big dicks on the web and I find both equally hot. It's a really interesting perspective.)
Anyway, I could go on and on about this process. I hope some of this has been interesting or useful to you all. I'm interested in learning more about enhancing my T levels. For women the few places right now are FTM sites and a >little< bit on body building sites, although the focus there is not quite right. Please feel free to reply, thanks.