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[flaxhigh]

Hi there
Can anyone help me work out dosing? I'm currently on a private prescription for 1% Androfeme but in the bid to save money GP has agreed to prescribe Tostran.

Problem is Tostran is 2% strength. I half my Androfeme dose (I measured what my daily dose was in the accompanying syringe and halved it, it comes out to the amount of a large pea  - put on my outer thigh once a day).

Does this mean I then measure out a full dose of Tostran, then quarter it - and that's my dose?

I know Hurdity has published a handy guide to dosing but I'm still confused!

Any help would be really, really helpful - thank you!

[Emzib0b]

Hi flaxhigh,

Could you just clarify - you said you halve your Androfeme dose, does this mean you have been using 0.25ml in the provided syringe?

The standard dose of Androfeme is 0.5ml, which contains 5mg of testosterone. One pump of Tostran 2% contains 10mg of testosterone. From what I’ve read on the forum at the standard dose people use either one pump every other day or one pump three times per week.

So you are correct that a quarter pump of Tostran would have the same amount of testosterone as 0.25ml of Androfeme (2.5mg), however that sounds very difficult to divide the gel up accurately! If you are on such a small dose of T using one pump every four days would likely give you too big a dose of testosterone in one go.

I don’t use Tostran myself (I use Androfeme) so hopefully one of the ladies with more knowledge and experience of the other testosterone preparations will be able to help.

[flaxhigh]

Hi

Yes, that's right, I do just use 0.25ml in the syringe - or to be fair probably a bit more. Just not the full 0.5ml.

I think you're right, it's going to be really tricky getting the right amount from a pump - particularly as gel is more liquid. At least with the androfeme being a cream you can easily squeeze out a small pea size.

I wonder if I should just stick with the Androfeme but it's annoying because to get it I have to pay the Menopause clinic about £350 for an annual appointment just to get my prescription. GP can't seem to issue a private prescription for it. The actual Androfeme isn't that costly for me as I don't use much.

[sheila99]

Testogel might be easier to use this way, it comes in a sachet which is 8 days supply (or 16 for you).

[Hurdity]

I would recommend Testim to anyone using the male T products. It comes in little tubes with a screwtop and is the lowest concentration at 1 % gel and therefore much easier to adjust the dose and less dependent on accuracy than the more concentrated Tostran or the Testogel (which is half way between the two in terms of concentration). This means you can use (squeeze out) a pea-sized blob daily without needing to measure at all nor transfer to a syringe. So Testim comes in 5 g tubes with 50 mg and at 5 mg per day the tube will last 10 days though in effect I use less than that. Lasts much longer than 10 days.

I've never worried about exact doses - only in a very broad sense because some women are prescribed totally the wrong amount and it is important to understand the amounts of T that are dispensed so that for example we are not being given 10 x the correct dose!

It is outrageous that the cost of Androfeme is so high and that there doesn't yet seem to be a license for it to be provided on NHS for women - since it is the only T product available currently (possibly T implants are still available? Not sure?).

Hurdity x

[flaxhigh]

Thank you - do you get your Testim on the NHS? As my GP says he can only give me Tostran.

[WishIdknownsooner]

Following this as I also use a half dose of androfemme. The gp has taken over my care and has prescribed testosterone 1%, but I haven’t collected the script yet, so don’t know what product I’ll be given…

[laszla]

It is outrageous that the cost of Androfeme is so high and that there doesn't yet seem to be a license for it to be provided on NHS for women - since it is the only T product available currently (possibly T implants are still available? Not sure?).

Hurdity x

You can get T implants on the NHS, I've recently had one, though it probably isn't sufficiently well-known that they're available

[Hurdity]

It is outrageous that the cost of Androfeme is so high and that there doesn't yet seem to be a license for it to be provided on NHS for women - since it is the only T product available currently (possibly T implants are still available? Not sure?).

Hurdity x

You can get T implants on the NHS, I've recently had one, though it probably isn't sufficiently well-known that they're available

Thanks laszla - I wasn't sure. I wonder why they are not more widely available? Was the medical indication originally for women who have had oophorectomy and if so is this the case for you (sorry can't remember your story)?

Hurdity x

[Hurdity]

Thank you - do you get your Testim on the NHS? As my GP says he can only give me Tostran.

Yes on NHS. Your doc is wrong there. None of these T products are licensed for women so he can take his pickof the licesned products, if he is prepared to prescribe it. He should be aware and you should point out that in the absence of a T product at a suitable strength for women, it might be better especially initially to use something at the lowest strength there is as this gives more leeway in getting the dose right and minimises the likelihood of overdosing or peaks and troughs associated with eg twice weekly dosing. This is my personal opinion.

Apart from the first couple of prescriptions in 2015 when I went privately to get T before the NICE Guidelines at least made it possible to be prescribed off licence on NHS, I have always had it on NHS. For many years I had Testogel 1 % sachets. Testim was also produced at 1 % but then discontinued. Meanwhile Testogel 1% was discontinued and produced in higher strength as a pump pack and sachets, and Testim was produced again.

Hurdity x

[sheila99]

I thought Tostran was out of stock atm? Do you know that you get it now?

[Evie606]

I thought Tostran was out of stock atm? Do you know that you get it now?

I haven’t seen it become available in Scotland but hope it is back in stock as I’m on Testavan at the moment and a pump gives you a whopping 23mg testosterone so trying to give an even dose every second day is a pain. At least with Tostran, you just do half a pump. 

[laszla]

It is outrageous that the cost of Androfeme is so high and that there doesn't yet seem to be a license for it to be provided on NHS for women - since it is the only T product available currently (possibly T implants are still available? Not sure?).

Hurdity x

You can get T implants on the NHS, I've recently had one, though it probably isn't sufficiently well-known that they're available

Thanks laszla - I wasn't sure. I wonder why they are not more widely available? Was the medical indication originally for women who have had oophorectomy and if so is this the case for you (sorry can't remember your story)?

Hurdity x

It wasn't the case for me Hurdity and I'm not sure what the original indication was, perhaps it was the one you suggest. In my case they advised it because I absorbed the gel very badly.

I also didn't find it necessary to pretend that I wanted it for libido as the doctors at Chelsea & W I've dealt with have no problem recognising that T affects other factors as well

[Hurdity]

Good old Chelsea and Westminster! They seem to be pioneers in the field - with Panay in charge?

Hurdity x

[laszla]

Good old Chelsea and Westminster! They seem to be pioneers in the field - with Panay in charge?

Hurdity x

spot on, Panay headed up this department and although he recently retired from it, his 'model' (in turn inherited from Studd) seems to still be in place