Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Sickntired on June 25, 2019, 06:17:15 PM
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Anyone who gets it prescribed?(uk based)
Am at wits end , now looking for legit brand name so i can buy online.
Had enough with medical community.
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I've spent many hours searching to buy it online with no joy. I have a private prescription now but want to stockpile it a bit as it's really quite precious. If the house was burning down I'd grab my kids and my hrt. Can you see a private Doctor?
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Anyone who gets it prescribed?(uk based)
Am at wits end , now looking for legit brand name so i can buy online.
Had enough with medical community.
I have Testogel sachets prescribed on the NHS. You might be able to get it online, but will probably have to pretend to be a bloke ;D. Or if you have a male partner, get him to do it. Good luck!
JP x
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Thanks all, thats a start. GP mentioned my testosterone was at the low end, did i still want to get prescribed as previously asked at local menopause clinic - all great but its the time scale of waiting. Tired of being tired , unmotivated and no muscle strenght- its multiplied jin the last month. Im marathon training but finding it harder to motivate as each run is harder and shows less improvement. GP falls down by not understanding the necessity for excersize.
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Just want to say. If you have had your ovaries removed you can argue the case for testosterone. The ovaries continue to i produceit t after menopause. It declines with age. But oopherectomised women face a sharp sudden decline and it is recommended in this situation.
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You can buy it from ukmeds online. I've used them before and it's been fine
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Hi mamachunk did you tell them you were female or just complete questions as a man?
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Yes I posed as my husband :D
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Thanks ladies! X
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Hi mamachunk did you tell them you were female or just complete questions as a man?
You have to be male. My chap got mine for me by saying his erections weren't strong and that his doctor had suggested testosterone but he didn't have time to see his doctor.
This is so interesting!! How much do you use?
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Hi TC, interested in your comment above
oopherectomised women face a sharp sudden decline and it is recommended in this situation.
I had a BSO last year & feel a difference even though I'm well postmenopause. I knew before the surgery it would mean I'd be even lower in T than I was before & strongly suspect I need to supplement, assuming we can ever get my basic HRT right & I decide to stay on it. My Meno Clinic will prescribe T for me, so I don't need to argue the case, but I'm interested to know whether you're referring to official guidelines & if so are they only for women who have ovaries removed before menopause? If you could supply a link it'd be really helpful. :)
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Hiya wren. How do I attach a link?
The NICE guidelines under menopause management state "consider testosterone supplement for menopausal women with low sexual desire if HRT alone is not effective"
I cant find any specific reference to surgical meno and T in their official guidelines but I have found info on other sites.
For example Chelsea and Westminster menopause clinic on their site "testosterone should be prescribed with HRT after a surgically induced menopause".. I've got a pdf file with all their testosterone info.
Also. BMS under "testosterone replacement in menopause". Loads of information. They mention "the loss of testosterone is profound after surgical menopause," interestingly they mention that testosterone was previously licensed for surgical meno women on Eastrogen but was stopped for "commercial reasons".
There info is well worth a read, they mention tibolone as well.
From the studies I've seen I think it's pretty indisputable that testosterone plummets at surgical meno , many say by at least half) whilst post natural meno the ovaries continue to make it for many years. After a few years post natural and surgical E levels are not remarkably different but T levels are.and indeed because of the lack of E to balance it in natural that is why some ladies get "androgenic" side effects. It's also seems to be the reason some professionals dont believe in prescribing it without E. Although I've read a report which also questions this and seeks to establish that it is safe to take alone without E supplement. I will look for that one and post all the links when I find out how.
Incidentally while I was reading up I noticed that the nice guidelines state "after medical or surgical treatment offer referral to healthcare professional with expertise in menopause". Didnt happen with me and I'm pretty sure from reading on here it's not happening as often as it should.
Crikey my brains going to explode in a minute. Any tips on how to post a link?
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Hi Tc, thanks so much for going to the trouble to post all that. It was kind of you. In answer to your question, if you copy the web address then paste it into your post on a thread, that should work.
I was interested in seeing anything official that specifically stated that women who have BSO when they are already postmenopause should be offered T. I was offered it years ago when I was already post & knew it was recommended to have a good level of E before adding T, but had not had BSO at that stage.
Wx
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Sorry Tc, forgot to say please don't worry about posting all the links to the articles you referred to - I have copied out your post to go through later & will check the various articles when I have more time, so thank you. Pretty sure I've read most of them before but what I couldn't remember was whether any of them made reference to best practice as regards T being offered to women who have BSO when they have already gone through menopause. So not those for whom BSO causes an abrupt menopause. Interested to know whether they think postmenopausal women's ovaries produce so little T that replacing it if they then go on to have BSO is not necessary. I was 6 years postmenopause when I had my BSO.
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https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/90/7/3847/2837204
Can you see this. Did it work wren?
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The one I've tried to link is probably more what you're looking for. Try to have a look at this one.
I must say reading up on BSO is pretty grim isnt it. ?
Take care xxxx
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Yaaaay, Tc - link works fine, thank you! :medal:
Just the sort of evidence I was looking for, so that's brilliant. But, still hoping to find some official guidelines for UK health practitioners saying that as significant amounts of T continue to be produced by the ovaries well postmenopause, T should be considered an important part of any HRT regime for women after BSO, regardless of their menopausal status at time of surgery.
Totally agree - it's scary reading up & what's worse is that the gynae who did my BSO seemed to think removing them would make absolutely no difference as I was already postmenopause at the time of surgery. Can I ask whether you were postmenopause before your BSO?
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No I wasnt wren. 53 but still regular and no symptoms to speak of.
My gynae said "you'll be going through it soon anyway".
I totally agree with you it needs a rethink by official guidelines. I found some interesting stuff on guidelines for surgical management of benign tumours like mine. A dermoid which doesnt go away and can cause problems. It would seem to differ greatly regarding age. With younger women ovarian conservation is understood to benefit future health due to eastrogen preservation but it would seem after 50 even if the tumour can be removed that BSO
is standard to prevent future ovarian cancer and that eastrogen production will be falling anyway but no mention or consideration is given to testosterone. The risks of OC increase with age but then so do lots of the risks associated with eastrogen deficiency and as surveys are showing post menopausal ovaries can even produce eastrogen I think the risks and benefits should be weighed for each individual regardless of age. After all if it means after removal symptoms are so severe that HRT is needed then this in itself brings risk.
I will never know if I mightve gone through a natural meno without having to use HRT. So for me its added a whole other load of problems I might not have had.
Sorry if I've gone on a bit there. I just think I see where you're coming from and it's what I've been thinking too.
May I ask why you had the BSO?
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Oh Tc - so the BSO plunged you into menopause? I'm so sorry - that's a horrible situation to be in, a dreadful shock to the system & no surprise that it's left a difficult emotional legacy. Did they give you time to weigh up the decision beforehand?
Yes, the ovaries go on producing some E & T postmenopause, so losing them is bound to have an impact even if periods have stopped some time before the surgery - as with me.
To answer your question, a cyst they'd been monitoring suddenly became vascular - a red flag sign at a time when other stuff going on with me made it seem more likely that it could be malignant. The Gynae wanted it out pdq & her obvious concern meant I agreed. There's more to it than that, but this thread's not the right place for that. Luckily, histology showed it was a benign cyst.
Please don't apologise Tc - you didn't go on at all & even if you had that's what the forum's for - we can't help each other if we don't know what's going on. :)
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Hiya wren. Well I wasnt given enough information to make an informed choice and I was scared to look things up. So I'm resentful of the gynae and I blame myself for being so stupid and not looking into it more its unusual for me too. Cysts are considered more worrying post meno and not suitable for cytology without removal of ovary but I wasnt post meno. They went on age rather than meno status
It sounds as though you had little choice regarding your cyst. If a doc shows that sort of concern then it makes sense to follow their advice. Thank goodness it was benign. But the affects of surgery weren't addressed with you either. Because they assumed it would make no difference
IIt is assumed that we wont be any worse off for losing the ovaries at an older age and when we report back to the contrary they seem to stick their fingers in their ears!!! They cant seem to accept it.
How are you today wren.?
Xxx
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Hi Tc, have just done a very long, rambling reply to your post, then realised it took the thread so far off topic (I'm very bad at that!) that I'm going to PM you with it instead - I hope that's OK.
Wx
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Wren. I've only just seen your msg. Sorry. Thank you so much I have replied. Hope you are o.k todayxxx