Doc prescribed wife oral test as part of BHRT?

[January]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but my doc prescribed my wife some sort of oral testosterone for bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.

It's supposed to be shipped from a pharmacy, so I'll post details when I get them (exact name of med, dose, etc.), but I hadn't heard of this and wondered if anyone here had experiences with things of this sort.

I trust the doc, I suppose--but I just was unfamiliar with this.

They were original going to do test pellets that would last for a few months, but because there is still the off chance she might get pregnant, they went the oral route. I'm assuming this works because it's such a low dose that it doesn't mess with the liver?

But mostly posting here to hear if anyone else has taken this and what the results were--if there were any bad sides or things of that sort.

[bdad]

Curious how it goes keep us informed.

[January]

So the meds arrived from the pharmacy. It is pills in a bottle, Testosterone USP, 20mg a day. The dosage seems a bit high to me, but we'll have to see how it goes. I'm going to have her take 750mg TUDCA daily and 1000mg Milk Thistle just in case it is rough on her liver. The doctor is doing labs and stuff, so hopefully they are smart enough to keep an eye on all that. They also have her on T3/T4 combo and progesterone (I suppose to balance out the testosterone).

I will keep people updated for posterity's sake. Feel free to chime in with wisdom. I've actually never taken any anabolics myself, though I've been powerlifting for over a decade. I signed up her because I was curious about such things, but I don't actually have any experience with it, so I've been doing a ton of reading and I'm quite open to being educated.

[January]

3 days in and nothing too noticeable from wife except for better energy. It should be interesting though, as my wife has pretty good strength already. She was hitting 225x3 on squats in the gym the day she started, so we'll be able to tell if it makes a difference. Will report back with any substantial updates.

She's also on 150mg of progesterone, which I would guess woud cancel out some of the androgenic/anabolic effects of the testosterone.

[Ranger15]

20 mg of test daily would be alot and to much if it was they injectable version. But as far as oral version goes I really have no idea i do know that obviously she won't be getting full dose being an oral and as said they do labs and adjust as needed. I have seen woman that have had full hysterectomy prescribed estro test orals pills to keep hormone levels normal.

[January]

Yeah, no real tangible results yet as we can tell. Absolutely zero sides. Strength and energy have been good, but not hugely different, so 20mg must not be much for oral dose.

[bdad]

Any update on your wifes results?

[January]

6 weeks check up was today.

Nothing much to report to the doc: she didn't have any noticeable change in workout results, even working out 5-6 times a week on average very intensely on a rigorous diet. No side effects either, if anything a drop in libido. To be honest, she was a bit discouraged, as she does work really hard with diet and exercise, and has been doing it for years so she knows what she's doing--her body just isn't reacting the same any more, and the pills didn't seem to help.

So they ran some bloodwork, but it seems from their conversation that they will probably switch her to injectable test that she can administer at home once or twice a day. I'll report more once I know for sure.

I assuming the way they get around prescribing this sort of stuff is that it's called bio-identical hormone therapy--i.e., the idea is that they are just replacing a hormone that already exists. But I'm honestly surprised they don't prescribe something more like Anavar that would seem to more directly target her needs. Actually, I'm surprised they are willing to prescribe the injectable test as well. I thought they'd be a little more resistant to that route, but hopefully it all works out for her.

I'll report more once I know dosages, etc. Assuming it will still probably be a very low dose, especially with something as androgenic as test.

[bdad]

I've read of women experiencing great results from 10-20 mg of prop every 4 days. The 4 days was stated to insure no build up of test in the system, also the prop ester was utalized for the same reason people like tren a, easy to clear the sytem if problems arise.

[January]

Test results showed that her levels were up, but still low, so the oral test has been working.

So they actually decided just to up thyroid meds to twice a day, and then upthe oral test from 20 to 40mg a day. Wife feels better already after the first day, so hopefully this will work for her. Will report back once I have more info/results.

[MasterBlaster805]

Test results showed that her levels were up, but still low, so the oral test has been working.

So they actually decided just to up thyroid meds to twice a day, and then upthe oral test from 20 to 40mg a day. Wife feels better already after the first day, so hopefully this will work for her. Will report back once I have more info/results.

I've always been suspicious about the "Bio-Identical" Hormone replacements and a quick search yielded this..

"Replacement therapies that should not be used include over-the-counter testosterone boosters and bioidentical therapies – neither of which are regulated."Some of the advertisements about bioidenticals would lead you to believe that they are more natural, and therefore, safer," says Dr. Deibert. "But that's just simply not the case."
Bioidenticals are termed "natural" because they are derived from plant or animal sources and not created in a lab. However, most of these products still undergo significant processing in a lab to reach the final form, explains Dr. Deibert. Synthetic replacements, on the other hand, are made of chemicals and compounds in a lab that mimic the same structure and chemical composition of hormones produced by the body.
The extracting process involved with bioidenticals can lead to a 20 percent or more variability in the actual testosterone potency. Bioidentical therapies also claim they can customize your dosage based on your unique needs using a saliva test. However, the hormone levels in your saliva don't reflect the levels in your blood.
"Because of this variability and the fact that there's no data showing that they're safer, I would not recommend bioidentical products," says Dr. Deibert. "I typically see eight to 10 patients a week with low testosterone and the majority of these will have very good symptomatic improvement when treated appropriately with synthetic testosterone replacement therapy."
Here is another good read on the subject Bioidentical hormones: Help or hype? - Harvard Health (https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/bioidentical-hormones-help-or-hype)