- Testosterone is a SCHEDULE III drug. Scheduled drugs are controlled substances that have abuse potential. Schedule I drugs have the highest abuse potential and Schedule V drugs have the lowest abuse potential. These classifications are established by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Some providers are not comfortable with prescribing controlled substances, so that may be the barrier when your provider tells you that he or she will not prescribe testosterone for you.
- There are NO bio-identical testosterone products available for women that are manufactured by a pharmaceutical company and can be filled at your regular pharmacy. There are MANY different testosterone options available for men. The newest options for men are Xyosted (xyosted.com), a testosterone in an auto-injector and Jatenzo (jatenzo.com), the first oral testosterone cap for men.
The only manufactured testosterone for women is a capsule that contains esterified estrogens (a mix of several types of estrogen) and methyltestosterone. So, it is not JUST testosterone AND it is NOT bio-identical.
In order for women to get testosterone replacement, a provider has to prescribe a compounded testosterone and most providers are not familiar or comfortable with prescribing compounded meds.
Testosterone can be compounded into a cream to apply to your skin, to your labia or inserted vaginally. Testosterone can be put in a capsule to take by mouth but higher doses are needed because it goes through a “first pass” through the liver whereas the cream bypasses that first pass.
Testosterone helps us with spacial and analytical thinking, decision making, sense of self confidence, muscle mass and tone, bone mass and sex drive.
To read more about testosterone replacement in women and the symptoms it treats, I encourage you to read the article “Testosterone; It’s Not Just for Men Anymore” https://www.womensinternational.com/blog/portfolio-items/testosterone-for-women/
If your provider is not comfortable prescribing testosterone for you, ask your local compounding pharmacist for names of providers who ARE writing RXs for compounded HRT.
Hope this helps!
