Posted by Green Willow on April 23, 2006, at 22:21:15
In reply to Re: transdermal testos for muscle building in women?? » Green Willow, posted by Ktemene on April 20, 2006, at 16:14:52
KTemene
Thanks for the response. Your points are excellent. I too was afraid the doctor was off with this idea but was not sure. As for prescribing back strengthening exercises or testing hormone levels, no, he has not done either, and he certainly does not know me well enough to have any idea about the high level of sensitivety my body seems to have. In the past, he has prescribed a few supplements for me which messed up some other things. I really appreciate your information because I really hadn't thought much about potential problems testosterone could cause. I asked him if he had ever done that to female patients before and he said yes. Then I got kind of concerned that he could put that stuff on a patient's back without them even realizing it. I think I will pass on this doctor in the future. Green Willow
> Hi Green Willow,
>
> A couple of years ago I read about a connection between low testosterone in women and depression, and I convinced my family doctor to test my testosterone levels. Sure enough, my testosterone levels were below normal and my SHBG was very high. My doctor suggested that the safest intervention was to take DHEA, which often metabolizes to testosterone in women. And so I have been doing that, but I found DHEA very irritating except in quite small doses (e.g. 2.5 mg per day).
> But it sounds as if your alternative pain management doctor wants to use transdermal testosterone to build muscles in order to reduce pain that is caused by poor musculature. I take it that the doctor has prescribed exercises to increase musculature in the back, and that those exercises have not been effective and so the doctor thinks that added testosterone might help build those muscles up? I am getting that right? If so, I guess the first question that occurs to me is to ask whether your doctor has measured your testosterone levels. I don't think it is a good idea to take supplemental testosterone unless you have a testosterone deficiency, since testosterone can have a lot of unwelcome side effects, especially in women. It is true that a deficiency in testosterone would make it harder to build up muscle mass. But lots of things can make it hard to build up muscle mass, and if your testosterone levels are normal then adding testosterone might not help and could very easily cause lots of problems. Also, I am a little puzzled as to why the doctor thinks that transdermal testosterone applied to the back will be especially helpful. If you are testosterone deficient, why not use a transdermal patch, or oral medication? I may be misunderstanding but the doctor's suggtion sounds a bit off to me.
>
> Ktemene
>
poster:Green Willow
thread:623527
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060313/msgs/636354.html