If you’re approaching menopause, you are likely being pestered by on-line advertisements for treatments encouraging alleviation for whatever from hot flashes to brain haze. A few of these therapies have been approved by the Fda (FDA) and have strong evidence to sustain them– however one hormone-based treatment that’s getting in appeal has a lot less scientific research to back its use for menopause.
Much more doctors are composing their menopausal individuals prescriptions for testosterone treatment. A 2026 study conducted in the U.S. taped over 90, 000 off-label prescriptions for testosterone to women in 2025, generally among women ages 45 to 64 and those with medical diagnoses of menopause. This marked a 58 7 % increase from 2024
These prescriptions are “off-label” since the FDA has not yet approved testosterone as a treatment for menopause, perimenopause (the transition into menopause) or postmenopause (the time duration later).
So, does scientific proof sustain making use of testosterone to reduce menopause symptoms? Or is it ahead of time to say?
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While testosterone therapy for menopause has acquired popularity, there’s limited proof to support its usage, experts claim.
( Picture credit rating: Bloomberg using Getty Images)
No straight web link to menopause signs and symptoms
Although commonly called a” male “hormone, testosterone is additionally generated by women, albeit at reduced levels than in males, generally.
There’s an usual mistaken belief that ladies experience” androgen deficiency “– a significant decline in testosterone and relevant hormones– leading up to menopause, said Susan Davis , a teacher of endocrinology and the head of the Women’s Wellness Study Program at Monash University in Australia. This is not the case.
Rather, in women, testosterone degrees tend to decline gradually in between ages 20 and 60, and there’s a mild rebound from age 60 forward. Menopause, which typically takes place around age 51 to 52, is not connected to a significant decrease in testosterone Estrogen and progesterone rise and fall during perimenopause and after that decrease dramatically, and these adjustments plainly add to the warning signs and symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.
Placebo-controlled tests have actually not had the ability to show that testosterone treatment helps to relieve brain fog or enhance health, state of mind, bone density or muscular tissue feature in menopausal individuals, stated Davis, who has performed a number of these tests herself
” Telling women that fatigue, low mood, mind haze are signs and symptoms of androgen shortage is completely false,” she stressed.
On Sept. 17, the FDA held a public workshop to review the proof for testosterone treatment for menopause, wrapping up that more evidence is needed to fully evaluate using the hormone as a menopause therapy.
Testosterone for low sex drive?
There is some evidence to suggest that testosterone might assist to treat a problem called hypoactive sexual desire problem (HSDD) in postmenopausal women. HSDD explains when an individual has little to no sex drive and it creates them distress. Males and female of numerous ages experience it, so the condition is not one-of-a-kind to menopause. But it can often establish in perimenopausal and postmenopausal ladies.
A testimonial of 36 randomized trials entailing 8, 480 individuals discovered that testosterone treatment supplied with skin spots was associated with 0. 85 extra satisfying sex-related events each month in postmenopausal ladies, compared to a sugar pill. This observed result is not substantial, Dr. Nanette Santoro , a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Colorado College of Medication, informed Live Science in an email.
Of all the researches done to date, if there was a screaming advantage, you assume you would certainly have seen it.
Susan Davis, head of the Women’s Health and wellness Study Program at Monash College
Lately, anecdotal accounts of postmenopausal females having” wonderful sexual awakenings” after taking testosterone have actually been drifting about, Santoro stated. However these anecdotes haven’t been backed by difficult data yet.” Patients are being bombarded with a tidal wave of information giving them with one of the most overpriced assumptions imaginable,” she stated.
Notably, testosterone is not FDA authorized as a treatment for HSDD in menopause yet. A medicine called flibanserin, which affects serotonin in the brain, is accepted to treat HSDD for pre- and postmenopausal ladies under age 65
Placebo effects muddy the data
The 
placebo impact — when clients view an improvement in their health and wellness or health in spite of receiving a treatment without any active ingredient– can likewise complicate testosterone trials.
Davis stated that in her individual teams, it prevails for regarding 1 in 3 trial participants to report an enhancement of their signs and symptoms despite the fact that they are taking a sugar pill. Various other trials have reported similar findings in their sugar pill teams, with about 30 % to 40 % experiencing some improvement in libido and complete satisfaction, as an example.
“I wouldn’t claim that there is most definitely not a benefit,” Davis claimed.” It’s simply that a benefit has actually not been revealed. “
One research attempting to address this void is the U.K. National Institute for Health And Wellness and Treatment Study’s ESTEEM test This massive, gold-standard trial intends to hire numerous menopausal women and examination whether utilizing testosterone lotion can dependably boost their quality of life. The cream will certainly supply testosterone with the skin and be applied to the lower abdominal area and thighs. (Medical professionals commonly suggest females to apply the creams this way because those body parts are very easy to conceal if the therapy triggers local hair development that the clients would certainly prefer to hide.)
The trial runners will track participants’ signs linked to menopause, taking a look at rest top quality, memory efficiency, feelings of anxiety, migraine headaches, body mass, and overall health. The outcomes of that test are currently anticipated by 2028
In the meanwhile, however, there isn’t solid evidence that testosterone directly enhances symptoms of menopause beyond HSDD. “Of all the researches done to day, if there was a shouting advantage, you think you would have seen it,” Davis said.
Females ‘testosterone levels typically decline throughout their adult years, with a slight rise after age 60 However, there isn’t a sharp dip in testosterone around the time of menopause.
(Photo credit report: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE IMAGE Collection via Getty Images)
Could taking testosterone for menopause be hazardous?
Testosterone therapies available in a lot of countries are not always dosed for usage in female individuals. Just 4 nations– Australia , South Africa , New Zealand and the United Kingdom — have actually accredited a testosterone lotion that’s specifically developed and dosed for females. These products differ from testosterone therapies for men because they contain reduced doses of the hormonal agent. They are offered to postmenopausal females with HSDD, especially.
In various other nations, such as the united state, physicians are left trying to adapt drug dosed for men for their women individuals, which can cause a vast variant in application. And the effects of these different dosing routines are inadequately understood for female individuals. “It is not always dangerous to make use of male preparations for ladies, it’s simply that a lot, much less must be utilized,” Santoro said.
Extreme dosages increase issue about undesirable masculinizing results, such as clitoral enhancement, voice deepening, hair thinning, baldness, and quick development of facial and body hair, Santoro said. (These masculinizing effects might be sought after in the context of gender-affirming take care of transgender males and transmasculine people, yet would often be undesirable for cisgender ladies.)
In addition, the potential impacts of added testosterone on cardiovascular health and wellness and bust cancer risk are poorly comprehended, Santoro kept in mind. At lower dosages, testosterone can trigger light acne, oily skin, and some boost in face and body hair development in postmenopausal females, trials have actually located ; if these signs stay light, they are typically considered acceptable.
Testosterone is being utilized off-label in the united state, which means the “safety and security, efficiency and proper application for that use have not been evaluated and authorized by the FDA,” a representative for the agency told Live Scientific research in an e-mail. The dosages and formulas approved for men “may vary considerably from what could be proper for women, whose testosterone levels and metabolic accounts are medically distinctive,” the agent claimed.
Unique to Live Scientific Research Pro
Anecdotally, Santoro came across one women client who had actually obtained very high degrees of testosterone via an implant placed under the skin, which had been prescribed to her by a different physician. She started shedding her hair and seeing large development in her clitoris, while her breasts began “diminishing away.”
“Females are being prescribed some very big dosages in The United States and Canada, and no person researched the security of these,” Santoro said.
At the end of the day, Davis argues that females should have to be given exact information, considered that browsing menopause can already feel like “swimming with damp concrete.” Good menopause treatment not only involves discussing potential medicinal therapies, yet also evaluating a person’s lifestyle, such as diet plan and exercise, and talking about societal stress that frequently impact menopausal individuals. For instance, they might encounter stress to preserve an active sex life and younger-looking figure.
When it comes to hyped treatments like testosterone, she claimed, “simply be cautious concerning people that inform you they have actually obtained the response that nobody else has obtained.”
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