Testosterone plays a major role in a woman's sex drive. But if that sex drive fizzles, replacing the hormone with a supplement isn't as simple as it sounds. Testosterone may be known as a male sex hormone, but women need it, too.
Testosterone is part of what drives female desire, fantasy, and thoughts about sex. It also plays a role in ovarian function, bone strength, and the overall well-being of women, says Kelli Burroughs, MD , an obstetrician-gynecologist at Memorial Hermann in Houston.
Yet while your testosterone level plays a key role in your sex drive , taking it in supplement form to treat low libido remains controversial. Burroughs says. A drop in testosterone levels is believed to be the reason sex drive goes down after menopause , according to the North American Menopause Society. Some doctors do prescribe it for women as an off-label use, notes Jenna M.
Turocy says. Testosterone doses provided by these formulations generally are much too high for females, so women are given a fraction usually one-tenth of the dose that men are prescribed, notes Barbara Schroeder, MD, an assistant professor and ob-gyn with UTHealth Houston.
Still, testosterone supplementation for women with low sex drive is rarely recommended in the United States, especially for premenopausal females, given the limited data on safety and efficacy, Turocy explains. One of the main issues is that testosterone has side effects. Acne and hair growth at the application site are the most common, Schroeder says.
