Desperate to feel better... Please help!
Hi everyone! I am 45F, and in the throes of perimenopause. I've been on oral Estradiol 2mg and oral Progesterone 100mg for about 2.5 years now. They have helped a TON with the hot flashes, extreme irritability, needing 2pm naps, and crazy depression I got the day before my period started (which had never before, nor had I ever been depressed or even experienced depressive episodes before). Over the past year, however, I am experiencing an almost non-existent libido, muscle weakness, distressing fatigue, brain fog worse than before, etc. The fatigue and zero libido are the worst for me. I have a 31M husband who I love beyond words, AND he is HOT lol, but there is simply no desire when I feel like I should be having the best sex of my life right now!
My regular OB won't prescribe testosterone. My regular PCP won't either. So I went to Midi hoping maybe THEY could do something as I know that's a service they offer. Unfortunately, there is something about prescribing TRT via telehealth services in the state that I live in that prohibits them from doing so. At my last appointment with Midi, she went over the results of my Testosterone/Shbg tests:
Shbg - 308 nmol/L
Total Testosterone - 26 NG/dl
% free testosterone (dialysis) % - 0.2
free testosterone, serum - 0.5 pg/ml
For reference, I am 5'8" and 127lbs. Thyroid is fine. I'm not diabetic. I get enough physical movement and I eat fairly healthy. The Midi Health provider ended up saying that there's not really much I can do about the Shbg, and that my free testosterone was a "little bit" low, but not low enough to be super concerning. She then told me that "desire is really more of a mental thing, so you could try Addyi, which is a newer drug so there's no generic yet, and can be pricey, but it might work for you."
Desire is mental???? I just... do not understand that. This is a very PHYSICAL issue that I'm dealing with, and while I do understand that there is a mental component to that, I do not feel like suggesting Addyi was the correct response. The most hopeful thing to come out of that five-minute visit was her letting me know that I could go to Planned Parenthood to try Testosterone to see if that would help (which is what I've been desperately trying to access for months now). So I have an appointment with them on the 20th of this month. What do you all make of this?? I know there are probably a lot of great posts in this sub, but I have a really hard time sitting still and focusing enough (thanks ADHD) to wade through them all to find them.
I appreciate anyone's experiences, suggestions, etc so much!