Testosterone patches for women
Testosterone patches can restore sexual drive in some women going through surgical menopause.
Due to the reduced levels of testosterone after menopause, there take place a lot of physical changes in women. These changes are often seen as resulting in loss of libido, decreased sexual activity, diminished feelings of physical well-being and fatigue. Testosterone therapy is an option for the restoration of sexual drive. Testosterone patches can significantly boost the libido for some women with sub par sex drives after surgery to remove their ovaries, who report an average of one additional sexual encounter a week after starting to use the hormone.
To assess the effectiveness of testosterone patches, American researchers analysed the results of a six-month trial of testosterone patches in 132 women reporting a lack of sexual desire resulting in personal distress or relationship problems. All these women had got their ovaries removed. This resulted in low production of sex hormones, including testosterone.
The results showed that a mixed response of women to testosterone patches. While some women reported no benefit, others found them useful. Fifty-two percent of the 64 women who were on the patches said they experienced a meaningful benefit, compared to 31 percent of the 68 women on placebo. The women who reported a meaningful benefits said they were engaging in 4.4 more episodes of satisfying sexual activity every four weeks, compared with 0.5 episodes more per month for women who reported no benefit. However, women who reported no benefit from the patches also showed no significant change in desire or distress, still seldom feeling desire and often feeling distress.
Although, the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved any type of testosterone therapy for females, it's estimated that as many as one in U.S. testosterone prescriptions in US are written "off-label" for women.
