testosterone supplement

[dminton]

Has anyone (female) had experience with testosterone supplementation either helping or worsening their IC symptoms?

[Kathi]

I did HRT for 9 months. Progesterone is part of it. I don't know how similar testosterone & progesterone are, but the progesterone did bother me a lot. banghead Kathi

[lyse3]

I tried some progestin to boost my sex drive about two years ago, and I immediately had onset of severe i.c. symptoms, when I had been symptom free for several years, so I had a huge negative reaction to it. Keeping my estrogen level high seems to help, however. I use the patch since I had a hysterectomy 10 years ago. It is the testosterone or progesterone that caused me the severe problem. Needless to say I wish I had never tried it--at the time I thought I was over i.c. and did not realize hormones were a big factor in i.c. either. Apparently not everyone reacts like I did, but I don't remember seeing any positive things said about testosterone.

lyse3

[dminton]

This 4-month flare-up I've had may have been caused by starting a testosterone gel supplement in March. It was May when I went off the charts with pain, and am experimenting with not using the gel. I have been off for a week and am feeling much better than before. Time will tell if that was the culprit or not, but I am suspecting at this time that it was. I guess this is a good lesson; any hormonal manipulation has the power to really help or really hurt with IC!