Female Libido :blood test/ hormone lev done & posted ~ lengthyRead,Sorry

[lovbyts]

well cr@p news im afraid.
Just found out that TRICARE( military insurance) doesn’t cover anything we (or the average person )are used to being covered ~except for prescriptions, and even that has a bigger co-pay, oh and deductible, oh and cost share of 1,000.00.
Thanks TRICARE for explaining to me that “it is not medical insurance, it is medical benefit” which basically means they only cover med emergency diagnostic codes or mental health IF you are already diagnosed with something before you are 18. (they wont cover the evealuation session, cuz that would be just silly )

How lovely that my internal med Dr tested my hormones and the benefit I get from TRICARE is ($o.oo) nothing, yes please take our money/cover nothing/and send us the bills. Thank you Mr. President for taking suck great care of our members in service and their families.

...the Dr visit was 250.00 not including the testing bills I am sure to get soon ~ I guess military member spouse general health and wellbeing is no emergancy in eyes of our government.

Tigershark will not be please to hear this once he wakes up,m esp when I tell him they dont even cover glasses.

I cancled the next visit, and will have to call the med billing dept Thursday and Dr to see how we can bill the next visit to be covered or get Dr conversation via email on future steps...*sigh* why must it be so d@mn difficult.

Hopefully we can have it submitted under an approved diagnostic code (doubtful) or maybe switch back to Cigna insurance...so we can move forward here...

i will keep the thread posted

To bad more people dont realize how the military coverages, mission critical supplies and support has gone even worse the last few years.

Sorry to hear about the financial situation Sexy4mySweetheart. Check into some of the social services to see if there is any benefits there, probably not.

Hopefully something good will come from it and you can get what you really need and it helps.

On the subject of female hormone panels..... I got my wife to ask her doctor (via email) for blood work for this. UNFORTUNATELY due to the email I sent my wife telling her what she needs to look for she asked for a female ANTI-AGING hormone panel. Of course the doctor said we dont do that. I emailed them back saying she meant just a female hormone panel. Anti aging is a BAD word to PCP...

Now the problem is they want to know WHY? What should she tell them?

[SexySweetheart]

To bad more people dont realize how the military coverages, mission critical supplies and support has gone even worse the last few years.

Sorry to hear about the financial situation Sexy4mySweetheart. Check into some of the social services to see if there is any benefits there, probably not.

Hopefully something good will come from it and you can get what you really need and it helps.

On the subject of female hormone panels..... I got my wife to ask her doctor (via email) for blood work for this. UNFORTUNATELY due to the email I sent my wife telling her what she needs to look for she asked for a female ANTI-AGING hormone panel. Of course the doctor said we dont do that. I emailed them back saying she meant just a female hormone panel. Anti aging is a BAD word to PCP...

Now the problem is they want to know WHY? What should she tell them?

eeeck.. well all i know is that my Dr put in the diagnostic code for "sexual disfunction" (awesome Im disfunctional lol) so while it was not covered they at least did mine... maybe you could tell them you had the wording confussed but the reseason why is cuz she has lost her intrest in sex...? that way she could play it off as being to emabrrased to ask/ talk about it, but she figured it was due to aging so thats why she said anti-aging...?
stupid the shizzel we have to do just to know what the heck is up with our own body...i mean realy why should we have to say anything other than "hay i wanna full blood work up cuz its my body and i wannaknow what its doing today" shhessh

oh and if she does say she has no sex drive , have her look up the signs so she can say the right stuff when the Dr asks her..like drynees, painfull intercourse, cant even get herself off and has no desire to even want to, effecting the relationship, mood swings, not sleeping great yadda yadda


best of luck to you guys!!!

[lovbyts]

eeeck.. well all i know is that my Dr put in the diagnostic code for "sexual disfunction" (awesome Im disfunctional lol) so while it was not covered they at least did mine... maybe you could tell them you had the wording confussed but the reseason why is cuz she has lost her intrest in sex...? that way she could play it off as being to emabrrased to ask/ talk about it, but she figured it was due to aging so thats why she said anti-aging...?
stupid the shizzel we have to do just to know what the heck is up with our own body...i mean realy why should we have to say anything other than "hay i wanna full blood work up cuz its my body and i wannaknow what its doing today" shhessh

oh and if she does say she has no sex drive , have her look up the signs so she can say the right stuff when the Dr asks her..like drynees, painfull intercourse, cant even get herself off and has no desire to even want to, effecting the relationship, mood swings, not sleeping great yadda yadda


best of luck to you guys!!!

No it's not really for anti aging, she is only 32, Asian, slim/trim and looks younger (17 if I dress her right. lol)
Defiantly hasn't lost interest in sex, just learning it's fun... Female Asian/Filipino doctor so cant use the embarrassed card.
Basically we just want to check to see if things are where they should be before they aren't or they are to far out of whack. Only thing I can really point to (she would not agree) are some major mood swings above the normal PMS levels. Painful intercourse? I have never heard of that being one of the problems. Is that due to not enough natural lubricants? No problem with the lubricants but she does complain about pain sometimes but she claims it's due to size... No I'm not Mr. John holmes by any means, only average...+ maybe. But by now size shouldnt be an issue and no, she is not under 5'. Ill try to get her to go with that and maybe the sleeping?

[SexySweetheart]

No it's not really for anti aging, she is only 32, Asian, slim/trim and looks younger (17 if I dress her right. lol)
Defiantly hasn't lost interest in sex, just learning it's fun... Female Asian/Filipino doctor so cant use the embarrassed card.
Basically we just want to check to see if things are where they should be before they aren't or they are to far out of whack. Only thing I can really point to (she would not agree) are some major mood swings above the normal PMS levels. Painful intercourse? I have never heard of that being one of the problems. Is that due to not enough natural lubricants? No problem with the lubricants but she does complain about pain sometimes but she claims it's due to size... No I'm not Mr. John holmes by any means, only average...+ maybe. But by now size shouldnt be an issue and no, she is not under 5'. Ill try to get her to go with that and maybe the sleeping?

lol i was just saying that maybe in order to get the test covered she would have to FIB about the libedo dropping ect . lol *just trying some creative thing*

...and sure she could say she was embarrased, even if she isnt lol

and hay im only 4years older than her sooooo not like its unpossible for her hormons to start getting whackey, every chix is different after all

[lovbyts]

lol i was just saying that maybe in order to get the test covered she would have to FIB about the libedo dropping ect . lol *just trying some creative thing*

...and sure she could say she was embarrased, even if she isnt lol

and hay im only 4years older than her sooooo not like its unpossible for her hormons to start getting whackey, every chix is different after all

Yeah I realize what you meant, she is just not very good at fibbing about things like that I think and we need to be careful about what goes in the file for future reference.

It would be nice to get things checked out to see if there is anything out of whack so maybe it could help smooth things out so they are not so stressful at times especially when they shouldn't be. I know girls are a LOT more complicated/hormonal than guys are or at least emotional on the outside. Hopefully she will be open to it but??? She is like most women (yourself excluded of course since you seem to have an open mind) and men who dont like to admit there is anything wrong no matter how many people tell them there is. I'm sure you know a few.

[SexySweetheart]

all TRUE

good luck at the next appointment and let us know how it all pans out for her <3

[PPC]

ppc is this 40.00 average per scrip about the average price that you know of? just woundering if it would be worth it for me to look out of state for pricing once this pharm sets me up with scrips..?

30-40 per script is average for local compounders. You can do much better by sending your scripts to larger pharmacies that do this nationally. I have no idea if I'm allowed to mention the names of such pharmacies. One that I know well costs $20 per script per 30 day supply.

[SexySweetheart]

30-40 per script is average for local compounders. You can do much better by sending your scripts to larger pharmacies that do this nationally. I have no idea if I'm allowed to mention the names of such pharmacies. One that I know well costs $20 per script per 30 day supply.

im not sure if we canPUBLICLY announce certain web sites (Im thing not)...

[lovbyts]

im not sure if we canPUBLICLY announce certain web sites (Im thing not)...

Since it's a legit pharmacy/compounded I think it should be fine. It's not a source for someone buy black market. Compounding companies dont sell online without prescriptions. You can also PM her of course or ask Admin/vets first.

[PPC]

I sent a PM to sexy but since these companies are legit the info may help someone else. LEF (LIfe Extension) pharmacy is very inexpensive. They will compound T scripts and progesterone. They cannot do bi-est due to some government law (they are not happy about the law). Womens International Pharmacy will do bi-est for less than $20 per month. Mods can delete this if I have made an error in sharing this.

[ktmsmith'swife]

I have enjoyed reading your thread and know how frustrating the journey can be. My husband and I had a hard time just finding a good BHRT physician who was willing to work with us to reach our goals but finally have that and are on our way with excellent results so far. About 7 months in. We use a local compounding pharmacy The Medicine Shoppe and my scripts are about $50 a month total and include a 30 day supply of oral Progesterone 250 mg, 30mg of Armour Thyro and 20mg/ml of compounded Testosterone cream. The T cream is the most expensive item but the results from just these 3 scripts in regards to substantially increased libido, general feeling of well beaing, clear mind and excellent sleep is SOOOO worth the $.

If anyone in Ohio needs a recommendation for an excellent, compassionate, detail oriented BHRT physcian....please PM me, I will be happy to share.

Hope you have great success with your compounder-give the meds about 6 weeks and you should be amazed at the new you-tweeks are necessary but wow, the results are certainly life enhancing.

[SexySweetheart]

awesome got it Thank You PPC!

ok so I have been serious irritable lately and a b!tch actualy, my moods are def not doing well lately...poor Tiger gets the brunt of it and I feel just horrid after

had my appointment with the compounding pharmasist yesterday... she says my test is average for an average person but I seem to have been on the very high end previously and that is why my personal libido has changed so drasticly, my test level is certainly not avaerage for my personal avaerage level.
she says that my est is too low and my pro is certainy effecting my monthly cycle and it effects mood regulation (that explained alot)

soooo she left a v/m for the Dr stating I need script for test/est/pro...but Dr is on vacatin for 2 weeks so I have to wait

she said the test will be raised slowly over time till my libedo is as close to what im used to, than we will level out/ the est will be used as needed and eventualy i may no longer need it cuz sometimes the body just needs a kick start /and the pro is 2 weeks on 2 weeks off also eventualy may not need cuz the body may just need a kick start

[SexySweetheart]

GREAT NEWS !!!!!
I just got a call from the pharmacy saying my scripts are ready to be picked up!!! OMG whata surprize!
...and I asked her what scrips and the cost ~ pro / test / est adding to $45.00 ! lol yay the insurance paid ! I only have copays


so this weekend I will pick them up and post the directions and start it next week....soooo happy happy!

[SexySweetheart]

I have enjoyed reading your thread and know how frustrating the journey can be. My husband and I had a hard time just finding a good BHRT physician who was willing to work with us to reach our goals but finally have that and are on our way with excellent results so far. About 7 months in. We use a local compounding pharmacy The Medicine Shoppe and my scripts are about $50 a month total and include a 30 day supply of oral Progesterone 250 mg, 30mg of Armour Thyro and 20mg/ml of compounded Testosterone cream. The T cream is the most expensive item but the results from just these 3 scripts in regards to substantially increased libido, general feeling of well beaing, clear mind and excellent sleep is SOOOO worth the $.

If anyone in Ohio needs a recommendation for an excellent, compassionate, detail oriented BHRT physcian....please PM me, I will be happy to share.

Hope you have great success with your compounder-give the meds about 6 weeks and you should be amazed at the new you-tweeks are necessary but wow, the results are certainly life enhancing.

lol sorry I just noticed your post Ktsmiths wife...thank you so much for your feedback

...oh Im in New Hampshire so I would also like to offer anyone to PM me if they are seeking a compounding pharm here

glad to see you found what works best for you and that your very happy with it and boy-oh-boy I am soo looking foreward to feeling "normal" again...not that Im expecting a miracle drug or anything but from what I hear the difference is worthit

[Vettester]

Glad to hear you are heading on the right track. Look forward to your updates.

[jasc]

Great news S4!!
best of luck on your journey to better health.. we'll continue to follow (the gf and I) and we'll be looking forward to your updates.

[PPC]

Yay!

[SexySweetheart]

here is what i picked up today :

TESTOSTERONE 1mg " apply 0.2ml to external labia daily for 14 days than to wrist for 5 days a week and to extrenal labia 2 days a week"
PROGESTERONE 25mg " rub onto inner thigh 0.1ml days 14-28 of each month"
ESTRIOL 3MG " insert 1 gram vaginaly at bed time for 14 days than twice a week, there after as needed"

a nurse gave me a consult: saying that I can apply the test to my extrnal vag if I dont feel like putting it on my wrist, and these are just starter does that will gardualy increase over time, not to expect any noticable changes untill a month or 2 , start them on the 1st of August to make tracking easy...

[PPC]

Interesting. You are off to a great start.

I see no estradiol. The estriol will work well toward restoring a healthy and youthful vagina, it won't raise your E levels but you may not need that. I'm hopeful for a good turnaround for you. The proactive attitude toward sexuality will also go a long way,combined with hormone therapy, I know you are also working on that.

I agree with the nurse. Don't seek for felt changes too soon. I didn't feel too much until a month had passed after I started T.

[BengalWoman]

This is great news! Congratulations on your new protocol. Q. Is the progesterone scheduled around your cycle? I look forward to seeing how your progress.

[lovbyts]

Sounds great, be sure to keep us updated on how you feel. Just knowing you dont feel right and should not be so moody is 1/2 the battle.

[Skyrinegt]

Didn't read all the replies but if nothing else works maybe a shot of pt 141 or triptorellin

[lovbyts]

Didn't read all the replies but if nothing else works maybe a shot of pt 141 or triptorellin

You should take time to read it. The libido issue is only one of the symptoms, not the main problem. It's more getting the hormones leveled out so everything is feeling normal and libido is just part of what you can feel as a self check.

I still say they need to reinstate Valium as a daily vitamin supplement for women.

[qkcam]

i get a compounded T gel at a place in las vegas..over the phone w/script.. 2months supply $55 they ship it.. and if i only take half then it lasts 4 months.. also i didnt see any Free T3 and Free T4 thyroids did i ? in my adhd? there is women i did a phone consult with that apprantely studied with Suzanne summers drs.. she believes saliva testing for hormones on day 19 to 21 of cycle to be most effective.. maybe something to think about asking your wonder women dr?

in the book "from fatigued to fantastic" they say they have found treating folks that are on the "low end" at a certain % in regards to hormones has been beneifical. also does that your dr do any saliva tests for cortisol (adrenal)? i know all this stuff is so expensive... and complex.. you are doing good work taking care of yourself and being proactive!

[SexySweetheart]

i get a compounded T gel at a place in las vegas..over the phone w/script.. 2months supply $55 they ship it.. and if i only take half then it lasts 4 months.. also i didnt see any Free T3 and Free T4 thyroids did i ? in my adhd? there is women i did a phone consult with that apprantely studied with Suzanne summers drs.. she believes saliva testing for hormones on day 19 to 21 of cycle to be most effective.. maybe something to think about asking your wonder women dr?

in the book "from fatigued to fantastic" they say they have found treating folks that are on the "low end" at a certain % in regards to hormones has been beneifical. also does that your dr do any saliva tests for cortisol (adrenal)? i know all this stuff is so expensive... and complex.. you are doing good work taking care of yourself and being proactive!

yes as much as the DR has helped me, she is far from thorough when i look at my records online it wont even list what my scripts are for ... i showed tigershark and its weird like they dont want to aknowledge anything with hrt..? I taked with my x husbands current gf who is much older and on hrt for a decade and she plus her friends also struggle with any Dr anyplace in driving distance being thouro or what they deame as knowledgeable :/ and no they dont do saliva tests and i cant get anyone to do more blood work on the subjest BUT its a start lol (thyroids are fine)

so i will start as of tomorrow and take it from there... thankfully I am starting all this BEFORE im full on menapuase or completly nutty from hormones being off (only partiacly nutty currently lol)

thanks for the info on the saliva tests!

[qkcam]

i can send you the name of the box i have . .i think it is `150 and also the contact # for this women i found online.. but you may be able to do one without the other.. i just try to peace out hte most important peace /price at the time..

good luck... to us! we are pioneers... what area do you life in?

[SexySweetheart]

THAT WOULD be great!!

souther NH area

[qkcam]

the women that ordered the test name is Barbara Hoppe @ healthy concepts 408-778-1021
she will do a telephone consult
the lab is labrix clinical services in or
i haven't done the test yet.. i do know she(barbara) trained with she said suzanne summers drs.
hope this helps

[SexySweetheart]

yay thanks lady!


ok so i have been on these for only a few days BUT i have already noticed a difference in vag lube (Im wet alot..like I wore a pad today lol) so thats different ...

[PPC]

yay thanks lady!


ok so i have been on these for only a few days BUT i have already noticed a difference in vag lube (Im wet alot..like I wore a pad today lol) so thats different ...

A good and healthy sign.

[BengalWoman]

yay thanks lady!


ok so i have been on these for only a few days BUT i have already noticed a difference in vag lube (Im wet alot..like I wore a pad today lol) so thats different ...

That's great!! I am having a few problems in this area, which I think might be due to my doc giving me estradiol instead of estriol. There's always something going on with this stuff. I will follow your progress on this. You have come along way in just a short time!

[PPC]

That's great!! I am having a few problems in this area, which I think might be due to my doc giving me estradiol instead of estriol. There's always something going on with this stuff. I will follow your progress on this. You have come along way in just a short time!

Estriol, above estradiol promotes a lubricated vagina. Estradiol is also extremely important of course if you are lacking it. A combination of the two is desirable. You could ask your doc for estriol suppositories specifically for the vagina. Many BHRT docs prescribe the use of these suppositories twice a week for vaginal health and integrity. Estriol can also be bought over the counter in mild doses so if you Doc is not interested you could take the matter into your own hands.

Testosterone also contributes to a plumper/wetter vagina. I know you use T already. Did you notice that when you were injecting more than 4mg per week, you had better results regarding this particular issue. However I understand there may be other unwanted side effects in doses greater than 4 mg per week. Do you know your levels at that dose?

I know, it seems many of us have to constantly tweak. And that occurs because as we age our own hormones do not stay the same. Sometimes they fall more and we have to sense it and make up the difference with greater exogenous hormones.

[BengalWoman]

PPC - My levels are around 60. Recently - no good results on the wetness issue as I've backed off things as I got to get back w Doc as things are off. I'm gonna talk to him about Estriol.

Female hormones are crazy!

Sexy - sorry for interrupting your thread. I'll keep an eye out for your updates.

[SexySweetheart]

.... no no plz don’t apologize

this is why I put it all out here...I was hoping that more gals would be able to relate, and advice each other, spring board from what I’m going through, as well as the advice others are giving....INTERRUPT AWAY lol

*just an update, a few days ago i stopped my ESTRIOL 3MG, cuz after the first 2 weeks it is "as needed" and currently it’s no longer needed (maybe I just needed a quick reboot lol) so vag lube is on point, and still a tad bit too wet depending on what I’m doing for an activity (blush, biking is something I now where pads or tampons for)

started my period the other day , and it is a great healthy flow still (strange, but having spotty periods that are erratic are not as cool as one would think) I feel just an overall calmness/less anxious about my periods/health/possible pregnancy ~ this is a refreshing change

unsure if tigershark has noticed any diff, but I feel less high strung/irritable/angry/moody, starting to feel like myself almost ...weird trying to put it into words~ but it’s like stress just slowly lifted off of my temples and i no longer have the urge to disembowel people solely for breathing in my presents, lol

[Vettester]

Glad to hear it!!! It sounds like your program is making progress ... That's good news!!

[SexySweetheart]

thank you so much Vettster and eveyone else!!

Im affraid to think of how yuk my days would have continued on...if I had never found this site, learned the basics from yall, felt educated enough to continue to advocate for my self, and wave off all the Dr's stating the many other reasons they felt I had libido issues/emotional issues etc when I could tell deep down in me~ that something was different and just ..off. I would have given up all together from utter defeat if I had not been assured from this site that Hormones are a serious possible culprit.

its only been 2 weeks and I see/feel changes (small changes, but they have big results)= just finaly knowing for sure that YES, there was something going on in my body I could not control, and YES we now know what it is, and YES we can correct things~ hope is a woundrful feeling, esp after it was lost for awhile

I am truely looking forward to my next increase and the changes I hope that will come with it as well!
...

[qkcam]

progress ! great so what are you taking an how much? glad you are feeling yourself rather then a consistant state of hormonal stress.. a nice even balance is good when we can find it!

[PPC]

This is an awesome report. Love hearing about the positive changes.

[jasc]

Great news S4! and I think I've already said this before, but let me say it again, Thank You. Logs like these, especially this one, have helped my gf to open up more about her imbalances and open her mind to treatment and testing that she was previously closed-minded about. She knew something was wrong but was embarrassed to talk about it because in her mind this was only happening to her n noone else. She was not aware that this was somewhat common since most people do not talk openly about these things. After having her follow this and a little persuasion she finally made an appt and got a fairly extensive blood test done. Her dr. says it's all normal (in range) but I see a few red flags and am going to post the results on here shortly in hopes that some of our knowledgeable members can give a little insight.

Glad to hear things are looking up for you and hopefully they continue to get even better! cheers!

[JohnnyVegas]

As an update:

My wife has been on hormone cream for months now. Test and progesterone. Her libido has increased and her parts are working correctly for the first time in her life: self-lubricating and more pleasurable sex. She just had her levels checked and her testosterone is still low so they are adjusting her scrip - we will see what happens.

The hormones have not only made life for enjoyable, but she doesn't feel "broken" any more. It has been a godsend.

Sorry if that was overshare. I am not used to sharing details like that.