Sep 1, 2026 · 1h 13m
Testosterone enters the menopause conversation
Testosterone Is Not a Male Hormone: Levels, Dosing, and What It Does During Menopause
The episode examines what women’s testosterone may do, where evidence remains thin, and how dosing and monitoring shape treatment risk.
- 1Women produce testosterone through ovarian, adrenal, and peripheral pathways, with receptors throughout the body.
- 2Symptoms and individual response matter more than a universal target, but sustained supraphysiologic levels raise safety concerns.
- 3Qualified care requires accurate testing, gradual dosing, follow-up monitoring, and evaluation for thyroid, mood, metabolic, and other mimics.
Don't miss
Khera’s practical warning is that testosterone safety depends on dose, achieved levels, and monitoring—not simply on whether treatment uses pellets, injections, gels, or creams.
The brief
Mohit Khera and Mary Claire Haver open by challenging testosterone’s reputation as exclusively male, then connect menopause symptoms to a broader conversation about sexual health and identity.
The discussion argues that women’s sexual concerns have often been treated as psychological while men’s are treated as physical, despite widespread low desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain problems.
Khera explains ovarian, adrenal, and peripheral testosterone production, while noting that limited funding and female-level testing have left major questions about mood, cognition, muscle, and energy unresolved.
Testing is complicated by assay limitations, timing, free versus total testosterone, and SHBG changes from oral estrogen or contraceptives; a single number cannot define every woman’s treatment need.
The clearest safety message concerns dose: acne, oily skin, and facial hair can signal excess, while cardiac risks and other harms make gradual escalation and monitoring essential.
The episode closes by widening the frame to resistance training, protein, vaginal and sexual-health treatments, couples, and finding clinicians who monitor rather than promise anti-aging results.
Featuring
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