For anyone interested in the hormonal treatment of low desire I highly recommend the book, “The Secret Female Hormone: How testosterone Can Change Your Life”, By Kathy Maupin. At the Center we have been treating low desire with hormones for nearly 15 years. We have seen how effective it can be to replace testosterone, when women complain of low desire, because hormones are naturally lost due to the aging process. Unfortunately these treatments are not widely known and in many circles are not seen as important. The sad part about this is women are suffering unnecessarily. Of course testosterone is just one piece of the puzzle. We can increase a woman’s desire but she may no longer desire her husband or there may be relationship issues that are causing or impacting her low desire.
The book clearly defines testosterone treatment. She first defines TDS or Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome. We do not use this terminology but I think it can be helpful for people to understand what low testosterone is and how it may be impacting them. She then explains all aspects of the syndrome and what the long term effects are. For most women, testosterone builds in their teen years, plateaus in their 30’s and then declines and can disappear by 40. Often, women find that when their testosterone decreases their sex drive decreases too. We see women of all ages who struggle with low desire and often it is due to this hormonal imbalance. Sometimes it is due to age, sometimes it is due to oral contraceptives and sometimes the etiology is unknown. Most often these women are told it’s all in their heads, which is both inaccurate and unfair.
This is the first book I have read which explores and explains exactly why testosterone is effective in rebuilding women’s desire, why it decreases over time and why there are no FDA approved treatments for women. I think it should be a must read for women who feel a decline in their desire so they can understand what is happening to their bodies and why.