Specialist assessment for women experiencing persistent problems with sexual desire, sexual wellbeing or related menopausal symptoms
Losing interest in sex, or feeling disconnected from your own desire, is one of the menopause symptoms women talk about least, and get the least specific help for. If HRT has helped everything else but not this, you’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone.
Our Testosterone & Sexual Health Clinic looks specifically at this, considering the hormonal, medical and psychological factors that affect sexual desire and wellbeing at menopause, and offering evidence-based treatment, including testosterone therapy, where it’s genuinely appropriate.
This is a genuine, common, medically recognised symptom, not something to just accept or feel embarrassed about.
We start by making sure your HRT, if you’re on it, is properly optimised, and by considering other contributing factors — vaginal dryness, relationship context, mood, general wellbeing — since these are often part of the picture too. Testosterone therapy is considered specifically for persistent low sexual desire that hasn’t improved despite this, using a baseline blood test, a low, physiological dose, and follow-up review at around six months to check it’s actually helping. It’s worth knowing that testosterone is licensed for men in the UK, not women, so treatment for women is prescribed outside its licensed use — a well-established and evidence-supported approach, but one we’ll always explain clearly.
Testosterone therapy doesn’t work for everyone, and higher, non-physiological doses carry real risks, so we use careful, low doses and stop if it isn’t helping, rather than pushing on regardless. We’d rather be honest with you about realistic expectations than overpromise a straightforward fix.
At the low, physiological doses we use, testosterone therapy has a good safety record for the licensed indication of low sexual desire, though it’s used outside its UK product licence in women, which we’re always upfront about. Higher doses carry real risks, which is exactly why careful dosing and monitoring matter.
Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) specifically means a persistent, distressing drop in sexual desire — it’s this, rather than every dip in interest, that testosterone therapy is evidenced for.
Not for everyone — this is why we check baseline levels, use a low dose, and review at around six months to see if it’s genuinely helping before continuing.
At appropriate doses, side effects are uncommon, but higher or poorly monitored doses can cause irreversible changes such as voice deepening or excess hair growth, which is exactly why monitoring matters, and why we start low.
Usually, yes — testosterone is considered after HRT has been optimised, since oestrogen levels affect how testosterone works, and addressing everything together gives the clearest picture.
Book your Testosterone & Sexual Health consultation and talk about a symptom too many women are told to just live with
