WASHINGTON — Menopause is having a moment. Every woman, at some point, will experience this stage in life: a drastic drop in hormones that comes with hot flashes, brain fog and sweats.
But, treatment for these symptoms are not often discussed, some say, not even in the doctor's office. Now, some women are turning to testosterone pellets to find relief from menopause symptoms.
It is a controversial approach, and it is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But, before we tell you how it works, and why women are doing it, let's go back to 2002. That's when the Women's Health Initiative stopped the hormone replacement therapy study it had been conducting for many years.
At the time, doctors were treating menopausal women with a combination of estrogen and progestin, and for many women it worked. But, the study said if you took those hormones, you were more likely to get heart disease, breast cancer or suffer a stroke.
So, that scared women and doctors, bringing hormone replacement therapy treatment to a screeching halt. Doctors stopped prescribing it, even medical schools stopped teaching it.
And, that's when Dr. Melinda Hall said she stepped in when others stepped out.
"There are plenty of OB-GYNs but very few even choose to prescribe hormones whether they are FDA approved or not. It doesn't matter. They just don't want to fool with it," said Dr. Hall.
Dr. Hall runs The Menopause Center out of Vienna, Virginia where she gives women testosterone pellets. Now I know what you might be thinking, that only men have testosterone. Well, women have it, too, but just at much lower levels. Still, Dr. Melinda Hall says during menopause all women's hormone levels drops.
"I'm a total believer in the pellets or else we wouldn't be prescribing them for patients," said Dr. Hall.
"I'm 52 years old and I have to tell you, I feel like I'm 25, really in all honesty," said Melissa Checo. She's been getting the testosterone pellets a littler over a year.
She said, "I was feeling rough, very rough, very irritable, very anxious, hot flashes, just, I wanted to run over the world! And, after my second pellet, I have to tell you that hot flashes went away, the sleeping was better, the anxiety was gone."
So, the testosterone pellets come in a little bottle. The pellet itself is tiny, like a grain of rice. A doctor injects it under the skin, right on the top part of the patient's butt. It slowly dissolves and releases testosterone into the system for the next three to four months. Dr. Melinda Hall said she does test a woman's levels before injecting the testosterone pellet, so, she knows just how much or little they need.
But, here's where critics said it can go wrong. Since the testosterone pellets aren't approved or regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, you can't really trust the hormone level written on the label of the bottle. What if a doctor gives a woman way more testosterone than she needs?
Dr. Kathryn Marko is an associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University School of Medical and Health Sciences explains the worse case scenario.
"The most common side effect we see is acne. We also can see voice deepening. We can see hair loss, almost like male pattern hair loss. We can see clitoral enlargement," Dr. Marko said.
So, the bottom line, do your research, weigh the risks and benefits of any hormone treatment to relieve your menopause symptoms.
But, you should know these testosterone pellets are not covered by insurance. The procedure, alone, costs $500.