Her Health Lab

Your libido, energy, or strength may have changed with age, and now testosterone has been in the headlines before anyone explained what the FDA has actually decided for women. So, what is being considered?

On September 17, the FDA held a public workshop on testosterone use for women and opened a 60-day comment period. The agenda covered sexual function, mood, cognition, muscle and bone, lab interpretation, dosing, and long-term heart and breast safety. There is still no FDA-approved testosterone product for women in the United States, but we are making progress.

If you are curious how testosterone may help, ask which symptoms you are having that it may treat, which product and formulation options could be used, whether it is an approved product used off-label or a trusted compounded preparation, and how the clinician will monitor symptoms and make adjustments, if necessary.

Source: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/womens-health-events/fda-public-meeting-testosterone-use-menopausal-women-09172026

You may have recently scrolled past a social-media post saying birth control hormones will damage your health or future fertility, and suddenly the prescription in your hand feels riskier than it did five minutes ago. That reaction makes sense; the claim still needs checking.

In a national KFF survey published September 16, **53%** of women ages 18–49 said they had encountered the false claim that contraceptive hormones harm health; **43%** had encountered the false claim that they limit future fertility. Seeing a claim does not prove someone believes it, but online information can shape real decisions.

Before stopping or switching contraception, save the exact claim and ask your clinician what applies to your method, health history, and pregnancy plans. You deserve the benefits, risks, and alternatives in the same conversation.

Source: https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/womens-experiences-accessing-health-information-online-trusted-sources-and-contraceptive-information/

Welcome Lisa to the Her Health Lab team! 🖤🖤🖤

Lisa is our new Patient Care Coordinator. She will be your first point of contact making your experience with HHL absolutely perfect!

We’re excited for her to start in a few weeks!

Nothing feels (or looks) as good as fresh lippies 🖤

Your sleep and cycle changed, the brain fog got worse, and you brought all three to your appointment. Nobody connected them to perimenopause.

That gap is bigger than just that. On the September 8th episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver and Melinda French Gates explain that fewer than 1 in 3 OB-GYN training programs teach menopause care, while only about 1 in 4 women with disruptive symptoms gets treated. Gates also discusses the $215 million women’s-health investment she announced in June.

Before your next appointment, put changes in your cycle, sleep, mood, and energy on one page. Then ask directly: Could this be perimenopause, and what are my options?

Podcast Link: https://thepauselife.com/blogs/the-unpaused-podcast/melinda-french-gates-is-fighting-to-close-the-menopause-funding-ga

Finally updated guidelines!!

Words spoken by Dr. James Simon yesterday during the FDA public meeting on testosterone for women.

My patients hear from me all the time that lab reference ranges are a patient population average and NOT the guideline for normal range or optimal range.

Say it louder! This is why we feel like crap but told our labs are “normal”.