Testosterone gel not the solution to relationship issues, women warned as prescriptions soar

Prescriptions for testosterone gel for women have increased ten-fold since November 2015, new data shows.

The spike has prompted experts to caution that it is not “the missing piece of the jigsaw” for people’s sex lives.

Analysis of NHS data, obtained by The Pharmaceutical Journal, shows that the number of women over the age of 50 who have received a prescription for the hormone gel has increased from 429 in 2015 to 4,675 in November 2022.

The number of women under the age of 49 being prescribed testosterone gel has also increased, from 228 in 2015 to 2,913 last year.

Meanwhile, NHS prescriptions for the gel in men in both age groups has only increased by 33 per cent in the same period of time.

Testosterone gel is a supplementary medication for women undergoing the menopause who are experiencing low libido, but guidelines state that clinicians should only prescribe it if hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is not effective in relieving symptoms on its own.

Paula Briggs, chair of the British Menopause Society (BMS), told the publication that women are being given misinformation about the potential benefits of the gel.

She said: “Women are being led to believe that it’s the missing piece of the jigsaw, that it’s going to be the solution to their relationship problems, and I think we have to be much more scientific about how that information is provided for women.

“It’s coming from celebrities and politicians, and it’s not necessarily appropriate.”

The data obtained by the journal via a Freedom of Information request showed that prescriptions for the gel for women began rising more sharply after Davina McCall’s first Channel 4 documentary about the menopause aired in early 2021.

In the documentary, Sex, Myths and The Menopause, McCall explored how testosterone can help with symptoms of the menopause. The TV presenter used both HRT and testosterone gel herself.

Briggs added that women need to have proper risk assessments before they are prescribed the hormone gel.

“We don’t have the evidence to say that [testosterone] improves any of the other symptoms that women, I think, sometimes are requesting treatment for,” she said. If using the gel does not result in any “significant beneficial effects” within six months, Briggs recommended that women stop using it.

Susan Davis, an adviser to the NHS menopause group steering committee, added that while the increasing number of prescriptions shows recognition for the role testosterone plays in treating menopause, she warned that experts do not know why it is being prescribed to women under 49.

“Evidence supports testosterone for postmenopausal women with low libido and associated distress, but not for premenopausal women,” she said.

“We don’t know if the women under 49 receiving testosterone are pre- or postmenopausal – if mainly premenopausal, this is concerning as evidence to support this is lacking.”