Hi Krista65
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Firstly here is some info about weight gain and menopause from this website:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/weightgain.phpAlso not sure where you got the idea that T would help you lose weight especially around the middle because it is relative testosterone dominance around the time of menopause which causes women to change their shape from pear to apple (ie weight around the middle).
Oestrogen decreases rapidly following the last period, especially over the next two to three years, whereas testosterone levels fall gradually - hence we become out of balance and some androgenic features can come to the fore ie weight gain around middle, hair growth in the wrong place, sometimes slightly deeper voices etc.
If T is replaced for other reasons, primarily libido, then it is very important that oestrogen is replaced too and is at healthy levels before T is added otherwise it could exacerbate these issues. T replacement can help build muscle after exercise but not if you don't exercise much I doubt and still, any extra fat will be laid down around the middle.
Most women need to exercise more and eat less in order to even stay the same weight after menopause, as you will see from the article, due to metabolic slowdown.
As for BHRT. There was a discussion about this on another thread recently. It depends what you are talking about. If you mean compounded bioidentical hormone therapy (cBHRT) this is not endorsed by the medical profession nor this website (run by a leading NHS gynaecologist) and the basis of it is flawed ie that you can tailor hormone doses to your actual levels according to the results of blood tests. Don't be misled by all the stuff on the internet about this. The idea came from US where they have different healthcare system and has to a small extent spread over here. It's a bit of a con and a marketing ploy.
Here is a statement about it by the British Menopause Society which also explains the difference between this cBHRT and regulated BHRT (rBHRT) which is what most of us take if we want to use ?natural? ie bio-identical hormones, available on NHS
https://thebms.org.uk/publications/consensus-statements/bioidentical-hrt/ Yes some of the unregulated compounded creams, lozenges and such like do include T but not all but you will pay per nasum for it!
Regarding John Studd. This is a different altogether. He is a private practitioner ( also expensive) who prescribes rBHRT ie the proper regulated stuff so if you are going to go privately and can afford it then he (his clinic: not sure if he still practices as he's getting on a bit now) does prescribe testosterone, although only along with other HRT. There are other private clinics that also provide T but cheaper and better still many NHS menopause clinics now prescribe it ( since the 2015 NICE Guildeines made provision for it for low libido, using products currently available for men but at lower doses).
I get it on NHS from my local ( but gynae specialist) GP but 5 years ago had it prexcribed privately because then that was the only way.
Good luck
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Hurdity x