Ok, this is long but here goes. Low testosterone causes all sorts of things rangeing from lack of energy, loss of muscle mass, loss of bone density, and loss of the ability to get hard. The worst of these is the loss of bone density. It is natural for men of a certain age to have lowered testosterone, but it can also indicate health problems: Diabetes, high blood pressure, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, heart trouble, and other things your endocrinologist could fill you in on. So, without other supplements, like shots of T or E, you can have problems with brittle bones. You don't want that (just think of the boneless chicken ranch for inspiration ).

I was shot up with T in my teens, and for me it was cross sex hormone, and I had very negative reactions (mentally) to it as it wrecked my mental image of my self with a "male" puberty and threw me into a deep depression with suicidal ideation, and my grades went from As and Bs to Cs and Ds in short order. If you have never had estrogen, but have dealt with T during a male puberty, you could handle it better than I could have at that age. There were lots of complicated things going on at the time.

I have known F2Ms who changed markedly with the shots, lowering voice, beards, male pattern baldness, and increased muscle mass, and it is often thought of as a growth hormone, though used as an adult it mainly helps develop muscle mass with excercise and can improve sexual function, if it is a problem. You need to see an endocrinologist who might be able to help you monitor the testosterone levels through bloodwork until you get stabilized. Be frank with them, as they have heard it all before, and they will work with you to keep you healthy and meet your other objectives. Usually a woman is more understanding. They will likely check for diabetes and other risks factors as well. That is a good thing.

I am on estrogen prepatory to surgery (RLT), and my testosterone (usually female normal without supplementary estrogen) got too low, so now I use a T cream 4 times a week. It has made a difference in my energy, and to some degree in sexual interest. The amount is low, and the effects are mild, much more than the whopping big shots I got in my teens to "correct" my birth defect. I was worried about using the cream due to my earlier experience, but with the low amount and positive results, it's not so bad. I now have female normal levels, which with the estrogen I can tolerate.

CaroL