Testosterone - a Major Motivator?

[meri]

Just recently saw a program on the History Channel titled "The History of Sex". In it, they cite testosterone as the primary hormone which causes the sex drive in both men and women. I did know that women make testosterone too, just a lot less of it then men.

An interesting corollary, I read a detailed case of a crossdresser who started CDing in his 50's. He got into deeper and deeper, and began feminizing himself much to his wife's disdain. Eventually, he announced he wanted to live as a woman and seriously wondered if he was TS.

The reason I cite this case is because it's similar to the experience many of us here are having.

He did go fulltime and announced to the world that he would be living as a woman (this also included his workplace).

He said he was constantly plagued with thoughts of becoming a woman and the means to do so. The couple's sex life basically fell apart. It's amazing his wife stuck around, but much to her credit she did.

The guy was not happy and eventually got an orchiectomy to halt the production of testosterone in his body.

Over the course of weeks, this procedure dramatically decreased his sex drive as expected. He says it also cleared up his mind and he found he was thinking about CDing a lot less. In fact, he started dressing like a guy and gave up dressing altogether.

You might think that it would have the opposite effect and with the removal of the predominant male hormone, testosterone, would increase his desire to be more feminine and perhaps even result in a permanent transition to becoming a woman.

So, I am perplexed by this outcome and I wonder if any here have had this experience? It may be a solution for some of us if we find we are too absorbed in CDing and "pink fog" in general.

[Karren H]

Oh yeah!! Because of my pitutary gland tumor. When untreated my T levels plumet and my urge to crossdress fades away..

[cordgrass]

I know nutritional means of increasing and decreasing free testosterone. Wrote a book on it. Let me know if people want to know.

I think it probably has to do with both free testosterone and dopamine, but that's just a theory.

[Marissa Mae]

Don't men have regular testosterone fluctuations? If the urge to dress is tied to to the levels of testosterone, that could explain the episodes of "pink fog". An inverse relationship: the more "man hormone" present, the more we want to dress as women. As we age, we have lower amounts on a regular basis; maybe that explains why older men practice it more?


Just some speculation.

[Nicole Anne]

Girls please stop now!!! We are going to find a cure for us... NO NO Please No LOL

[Lorileah]

by removing the primary source of testosterone ( there are other glands who make a small amount) he also removed the major source of progesterone and estrogen, basically removing all sexual hormones. The pathway is cortisol to progesterone to estrogen to testosterone. The cortisol levels will remain because it is primarily made in the adrenal glands but the gonads are the major players in making sexual hormones.

The pituitary gland is the "master" gland which measures hormone levels and releases hormones that either stimulate or suppress other hormone levels. An over active pituitary gland will signal that there is more than enough of the other hormones and basically via a negative feed back loop decrease the production of several hormones.

By taking estrogens you can in effect shut down the feedback loop for natural hormone production. It is common for these estrogens to get into the conversion process to actually be made into testosterone and increase T levels, because the feedback reads that you have hormone circulating and the bodies reaction is to convert those to achieve the balance it desires. This of course will increase secondary sexual characteristics like beard growth and decrease characteristic associated with female like cycling. As the ovaries in women age, there is less estrogen and the amount of testosterone comparatively increases (actual amounts may not be higher it is just that the balance between E and T changes). This is less common in men but if you look at elderly body physiology you see that sexual characteristics start to blur.

If orchiectomy would prevent the desire to cross dress, it would be used more but it only decreases the natural hormones and the need to supplement to maintain body functions is required. This is why when a person here says they are willing to take holistic medicines hoping to affect a desired result of femininity, it often fails or has the opposite effect.

In animals we see cryptorchid who are very sexual but sterile and eventually they start producing estrogens because of the incorrect body temperature of the testes.

[Barbara Dugan]

Just on my personal experience,I think I never had normal testosterone levels on my life.. I am going to tell a little secret about myself I was totally Asexual till my mid-thirties...I always felt different on many ways .I am thinking that when my levels started to drop to more lower levles and I discover crossdressing I kind of found a part of myself that I never noticed before..I myself feel an urge to dress more and adopt a female role on a sexual relationship when my testosterone levels are low...right now I've been on testosterone therapy for a few months but I think is not working well
my last lab test came down even lower than before I started the HRT.. I kind of feel the same rundown feeling and depression bouts along with a very low libido ..I am going to wait for my next lab work because I got a feeling of going nowhere...but even with that the desire to dress is always there

[docrobbysherry]

About 12 years ago, they put me on terazosin and finesteride for my prostate. To lower my T count, I expect!

That was about the same time I became interested in CDing. For the FIRST time in my life!
Coincidence? I have no idea!

[SuzanneBender]

In animals we see cryptorchid who are very sexual but sterile and eventually they start producing estrogens because of the incorrect body temperature of the testes.

Don't leave us hanging dear. Do they need to be hotter or cooler? I need to know if I need to run out and by an ice pack or heat lamp!

[JustAlex]

This is confusing. Some seem to think that high tetosterone could be the cause of CDing while others think that it's low tetosterone levels.

I like the first theory. If I get caught, I can claim that my tetosterone levels are beyond ubber macho limits and that made me turn around and start again from the bottom of the femininity pit. I don't know if someone is going to buy that but I'm going to stick to it in case I get into an accident wearing my lace panties.

I don't know if I would take a cure for my CDing but I can tell you right now that, if the price is my sex drive, I'm going down to the grave in pink lace!!

[Lorileah]

Don't leave us hanging dear. Do they need to be hotter or cooler? I need to know if I need to run out and by an ice pack or heat lamp!

Heat lamp or those hand warmers Why do you think panties work so well? ( I think 25% of my posts mention panties...gotta stop that)

I can claim that my tetosterone levels are beyond ubber macho limits and that made me turn around and start again from the bottom of the femininity pit.

uh... I think I am reading that wrong but I'll let the GG's take aim

[nike_angel]

this theory makes sense to me. i usually CD because i feel lonely and sexually frustrated. i'm a straight male that is obsessed with women's clothing but has never been in a real relationship. CDing is a way for me to get that sexual frustration out. as soon as i 'pleasure' myself, i immediately take off the clothes and feel ashamed about my actions.

so i can understand why testosterone could be the culprit for my sexual fetish, because CDing is just that, a fetish (for me anyways).

ultimately, i think what would bring me true happiness is to have a girlfriend that wears the clothes that i obsess so much over. hopefully, some day, i can have her!

[Melinda G]

This is confusing. Some seem to think that high tetosterone could be the cause of CDing while others think that it's low tetosterone levels.

I don't think high testerone causes CDing. High testerone would increase your level of activity in whatever sexual activitiy you are involved in. Likewise, low testerone would decrease your level of activity in whatever you were involved in.

[ikatrina]

In my experience when I'm involved in activities that would promote natural testosterone production (weight training regularly, increased but not excessive protein intake, less or no alcohol consumption, eating a better diet) I find that my dressing decreases significantly.

Some catalyst (not sure what that was) approx. 18 months ago made me want to dress more, which in turn made me want to stop my weight training (to fit into smaller/tighter/cuter outfits) and my dressing has increased substantially month after month.

For me it's very clear....more testosterone production = less dressing.

[Autumndawn]

I had the pink fog envelop me almost 30 some years ago. Becoming more femme then for me was something out of frustration more than anything else. The desires and the "fog" kept getting stronger it seemed with each year. Later I found out, that my T levels are like "off the chart". I wondered when I found that out, if it didn't have something to do with all the others, the estrogen and progesterone.
And now this tid bit of information drops out onto my lap... LOL I do know one thing. It's time for this gal to drop some weight! Spring and summer will be here before I know it!

[Jocelyn Quivers]

I know this is kind of off topic, but while watching the Jean Claude Van Dam flick (Cyborg) the other night, I felt my Testoserone levels flying off the charts. So much that I changed back to male mode.

[NathalieX66]

Geez.
All I ever wanted to do was dress and look pretty.