Testosterone and Mood Swings

[Julian Jude]

Hi, I started on low dose testosterone cream about ten days ago. I had a lot of initial side effects, I was feeling revved up, anxious, quick to get angry, and very emotional. I was crying easily and getting more upset than usual in arguments with my spouse. The feelings were pretty bad and with my doctor's input I halfed my dose about rive days ago. Now I seem to feel sad and depressed most of the time, but still get angry kind of easily, but the revved up feeling has gotten better.
I am in my early forties and have a history of anxiety. I have historically had bad emotional reactions to estrogen in birth control pills. I have a lot of stress in my life, my son has mental health issues and my spouse struggles with depression. He says he will stick by me but also talks a lot about feeling polyamorous. I don't have a strong support network.
At this point I am concerned about my mental health. I am considering going off of hormones. I just don't feel like I have the stability in my life to handle the emotional side effects of hormones.
I am wondering if anyone else has had similar side effects and might have some advice.

[MacG]

I started a full dose IM testosterone injection over two months ago. I've been experiencing paranoia, quick to anger, and some anxiety stuff. I don't feel out of control, but just uncomfortable at times. I decided to get my testosterone levels checked and it turns out I'm a little over the high end and suspect my endo will lower my dose. I'm also fighting functioning ovaries. Also in my forties.
Advice: listen to you body. Like you are.

[LordKAT]

I had quite the opposite effect. I think dosage may very well have an effect since excess T can turn to estrogen. Keep working with your doctor, it sounds like they are on the right track.

[FTMax]

Sounds like you might need to alter your dose. I have had about the opposite effect. I started on a half dose of gel and recently switched to IM injections. My T levels have consistently remained on the higher side of average for adult men in my age group.

[Ayden]

Definitely get your levels checked, as you may need to adjust your dosage. I went the complete opposite direction. I was pretty terrible before T. Now I'm about as chill as a panda bear. I had high levels for about 3 months when I first started and it messed with my emotions a little, but nothing that was too serious. I was mostly tired, hungry, thirsty and generally confused for the first week or two. Of course, I was also extremely busy so I don't know how much of that was hormones and how much was my life in general.

If you are having really bad fluctuations in your moods and your mental state, definitely talk to your doctor.

[Julian Jude]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It helps me to get an idea of the range that people go through.

[Bimmer Guy]

I think that it was a good choice to half your dose.  Just ride for it a bit.  Things will settle.  Got with that dose for a bit, get your levels checked, and then go from there.  Personally, my partner kind of stayed away from me on shot days for the first couple of months (due to my unpredictable snappiness), until things settled.  You may want to try that.  My GF would just go out for the day (it was on Saturdays) after I took my shot in the morning.  It worked for us.  As an aside, I was on low dose at the time and still had those side effects.

I wouldn't assume that T isn't an option for you based on the last 10 days.  I am 45 years old, if that is helpful.

[MacG]

Just heard from my endo. She halved my dose, too.

[Julian Jude]

Halving my dose really helped. I stabilized a bit after a week. Thank you for the advice.

[Daydreamer]

I'm sure my endo is going to request blood work soon, but my moods have been on and off again with bouts of depression and anxiety.