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The Testosterone Myth Women Have Been Lied To About │ Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith
Episode 2348th September 2026 • The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show • Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
00:00:00 01:21:47

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You have probably been told that testosterone is a male hormone. Women produce more of it than estrogen, and for many of us it is the first hormone to go, sometimes reading zero five years before menopause while periods are still regular. Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith and I get into what that costs you in muscle and bone, why there are thirty-one approved testosterone products for men and none for women, and what the number on your own lab report is measuring.

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Create Her: Aging into the Healthiest Version of Yourself by Susan Hardwick-Smith MD https://www.amazon.com/Create-Her-Healthiest-Version-Yourself/dp/1637636644/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&sr=1-3

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon with Amy Pearlman Podcast

https://bit.ly/3TcVgvB

Connect with Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith

Website: drsusan.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drsusan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsusanofficial

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsusanofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drsusanofficial/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsusanhardwicksmith/

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction: testosterone in women

03:00 - Eighteen years in OB-GYN and the practice she left

04:57 - Thirty years in medicine, zero training on testosterone

06:40 - 31 FDA-approved products for men, zero for women

07:35 - Why women produce more testosterone than estrogen

09:20 - What the ovaries stop making at menopause

10:18 - Testosterone reading zero five years early

11:41 - Low testosterone symptoms in women

13:22 - Intrinsa, the 2004 patch the FDA turned down

19:04 - Off-label prescribing and what FDA approval means

21:35 - Cognition, breast cancer, muscle and bone

25:33 - Osteoarthritis and the anti-inflammatory theory

26:31 - Dosing fears: hair loss, acne, voice changes

28:16 - Why gels are dosed ten times higher

32:14 - The 2019 international consensus

34:00 - Dividing a 50 mg tube by ten

38:18 - The Baylor study: pellet versus gel at six weeks

40:13 - Safety data from fifty years of transgender care

45:03 - Eight years of high dosing and what it cost

46:16 - Lab reference ranges versus optimal ranges

48:28 - ELISA versus LC-MS, and what the study found

51:07 - Why free testosterone is calculated, not measured

57:58 - Tachyphylaxis and chasing the number

1:01:39 - Pellets, BioTE and where the reputation came from

1:06:33 - Delivery methods, cypionate and enanthate

1:11:47 - Whether anything raises testosterone naturally

1:13:03 - DHEA at 100 mg and what it moved

1:17:07 - Drugs that lower testosterone in women

1:20:55 - Closing thoughts on dosing and access

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The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions.

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