Canadian Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Nicole Williams English says she was 'literally crawling out of bed' before starting treatment for low testosterone
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.
'I would get 10 hours of sleep and wake up feeling like I had one-and-a-half hours of sleep. I couldn't open my eyes. I was dizzy, I wasn't feeling myself,' she said. "…I was very moody. I was snapping at everybody in the morning. I wasn't depressed, but I was just kind of mad. Angry at everything. Everything was a catastrophe for me… I was having really bad anxiety.'
Williams English's husband, retired NFL player Larry English, put her in touch with a doctor based in Florida who ordered bloodwork and a full hormone panel. The results showed that she was low in testosterone, and would require daily medication to help balance her testosterone levels.
'I thought I would just go to (the pharmacy), get my iron pills, get my D3, but no. Until I did a deep dive and they really looked at my blood, I never would have known," she said. "I was literally crawling out of bed. I was really, really exhausted."
Now that Williams English has found a dosage that works for her, she has the energy to keep up with a toddler and continue to grow her career. But what is HRT and how do you know if you have low testosterone? Keep reading to learn more.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is more than just a treatment option for women in menopause. Although HRT gained popularity in the '90s as a form of treatment to help lessen menopause symptoms — which greatly impact a woman's quality of life — its uses are not limited to treating brain fog, hot flashes and other side effects from low estrogen and progesterone. HRT can also be used for women with low testosterone levels. But it's not as straightforward as it may seem.
'Testosterone is a really important hormone in women… but it is one that has been poorly studied and really only focused on niche areas like libido and sexuality,' said Dr. Michelle Jacobson, an OBGYN and co-founder of Coven Women's Health, in an interview with Yahoo Canada.
While testosterone does impact women's libido, it also impacts things like mood, energy levels and bone and muscle health, as well as menstrual cycle and fertility.
Symptoms of low testosterone in women can include:
Decreased libido
Anxiety
Depression
Fatigue
Irritability
Trouble sleeping
Thinning hair
Muscle weakness
Jacobson, who did not treat Williams English, explained that the lack of quality information and evidence makes it difficult to measure and understand lower levels of testosterone in women, since women already naturally have lower testosterone levels than men. Without sufficient research, there's a gap in understanding what testosterone levels in women mean for their functioning and how they feel.
'We're left with many years of kind of poor evidence that don't really answer the questions that we should have been asking,' Jacobson said. 'So we don't have strong evidence to direct the use of testosterone one way or another.'
Although there are currently no Health Canada approved testosterone medications for women in Canada and no federally approved testosterone drugs for women in the U.S., Jacobson said healthcare providers can repurpose and prescribe testosterone medications that are approved for men at much lower doses.
HRT for testosterone can be in the form of gels and creams, injections, implanted pellets or oral medications. Although there are benefits to using testosterone HRT for women, there can also be side effects.
Potential side effects can include:
Acne
Oily skin
Excess hair growth
Weight gain
Male pattern baldness
Although some side effects are reversible with hormone level adjustment, there are some like deepening of the voice or clitoral enlargement that are permanent.
Blood tests can help determine if your hormone levels are low, however Jacobson noted it's important for healthcare providers to consider the patients symptoms and the potential benefits of testosterone HRT.
"We really need to figure out a way to meet in the middle in order to attend to not only the patients needs but their quality of life," she said. "So much of medicine ignores quality of life and focuses on what is medically necessary or indicated or contraindicated, but that informs a big part of function and compliance and well being."
There are many reasons why women can have low testosterone levels. Testosterone levels naturally begin to drop as women age, particularly around early menopause. However, certain medications, like birth control and acne medications or medications for hair loss can also lower the body's level of free testosterone (testosterone not attached to protein).
Women who have had their ovaries surgically removed or who live with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) can also have lower levels of testosterone.
There are multiple factors that impact testosterone levels, including lifestyle factors like poor nutrition, sleep deprivation, prolonged stress, substance abuse, alcohol use and smoking.
Outside of taking hormone supplements, Jacobson said there are things women can do to help naturally raise testosterone levels.
"Things that you can do to help improve your testosterone are to build more muscle mass and eat more protein," she said. "It's sort of a positive reinforcement feedback loop, and that's just outside of taking exogenous (external) testosterone."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
an hour ago
- Fast Company
New study finds coffee is good for you, but there's a catch
Coffee drinking has been studied for decades as researchers have aimed to answer one burning question: Is it good for you? Or is it better to stick to joyless drinks like, you know, tap water and mint tea? While there have been cases for just about every argument, one recently published study in The Journal of Nutrition just added another check in the 'healthy' column. Of course, there's a catch. You have to drink your coffee in a specific way. For the study, researchers at Tufts University analyzed the coffee-drinking habits of 46,332 Americans from 1999 to 2018. They found that drinking a cup of coffee each day has some major effects in terms of lowering mortality rates. One cup of joe per day was linked to a 16% lower risk of death, not just related to cardiovascular disease, which has been well-documented, but from any cause. More coffee is better, too—but not too much more. Drinking two to three cups per day showed a 17% lower risk of mortality. More coffee than that didn't offer any additional health benefits. However, these benefits didn't apply to all coffee drinkers across the board. The benefits were most pronounced in those who drank theirs sans cream and sugar (or with a very little amount of sugar). The ones who added cream and sugar had the same rates of all-cause mortality as those who tended toward non-coffee drinks. Essentially, the more cream and sugar added, the lower the benefits. 'Coffee is among the most-consumed beverages in the world, and with nearly half of American adults reporting drinking at least one cup per day, it's important for us to know what it might mean for health,' said Fang Fang Zhang, senior author of the study and a professor at Tufts. 'The health benefits of coffee might be attributable to its bioactive compounds, but our results suggest that the addition of sugar and saturated fat may reduce the mortality benefits.' Given that there is so much research around coffee, we always have to take findings with a grain of salt (and sans sweetener), but the good news does seem to be adding up for regular coffee drinkers. A study earlier this year similarly found lower rates of premature death for morning coffee drinkers. Another published in June 2025 found that coffee drinking is linked to healthy aging, particularly in women.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Draft of Trump's Health Blueprint Avoids Industry Crackdown
(Bloomberg) -- A draft of the Trump administration's highly anticipated blueprint on health policy takes a softer approach to regulating companies than many had feared, a relief for industry and setback for environmental activists. The US-Canadian Road Safety Gap Is Getting Wider Festivals and Parades Are Canceled Amid US Immigration Anxiety A Photographer's Pipe Dream: Capturing New York's Vast Water System To Head Off Severe Storm Surges, Nova Scotia Invests in 'Living Shorelines' Five Years After Black Lives Matter, Brussels' Colonial Statues Remain The draft report, which has been reviewed by Bloomberg News, has parts that go beyond previous announcements. They are mostly about boosting research in areas such as the risks of microplastics and how antidepressants are prescribed for children. It also refers to plans to boost fertility rates and getting whole milk into public schools. The draft was dated Aug. 11, but could still see changes before it's finalized, according to people familiar with the discussions who weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. In particular, the report's tone around pesticides is far less critical than Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies have been in the past. That raised concerns earlier this week from some of his supporters in the so-called Make America Healthy Again movement, according to the people. The policy agenda is the second installment in a two-part process to carry out an executive order that President Donald Trump signed in February. The first report detailed research about what the administration viewed as the root cause of chronic disease among children, and the second was intended to lay out policies to address those root causes. The strategy was due to be submitted to the president on Aug. 12, but hasn't been publicly released. The White House declined to confirm the draft's authenticity, but industry officials said it was largely in line with what they had been briefed on by the administration. Still, the report appeared in flux before its public release, with the debate centered on the wording of the pesticide provisions. 'Until officially released by the White House and MAHA Commission, any documents purporting to be the second MAHA Report should be disregarded as speculative literature,' said White House spokesman Kush Desai. The document aligns with the administration's strategy to create change by pressuring industries, rather than through new regulations or laws. Officials have employed the strategy with food companies, health insurers and pharmaceutical producers so far. Pesticides Approach The draft takes a lighter touch on pesticides, after a backlash from the agricultural community before the first report's release prompted an internal debate over the issue. The document calls for continually evaluating the current framework to 'ensure that chemicals and other exposures do not interact together to pose a threat to the health of our children.' It references measuring the 'cumulative exposure' to chemicals. That could rankle farmers and agriculture firms, which say that pesticides are safe to use and disputes language that suggests they could be harmful to Americans. Kennedy has been skeptical of some vaccines, and the document calls for more research on vaccine injuries. The draft has vague pronouncements such as 'ensuring scientific and medical freedom' and making sure Americans have the 'best' vaccination schedule. The agency will launch a 'MAHA education campaign' to promote the early adoption of lifestyle changes that may increase fertility rates among men and women, including through new partnerships with federally funded family planning facilities, according to the draft, which didn't provide specific examples of what would be taught. Kennedy has repeatedly raised concerns over declining sperm counts and testosterone rates, especially among teenage boys, to explain declining US birth rates. Processed Foods The draft report criticizes 'highly processed foods,' listing poor diet among the top drivers of children's chronic diseases, but didn't propose any significant new restrictions on the industry. The administration has already begun the process of defining 'ultra processed foods,' which it said will be used to develop future research funding and policies. The report refers to highly processed foods more often than ultra-processed foods and doesn't distinguish between the terms. Ultra-processed foods typically involve some industrial steps or ingredients, unlike whole foods such as fruits and vegetables. Many packaged foods are generally considered ultra-processed. The report also pointed to forthcoming revised dietary guidelines, which Trump officials have estimated will be released in the fall. Kennedy has said those guidelines will encourage people to eat 'whole foods,' and will be simple and easy to understand. The draft report previews several public health awareness campaigns it plans to launch, including a 'Real Food First' push to 'prioritize whole, minimally processed foods over packaged and highly processed alternatives.' Whole Milk Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary has indicated the dietary guidelines will take a new approach toward saturated fat. The draft report included one hint of what could be coming, by specifically calling to remove the restrictions around serving whole milk in schools. Because the current dietary guidelines recommend limiting consumption of foods high in saturated fat to less than 10% of calories daily, schools serve only skim and 1% milk. The draft calls for increased oversight and enforcement of advertisements for direct-to-consumer drugs. The report suggests that social media influencers and telehealth companies – categories that have historically fallen into a regulatory gray area – should be subject to greater oversight when promoting drugs. Lawmakers have been pressuring the federal government to take action on the influx of advertisements from telehealth companies that offer copycat weight-loss medications. That includes allegations that Hims & Hers Health Inc. omitted safety information in advertising. --With assistance from Ilena Peng, Charles Gorrivan and Madison Muller. What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates Bessent on Tariffs, Deficits and Embracing Trump's Economic Plan Twitter's Ex-CEO Is Moving Past His Elon Musk Drama and Starting an AI Company How Syrian Immigrants Are Boosting Germany's Economy ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Piper Sandler Reiterates a Buy Rating on UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is one of the best stocks to invest in for beginners. Piper Sandler analyst Jessica Tassan reiterated a Buy rating on UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) on August 5, setting a price target of $280.00. A senior healthcare professional giving advice to a patient in a clinic. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) reported that its Q2 2025 revenue underwent a $12.8 billion year-over-year growth to $111.6 billion, attributed primarily to growth within Optum and UnitedHealthcare. Earnings from operations for the quarter were $5.2 billion, while adjusted net earnings were $4.08 per share. Management reported a full year 2025 revenue outlook in the $445.5 billion to $448.0 billion range, with a full year 2025 earnings outlook of at least $14.65 per share. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) provides healthcare coverage, data consultancy, and software services. It operates through the OptumRx, OptumInsight, OptumHealth, and UnitedHealthCare segments, which have solid operations. While we acknowledge the potential of UNH as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
