Testosterone therapy and lung capacity

[gantsdacier]

I just wrote in a comment about this and decided I might as well make a post to see what people think.

I am transitioning, in short simple terms I was born neurologically a boy (gender) but my body including my internal organs and hormones (sex in other words) was female. So I'm taking testosterone gel and later having surgeries to make my sex match my gender.

My personal best peak flow before I started testosterone was 380. I started in November 2016, and was hospitalised with a life-threatening asthma attack in December 2016. When I got out my peak flow hovered at 310-330 for a month or so so I gave up tracking it.

Fast forward to the end of May, coming up to 7 months on testosterone, when I had an asthma review. I did spirometry tests and my PEFR came out as 435. I was like "no way, that must be the old scale", because I'd never blown even close to that before, and my lungs felt iffy anyway (cough, bit tight, stuffy in the mornings). So the nurse gave me an EU scale peak flow meter..and I got 435 again. Wow!

It's also July now, so I haven't been hospitalised in 6 whole months. Last in the past two years I was hospitalised: August 2015; December 2015; May-June 2016, and December 2016. So I was expecting to be in again a couple of months ago..and I'm still not in.

Coincidence? Or could the testosterone have helped my lungs in some way?

[Hidden]

Hi gantsdacier

Thanks for sharing your story and great to hear you haven't been hospitalised for the past 6 months. There was a recent study about testosterone and developing asthma.

We know that asthma affects more women than men, despite it being more common in boys than in girls during childhood. Although there is evidence to suggest that this might be in part due to female hormones, we don’t know why anyone develops asthma, irrespective of sex or age. The study wasn't done in humans, so more research is needed to understand whether its relevant for people so it's a while before we get a definitive answer about the effects of testosterone.

Hope that helps,

Dita

[gantsdacier in reply to Hidden]

Is the study published yet? I haven't checked pubmed for testosterone + asthma yet. Obviously I know an n=1 from me means nothing: I also started training with a third ice hockey team in December so maybe it was all to do with that, or maybe a combination of both. It's all speculation! But like you say the sex distribution of asthma changes between pre-puberty and post-puberty, which is where I got my idea from back when I first started my testosterone

[Hidden in reply to gantsdacier]

Hi gantsdacier

Here's the study: jem.rupress.org/content/214...

Not been tested on people, so think it's quite a new innovative space of research.

Take care,

Dita

[Matman]

Thanks to both of you for the Post and the Article Share. Interesting stuff.

[gantsdacier]

INTERESTING UPDATE: so a respiratory specialist at an MFT hospital told me that this actually appears to be A Thing! During studies looking at the sex divide in asthma, a few trans patients were noted to have experienced the same thing as me. It seems likely that testosterone has a positive impact on lung function, regardless of whether it comes naturally during first puberty, or is given by injection later in life. Would be interested to see whether this has any impact on people with PCOS