The purpose of the study is to determine whether adding a low dose of testosterone to current
antidepressant therapy improves depression and fatigue in women who remain depressed despite
necessary adequate doses of anti-depressants. Testosterone will be given over an 8-week
period.
Testosterone is a hormone that occurs naturally in the body. In women it comes from the
ovaries and adrenal glands and is found in amounts that are ten to twenty times lower than in
men.
In early research studies, testosterone has been shown to have some antidepressant effects in
the following groups of subjects:
- Women with anorexia nervosa
- Women who have low testosterone levels because their pituitary glands do not work
- Men with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)-resistant depression.
However, testosterone administration in women with SSRI or Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake
inhibitor (SNRI) -resistant depression has not been studied.