TRT 'you are not alone' videos: what the science says about low T

What did @dylanjfit actually say?

Dylan described years of low libido she attributes to eight years on hormonal birth control, alcohol use, poor nutrition, chronic stress, and low confidence. She says stopping birth control, taking maca and horny goat weed daily, exercising, eating without restriction, and investing in self-care helped her "reverse" the problem. Her closing line deserves credit upfront: "if you feel your libido is linked to something else, dig deeper." That's actually good advice.

The video is personal testimony, not a medical protocol. She's not telling anyone to do exactly what she did. But 426,000 views means a lot of people are taking mental notes, so the claims are worth examining carefully.

Does the science back this up?

Mostly yes on the lifestyle piece. Partially on birth control. Weakly on the supplements. The evidence is not all pointing in the same direction here.

Hormonal contraceptives, particularly combined oral contraceptives, have a documented association with reduced sexual desire in a subset of users. A 2010 study by Panzer et al. in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that combined oral contraceptives raise sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), which can lower free testosterone even after discontinuation. That "post-pill" SHBG elevation is real and can persist, which explains why Dylan says her libido is "slowly" returning two years later, not snapping back immediately.

The lifestyle factors she mentions, chronic stress, poor sleep, alcohol overuse, and inadequate caloric intake, are all independently associated with suppressed hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis activity in women. That's not controversial. Brinton et al. (2015, Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology) documented how chronic stress hormones directly suppress reproductive hormone signaling.

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) has some trial data. A 2008 randomized controlled trial by Dording et al. in CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics found maca at 3g/day improved sexual dysfunction in SSRI-treated women. Evidence outside that context is much thinner. Horny goat weed (epimedium) has mostly preclinical or very small human data. A 2010 review by Dell'Agli et al. in the Journal of Natural Products documented its icariin component inhibiting PDE5, similar to sildenafil's mechanism, but in vitro studies are a long way from "take one every morning and your libido returns."

What did they get wrong (or right)?

She got the lifestyle framework right. Stress, alcohol, undereating, and low confidence genuinely suppress sexual desire in women. The research supports that. She also correctly frames the confidence and identity piece as part of the picture, not just a hormone problem. That's a more nuanced take than most TikTok health content offers.

Where she overstates is the supplements. Saying she "started to take maca and horny goat weed, one of each every single morning" and framing it alongside the real behavioral changes implies they played a comparable role. The evidence doesn't support that equivalency. Maca has limited but real trial data in specific populations. Horny goat weed in humans is largely unproven for libido. Neither has been tested together systematically. Calling them contributors without that caveat is misleading to viewers who may skip the lifestyle work and just order supplements.

She also doesn't mention that low libido in women can signal thyroid dysfunction, depression, relationship factors, or androgen insufficiency that requires clinical evaluation. Framing it primarily as a birth control and lifestyle problem misses women whose low desire has a different root cause entirely.

What should you actually know?

Female sexual dysfunction is underdiagnosed and undertreated, and Dylan is right that nobody talks about it enough. But the clinical picture is more layered than this video captures.

If you've been on combined oral contraceptives and notice persistent low libido after stopping, your SHBG levels are worth checking. Some clinicians also assess free testosterone, which can remain suppressed. This is not a standard workup you'll automatically get, you may need to ask for it specifically.

Lifestyle changes Dylan describes, consistent exercise, adequate caloric intake, stress reduction, cutting alcohol, are first-line interventions with actual evidence behind them. They are not soft suggestions. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recognizes lifestyle factors as clinically relevant in hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).

On the supplement front, if you want to try maca, the trial doses were typically 1.5 to 3 grams daily, not a vague "one" of something unspecified. Formulations and doses in supplements vary widely. Horny goat weed has no reliable human dosing evidence at all for this purpose. Neither supplement replaces a clinical conversation about what's actually driving the problem.

• If low libido persists despite lifestyle changes, ask your provider to check SHBG, free testosterone, TSH, and screen for depression.
• Hormonal contraceptives affect women differently. The association with reduced libido is real but not universal.
• Supplements can be part of a conversation, not a substitute for finding the actual cause.