Low testosterone

[duramax]

I question the whole high or low testosterone tests. Have you ever heard of a guy getting the test and finding out his levels are normal or high? No. If you go to a doctor to be tested for this, he will find something to make you a repeat client. This may be a rare case where this is you trusted GP, but almost always these are at clinics that are specific for this. The baselines are subjective. If you tested a man who works on a farm and is physically active everyday exerting a lot of muscle activity, their testosterone will be higher. If you sit at a desk all day and working out is minimal to not at all, you will have low testosterone. The modern day man does not exercise a good deal (running or any other strictly cardio workout doesn't count). Today we are exposed to a scary amount of chemicals everyday that act as estrogen stimulants in our body, and lowering out testosterone. BPA (a chemical in a lot of plastics and a plethora of other things we encounter everyday, multiple times) was created as an estrogen mimicking hormone, and was then introduced into a ton of other things that cause us to absorb it. Phthalates and parabens in many soaps act similarly.

Keep in mind that the testosterone therapy you will get on is 100% synthetic testosterone. So it will cause your body's natural testosterone to shut down completely. I for one am concerned about the potential health risks of this. I'm not sure how old you are, or if you plan to have kids in the future, but the side effect of synthetic testosterone is it is effectively male birth control as your sperm production will be dramatically lowered.

There are ways to boost your testosterone naturally, and I don't mean taking a bunch of "vitamins". Here is a great post on naturally boosting your testosterone with methods of diet change and reducing use of certain everyday products that deplete testosterone.
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/01/1 ... naturally/

[lilwhitelie]

Any of you guys have experience with low testosterone. Found out today my level is onl 175 and average for my age is over 600. To put it in perspective the average for men 85-100 is 375. What I am wanting to know is what treatment options y'all went with and if it really makes a difference.

Was your blood work drawn in the morning or afternoon. Did your primary care doc do it or endocrinologist??? Reason being is your number could be off if it was done in the afternoon as your normal test levels are at their highest early in the morning. I have been down the road once and it will drive you crazy. My levels were low for my age so my regular doc put me on the shot every 2 weeks. I began to feel a lot worse. Why??????? My test levels went through the roof!!! Like 1600 through the roof!!!! Why did I feel so crappy??? My body was converting test into estrodial so I was defeating the purpose of taking injections. That is when I took to really researching. You should have a COMPLETE HORMONE workup done at the appropriate time by an endocrinologist. Not just a total free testosterone reading. You need estradiol and free testosterone along with several other hormones checked. The problem is if you start taking test then your body will stop making it on its own and you will be dependant on it forever. If you do tests and you do have low levels then weigh your options and choose the method best suited for you. The gels etc you have to be careful with especially if you have little girls around do to what can happen if they get into them. I got off the injections and 3 months later had total workup done and am sure glad I did. Most primary care docs do not know much on hormone replacement therapy but many will gladly start you on test then eventually send you to a endo doc when they cant get you straight. My best advice is to start with a good endocrinologist that specializes in hormone replacement therapy. I have heard good things about the anti aging clinic but it isn't covered by insurance where your endocrinologist will be. Hope you get it figured out.
Duromax was dead on.... in the good old days do you think anyone had low testosterone??? Some do actually need therapy but many get put on it so docs get repeat customers and it hasn't been done long enough to know long term side effects with prostate cancer etc.

[foxtrot]

On the contrary, I believe Low T is a much more serious issue than you. I think that it explains in many ways why some men gain weight so much more rapidly once they hit their 40's. I think my father would have been a perfect candidate for replacement had it been around when he was alive. I remember vividly how tired and unmotivated he was once he hit his mid to late 40's. He worked, worked hard, but his social life plummeted. A man who lived for duck hunting just 10 years prior, just would not crawl out of bed early on Saturdays in his late 40's. His weight gain hit him hard in his 40's as it has me. Its easy to say, just exercise and eat right but if your body is an anchor telling you not to, its hard to kick it in gear. And the last thing my doctor needs is another patient. His waiting rooms are packed... And, he always draws blood before 8am. Black coffee only after midnight is the routine before appointments.

[duramax]

On the contrary, I believe Low T is a much more serious issue than you. I think that it explains in many ways why some men gain weight so much more rapidly once they hit their 40's. I think my father would have been a perfect candidate for replacement had it been around when he was alive. I remember vividly how tired and unmotivated he was once he hit his mid to late 40's. He worked, worked hard, but his social life plummeted. A man who lived for duck hunting just 10 years prior, just would not crawl out of bed early on Saturdays in his late 40's. His weight gain hit him hard in his 40's as it has me. Its easy to say, just exercise and eat right but if your body is an anchor telling you not to, its hard to kick it in gear. And the last thing my doctor needs is another patient. His waiting rooms are packed... And, he always draws blood before 8am. Black coffee only after midnight is the routine before appointments.

It is undeniably a real issue that many men face. My point is that the modern day lifestyle a vast majority of men hold, is extremely detrimental to testosterone. Lack of exercise and quality foods is THE reason why people don't have energy. Add on top of that the chemicals that we encounter every day that put further stress on people's bodies by throwing natural hormones out of whack. A lot of that is unavoidable. Touching a receipt from a gas pump exposes you to BPA's. Are you going to go through life in bubble? No. But you can make a conscious effort to eat healthy food, and be physically active. It's obvious that you can't expect your body to perform when you feed it garbage and don't exercise. Testosterone will help by giving you a boost of energy, but so will crack (and yes I know crack is more dangerous to your body than artificial testosterone). So will healthy food and exercise. The right exercises, and the right foods will boost your testosterone naturally. And it is 100% proven fact that exercise and eating right has ZERO long term risks.

[sondance]

Started the 2 weekly shot while back. Doc said might help on prostrate....I ain't taking flowmax, turns you into a woman... Low libido/breasts. Son in law had problem and he's lot younger, researched it and got his doctor to research to prevent body from stop making it. They came up with drug gets body to increase its production rather than outside source....Clomephene citrate, or Clomid is the stuff.
In not as tired lately but no help on the lil soldier yet

They put my wife on Clomid when before she went through in vitro. Weird huh?

[sondance]

Started the 2 weekly shot while back. Doc said might help on prostrate....I ain't taking flowmax, turns you into a woman... Low libido/breasts. Son in law had problem and he's lot younger, researched it and got his doctor to research to prevent body from stop making it. They came up with drug gets body to increase its production rather than outside source....Clomephene citrate, or Clomid is the stuff.
In not as tired lately but no help on the lil soldier yet

They put my wife on Clomid when before she went through in vitro. Weird huh?

[lilwhitelie]

On the contrary, I believe Low T is a much more serious issue than you. I think that it explains in many ways why some men gain weight so much more rapidly once they hit their 40's. I think my father would have been a perfect candidate for replacement had it been around when he was alive. I remember vividly how tired and unmotivated he was once he hit his mid to late 40's. He worked, worked hard, but his social life plummeted. A man who lived for duck hunting just 10 years prior, just would not crawl out of bed early on Saturdays in his late 40's. His weight gain hit him hard in his 40's as it has me. Its easy to say, just exercise and eat right but if your body is an anchor telling you not to, its hard to kick it in gear. And the last thing my doctor needs is another patient. His waiting rooms are packed... And, he always draws blood before 8am. Black coffee only after midnight is the routine before appointments.

My only suggestion is if you wanna do replacement therapy please seek the help of an endocrinologist. Have all your hormone levels checked. There are more hormones that play a factor in weight gain. loss of drive, etc besides low T. Some are true candidates for replacement but what you need to know is there are NO long term studies to the long term affects of testosterone replacement. I bet in years to come there will be many adds asking if you have had heart attack etc and have been on replacement therapy etc etc.

[duramax]

On the contrary, I believe Low T is a much more serious issue than you. I think that it explains in many ways why some men gain weight so much more rapidly once they hit their 40's. I think my father would have been a perfect candidate for replacement had it been around when he was alive. I remember vividly how tired and unmotivated he was once he hit his mid to late 40's. He worked, worked hard, but his social life plummeted. A man who lived for duck hunting just 10 years prior, just would not crawl out of bed early on Saturdays in his late 40's. His weight gain hit him hard in his 40's as it has me. Its easy to say, just exercise and eat right but if your body is an anchor telling you not to, its hard to kick it in gear. And the last thing my doctor needs is another patient. His waiting rooms are packed... And, he always draws blood before 8am. Black coffee only after midnight is the routine before appointments.

My only suggestion is if you wanna do replacement therapy please seek the help of an endocrinologist. Have all your hormone levels checked. There are more hormones that play a factor in weight gain. loss of drive, etc besides low T. Some are true candidates for replacement but what you need to know is there are NO long term studies to the long term affects of testosterone replacement. I bet in years to come there will be many adds asking if you have had heart attack etc and have been on replacement therapy etc etc.

Exactly. How many athletes have diet from heart attacks, or liver cancer etc... and they blamed steroids. Whether or not that is the actual cause, why would prescribed steroids (which is what Testosterone replacement is) be any different.

[duramax]

Started the 2 weekly shot while back. Doc said might help on prostrate....I ain't taking flowmax, turns you into a woman... Low libido/breasts. Son in law had problem and he's lot younger, researched it and got his doctor to research to prevent body from stop making it. They came up with drug gets body to increase its production rather than outside source....Clomephene citrate, or Clomid is the stuff.
In not as tired lately but no help on the lil soldier yet

They put my wife on Clomid when before she went through in vitro. Weird huh?

Clomid is an estrogen blocker. It's what body builders take when they get off a cycle of steroids to prevent gynecomastia (bitch tits) when their testosterone drops until their bodies start making testosterone on their own again.

[SB]

Clomid also can help a women get pregnant. Don't ask me how I know.

I've appreciated this conversation. I've learned from it. Though I don't think I'm affected right now by low T, I now know what the symptoms are, and am more informed on the treatment.

[Bonehead]

On the contrary, I believe Low T is a much more serious issue than you. I think that it explains in many ways why some men gain weight so much more rapidly once they hit their 40's. I think my father would have been a perfect candidate for replacement had it been around when he was alive. I remember vividly how tired and unmotivated he was once he hit his mid to late 40's. He worked, worked hard, but his social life plummeted. A man who lived for duck hunting just 10 years prior, just would not crawl out of bed early on Saturdays in his late 40's. His weight gain hit him hard in his 40's as it has me. Its easy to say, just exercise and eat right but if your body is an anchor telling you not to, its hard to kick it in gear. And the last thing my doctor needs is another patient. His waiting rooms are packed... And, he always draws blood before 8am. Black coffee only after midnight is the routine before appointments.

It is undeniably a real issue that many men face. My point is that the modern day lifestyle a vast majority of men hold, is extremely detrimental to testosterone. Lack of exercise and quality foods is THE reason why people don't have energy. Add on top of that the chemicals that we encounter every day that put further stress on people's bodies by throwing natural hormones out of whack. A lot of that is unavoidable. Touching a receipt from a gas pump exposes you to BPA's. Are you going to go through life in bubble? No. But you can make a conscious effort to eat healthy food, and be physically active. It's obvious that you can't expect your body to perform when you feed it garbage and don't exercise. Testosterone will help by giving you a boost of energy, but so will crack (and yes I know crack is more dangerous to your body than artificial testosterone). So will healthy food and exercise. The right exercises, and the right foods will boost your testosterone naturally. And it is 100% proven fact that exercise and eating right has ZERO long term risks.

No doubt. Go to a whole foods type of diet... cutting out processed foods and soft drinks, exercise vigorously.... Try that for 6 months and see how you feel. Get your sleep straight. Proper sleep plays a role as well.