Low T

I just wanted to share this with everyone.  I went to have my yearly physical.  They did a standard blood test.  All the results came back where they should be except one item, my testosterone level.  I was 100 points low.  I asked the doctor what does that mean.  He listed several symptoms,  they are listed below.  Out of the many I feel that I have a couple, one was the loss of body hair, I am very smooth and this could be the reason.  Second I have larger than normal breast for a guy, while I love my breasts it seems like there a reason for them.  The third item I have in the last 6 months gained 30 lbs and it all around my middle.  I have a old man gut, not lady like at all unless you have a desire to date a pregnant woman.

Another symptom was the lack of erection or staying hard, which again one reason why I am a submissive bottom.  

So the doctor said that he can prescribe a testosterone gel, that I rub on my arms each morning and over a period of time I would regain erections and stay hard, loose the weight gain, 30 lbs over a year, maybe start growing hair (will have to shave more) and my tits will go away (maybe will have to get implants now)

So if you have a gut, cannot get hard or stay hard, have no interest in sex, no body hair, man tits, depression, and others symptoms listed below, go have a blood test, have it check for Testosterone.

Cindy

Side Effects of Low Testosterone

Written by The Healthline Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed on February 22, 2013 by George Krucik, MD, MBA

A decrease in men’s testosterone level is a natural function of aging. For each year over age 30, the level of testosterone in men starts to slowly dip at a rate of around 1 percent annually (Mayo Clinic, 2012). According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), over 13 million men have low testosterone levels (ADA, 2013).

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What does this natural hormonal decrease really mean? What symptoms or side effects accompany a loss of the male hormone? Testosterone helps maintain a number of important bodily functions in men, including:

·         sex drive

·         sperm production

·         muscle mass/strength

·         fat distribution

·         bone density

·         red blood cell production

Because testosterone affects so many functions, its decrease can bring about significant physical and emotional changes.

Sexual Function

One of the biggest worries faced by men with declining testosterone levels is the possibility that their sexual desire and performance will be affected. As men age, they can experience a number of symptoms related to sexual function that may be a result of lowered levels of this hormone. These include:

·         reduced desire for sex

·         fewer erections that happen spontaneously, such as during sleep

·         infertility

The Cleveland Clinic suggests that erectile dysfunction (ED) is not commonly caused by insufficient testosterone production (Cleveland Clinic, 2009). However, the ADA reports that 70 percent of men with low testosterone levels have erectile dysfunction, while 63 percent have a low sex drive (ADA, 2013). In cases where ED accompanies lower testosterone production, hormone replacement therapy may help rectify the ED (Cleveland Clinic, 

Physical Changes

A number of physical shifts can accompany low testosterone levels. These include:

·         increased body fat

·         decreased strength/mass of muscles

·         fragile bones

·         decreased body hair

·         swelling/tenderness in the breast tissue

·         hot flashes

·         increased fatigue

·         effects on cholesterol metabolism

Sleep Disturbances

Despite that fact that it can cause decreased energy levels, low testosterone can also cause insomnia and other changes in your sleep patterns. Unfortunately, some therapies designed to treat low testosterone can contribute to sleep apnea, which is a serious sleep problem that causes your breathing to stop and start repeatedly.

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Emotional Changes

In addition to physical changes, low levels of testosterone can affect you on an emotional level. The condition can lead to feelings of sadness ordepression, and an overall decreased sense of well-being. Some people also have trouble with memory and concentration, and lowered motivation and self-confidence.

Don’t Assume

While each of the symptoms above may be a result of a lowered testosterone level, they may also be side effects of normal aging. Other reasons that you might experience some of these symptoms include:

·         a thyroid condition

·         side effects of medications

·         alcohol use

To determine what’s causing these symptoms for you, schedule an appointment with your physician and request a blood test. A blood test is the only sure way to determine your testosterone level. Harvard Medical School (HMS) recommends a goal of a testosterone level of 300 to 450 ng/dL (nanograms per deciliter) for men over 65 years of age, which is the midpoint of the normal range for the age group (HMS, 2004).

Low Testosterone symptoms

How can you figure out if your testosterone (T) levels have fallen below the normal range? Understanding the symptoms of Low T is a good place to start. Take a look at the following list and see if any apply to you. Then talk to your doctor about what you have noticed.

Some symptoms of Low Testosterone include:

·         Fatigue or decreased energy

·         Reduced sex drive (libido)

·         Sexual dysfunction (weak erections, fewer erections)

·         Depressed mood

·         Increased body fat

·         Reduced muscle mass and strength

·         Decreased bone strength

·         Loss of body hair (reduced shaving)

·         Hot flashes, sweats

It's important to remember that these symptoms may be a sign of Low T or other health conditions and should not be ignored. If these symptoms sound familiar, talk to your doctor about them and ask about the blood tests. Keep in mind that you may not have all of these symptoms, but should discuss the ones you do have with your doctor.

 

 

Disappearing muscles, lack of energy, mood swings, snoring... Is your man suffering low testosterone?

By ANNA HODGEKISS 
UPDATED: 19:31 EST, 10 October 2011

Tired? Prone to weight gain? It might not just be lack of sleep or simple greed that’s the problem. If you’re a man, your excuse could be low testosterone. 

For years, many medics regarded the idea of low testosterone as a bit of a joke. Now it is increasingly being recognised by the medical profession as a key factor in men’s health.

Scientists at the University of California, for instance, have found that low levels may drastically increase the risk of death in men aged over 50. 

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Testosterone levels fall by around one per cent a year by the time a man is 30 - age-related low testosterone is commonly referred to as the male menopause

A study of 800 men found that those with low levels had a 33 per cent increased risk of dying over an 18-year period than those with higher levels.

As many as ten per cent of British men are thought to suffer from low testosterone — or testosterone deficiency syndrome. Yet many men may not be aware that it is even a problem. 

Three-quarters of men have not heard of the condition, according to a study of more than 1,000 British men presented last week at the Men’s Health World Congress in Vienna.

Furthermore, while 85 per cent of the 220 British GPs also questioned in the study considered it a medical condition worthy of treatment, 90 per cent admitted they were not aware of how it should be treated.

Testosterone deficiency syndrome is caused when the testicles, which produce testosterone, do not function normally, or when the body’s overall hormone production is out of balance. 

Age is a risk factor (testosterone levels fall by around one per cent a year by the time a man is 30) — age-related low testosterone is commonly referred to as the male menopause, or andropause. 

Other causes of low testosterone include diabetes, obesity and excessive alcohol consumption, explains Professor Tom Trinick, consultant physician at the Ulster Hospital in Belfast, a leading authority on testosterone deficiency.

Obesity, diabetes and alcohol lead to fat forming around the middle — this pumps out the female hormone oestrogen, counteracting testosterone. 

‘Other men produce testosterone but may be resistant to it, just like diabetics are resistant to insulin,’ says Dr Malcolm Carruthers, founder of The Centre for Men’s Health in London. 

But men don’t have to be fat to get testosterone deficiency syndrome, says Dr Geoff Hackett, a consultant in the urology department at the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, a GP, and one of the co-authors of last week’s study.

‘I have a patient with low testosterone who is extremely fit — he runs triathlons and is perfectly slim.’

Damage to the testes as a result of mumps or chemotherapy for cancer can also affect testosterone levels, adds Pierre-Marc Bouloux, professor of endocrinology at University College London and The London Clinic.

As well as raising the overall risk of premature death, low testosterone is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes — which can, in turn, lead to lower testosterone, explains Dr Hackett. 

‘Just like raised cholesterol can cause high blood pressure and high blood pressure can cause high cholesterol, you just treat both rather than ask which came first.’

Low testosterone is linked to other, more immediate problems — men need the hormone for muscle strength, healthy bones, positive mood and energy. 

Too little can lead to weight gain, loss of facial and body hair, and joint pain. Low testosterone also causes hot flushes. 

It’s also, not surprisingly, vital to a man’s potency and sex drive, says Hugh Jones, honorary professor of andrology at Barnsley Hospital and the University of Sheffield. 

‘Many men in the UK blame their age or their relationship for problems with their sex lives, when actually it could be due to a hormonal imbalance.’

Under guidelines drawn up last year by the British Society for Sexual Medicine, diagnosis of the condition should be based upon symptoms such as weight gain, poor morning erection, low sexual desire and erectile dysfunction, combined with a blood test taken in the morning on more than one occasion. 

Often the diagnosis and treatment are not clear cut, so a short-term trial on testosterone replacement therapy for three to six months is used to help clarify what’s wrong. 

Gels and injections are the most common means of application; a single jab can last three months.

‘When testosterone replacement therapy is prescribed, it can change the lives of patients and their wives,’ says Dr Hackett. 

‘Your GP should always be your first port of call with any concerns about low testosterone.’

However, others have yet to be convinced that the problem is as widespread as some say. 

‘Some men do have low levels, but the root cause may be lifestyle factors such as obesity and lack of exercise,’ says professor Bouloux. 

‘We must be careful that this is not being driven by the drug industry. Obese men, for example, often find that once they lose weight, hormone levels bounce back. 

‘The notion of just giving testosterone to paper over the cracks, rather than undoing the damage, is quite wrong.’

Another common argument against testosterone replacement therapy has been that it may increase the risk of prostate cancer. 

However, a new study by Dr Carruthers and Mark Feneley, a consultant urological surgeon at University College London, which followed more than 1,500 men who had received testosterone replacement therapy for up to 15 years, found men taking it were at no more risk of cancer than those not given the treatment. 

This would suggest doctors should feel happy to recommend testosterone therapy.

Here, four men who were diagnosed with low testosterone — each with very different causes — share their stories... 

‘I lost all my energy —  and then put on weight.’

'Three years ago, my legs felt like jelly and I was stumbling around like an old fool,' said John Savage

As someone who used to spend his spare time hiking 30 miles a day, John Savage was baffled when he began suffering from extreme tiredness three years ago. 

‘I’ve always been a very active person but as I stopped training so much the weight crept on,’ recalls the 69-year-old from Chapeltown, South Yorkshire.  

By 60, he had type 2 diabetes (at 5ft10in he weighed 16 st) and sleep apnoea (this causes patients to stop breathing momentarily as they sleep; it is linked to snoring). 

‘Then, three years ago, I found I had no energy; my legs felt like jelly and I was stumbling around like an old fool,’ he recalls. 

He was diagnosed with very low testosterone while at a routine diabetes check.

His testosterone replacement therapy started with patches, ‘which weren’t great’. He now has injections every three months. 

‘Everyone can notice the difference in me — I’m not 100 per cent, but I’m definitely a lot better.’

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Around 40 per cent of men with Type 2 diabetes have low testosterone levels, according to a study published last year by Professor Jones. 

It’s rather a chicken and egg situation; in some men, low testosterone might cause diabetes, in others diabetes may cause low testosterone. 

Snoring and sleep apnoea can also affect testosterone levels, says Dr Shahrad Taheri, lead clinician in weight management at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. 

‘With sleep apnoea, you can stop breathing several times a night without realising it, causing oxygen levels in the body to drop. This in turn blocks the pituitary gland in the base of the brain from telling the testes to produce testosterone.’ 

Those most at risk of sleep apnoea are men over 50 who have a large waist and neck — however, around a third of patients are not overweight, but have abnormalities such as with the positioning of their tongue.

‘Low testosterone left me totally depressed.’

'I became nasty and moody,' said Paul Pennington

Until earlier this year, Paul Pennington had spent 13 years thinking he was suffering from depression. In this time he piled on 5 st and ‘lost friends, clients and money’. 

‘My staff hated me and, looking back, I can see why,’ says Paul, 48, a broadcast journalist from North London. 

‘I became nasty and moody.’

He initially blamed it on splitting up with his partner. Thinking diet and exercise would help, he desperately tried to get himself in shape again. 

‘But I just didn’t have the energy,’ recalls Paul.

It was only when he saw a TV programme about testosterone deficiency that it suddenly clicked. 

‘I booked a consultation and a simple blood sample confirmed I had low testosterone,’ he says. He believes the hectic, stressful lifestyle he lived in his 20s and 30s could be to blame.

Paul was prescribed a low-dose gel to apply on his shoulders twice a day. 

‘Within 24 hours I felt alive again, and the brain fog had lifted.’

He is so passionate about the treatment that he recently became chief executive of the Andropause Society to raise awareness of the condition. 

‘I want other men with this condition to know there is liberation from it and you can live a normal life again,’ he says. 

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Physical or mental stress can affect the pituitary gland and reduce the amount of testosterone produced, explains Dr Carruthers. 

Stress also increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which also reduces testosterone secretion. Alcohol — which so many of us turn to when stressed — also plays a role. 

‘Even a couple of glasses of wine a day can affect your testosterone, particularly if you are overweight,’ says Professor Trinick. 

‘Something else that’s often overlooked are painkillers that contain opiates, especially if you take a lot of them. A very common one, cocodamol 30-500, is a common culprit.’

‘I felt really anxious, tired and aggressive.’ 

5'Some days I'd be OK, other days I'd get really anxious and feel tired and lethargic,' said Julian Cousins After the devastating diagnosis of cancer, Julian Cousins was one of the many thousands of men who suffered from low testosterone following chemotherapy treatment. Julian, 47, a tennis coach from South-West London, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2002 after finding a lump while showering. 

He underwent an intensive course of chemotherapy to shrink the cancer, before undergoing surgery to remove what was left and preserve the testicle. The treatment was a success, but left him feeling dreadful. 

‘Some days I’d be OK, other days I’d get really anxious and feel tired and lethargic, then wound up and aggressive,’ he says, 

‘I wasn’t offered testosterone replacement, so I decided to take a herbal testosterone stimulant called Tribulus from a health food shop to boost my testosterone levels and my doctors seemed OK with this. 

‘Since then I’ve been lucky enough to marry and become a dad naturally to my two girls, Emilia and Georgie.’ 

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: ‘In terms of treatment, it can take between one and two years for the hormones to recover after chemotherapy,’ says Julian’s oncologist Tim Oliver, professor Emeritus of medical oncology at St. Bartholomew’s and The Royal London School of Medicine. 

‘Chemotherapy basically poisons the cancer cells, so they die. But this poisoning also affects normal cells in the body, diminishing their function and reducing the production of hormones. Some men may also find they have an earlier decline of testosterone as they age.’

In a study published in the journal Cancer, researchers from Sheffield University said that around 15 per cent of male cancer survivors develop testosterone deficiency for which they may need treatment. 

Young male cancer survivors in particular experienced a marked impairment in quality of life, as well as reduced energy levels and quality of sexual function. 

These experiences were exacerbated in survivors with testosterone deficiency.

‘My wife was suspicious as I lost interest in sex.’ 

'Even lifting a shopping bag or picking up a tennis ball was too much in the end,' said Paul Bearley

As the tears streamed down his face while watching the X Factor, Paul Bearley knew something was very wrong. 

‘I couldn’t believe I’d gone from a fit, strong PE teacher to this,’ says the father-of three-from Sutton Coldfield. ‘I was having mood swings.’ 

Over the next few months, Paul, 5 ft 5 in and 11 st, gained 6 st.

‘One moment I was crying, the next lashing out at my wife and daughters. If one of the children squared up to me at school I had to hold back the tears,’ he recalls.

‘One of the most upsetting things was that my wife Susan was convinced I was having an affair, because I didn’t want to have sex. 

‘It wasn’t anything to do with her — I didn’t have the energy or inclination to do anything. Even lifting a shopping bag or picking up a tennis ball was too much in the end.’ 

As a result, last year he was forced to retire early from work on medical grounds, aged 57. 

Finally, a new GP referred him to Dr Geoff Hackett, who is based at his local hospital, to have his hormone levels checked, which were found to be low. 

Now Paul receives an injection of testosterone (in the buttocks) every three months. 

‘After about ten weeks Susan commented that I was being more affectionate. As time went on, we were able to get back to normal and now we’re closer than ever. She says I’m like the man she married now.’

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Just how many men suffer testosterone deficiency with age is not clear — estimates vary from between eight per cent of men aged 50-79 to as high as 20 per cent. 

Many middle-aged men develop erection problems and automatically turn to Viagra or similar drugs such as Levitra or Cialis.

‘But men for whom Viagra isn’t working adequately need to have their cases reviewed,’ says Dr Hackett. 

 

 

‘If low testosterone is the proble What is AndroGel 1.62%?

AndroGel^® (testosterone gel) 1.62%, a controlled substance (CIII), is a daily testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) that can help bring your T levels back to normal with daily use.

In a clinical study of 274 men who had Low Testosterone, some usedAndroGel 1.62% and some used placebo. Of the men who used AndroGel 1.62%once daily for 16 weeks, 82% had their testosterone levels returned to normal compared to 37% of those who used placebo.

About AndroGel 1.62%

AndroGel^® (testosterone gel) 1.62% is the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy (as of September 2012). The testosterone inAndroGel 1.62% is the same as the testosterone that your body makes naturally.

AndroGel 1.62% can transfer from your body to others. This can happen if other people come into contact with the area where the AndroGel 1.62% was applied. Signs of puberty that are not expected have happened in young children who were accidentally exposed to testosterone through skin-to-skin contact with men using topical testosterone products like AndroGel 1.62%. Women and children should avoid contact with the unwashed or unclothed area where AndroGel 1.62% has been applied. Patients must strictly follow the recommended instructions for use.

Benefits of AndroGel 1.62%

AndroGel 1.62% is a clear, odorless, and concentrated quick-drying gel. And it offers you packaging options in the form of a metered-dose pump or packets, so you and your doctor can choose what works best for you. AndroGel is available on most insurance plans. Contact your insurance plan to get more details about your coverage.

Do not use AndroGel 1.62% if you have breast cancer or have or might have prostate cancer. AndroGel 1.62% is not meant for use in women and must not be used in women who are or may become pregnant, or are breast-feeding.AndroGel 1.62% may harm the unborn or breast-feeding baby. Women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant should avoid contact with the area of skin where AndroGel 1.62% has been applied.