Thought i’d discuss perceptions whether right or wrong in the public about needing testosterone. My biggest obstacle has been to accept that i need T being a young guy with an under-diagnosed/rare condition. The public perception of Testosterone is all negative, most doctors included,while the latest studies reiterate the safety and beneficial effects of therapy. This has not been enough to educate the average joe about this very serious medical condition. Everyone that i have discussed my condition with(loved ones) have been on the fence and i regularly get asked whether there are “natural” ways to increase testosterone. I try to explain how that if that had to happen it would have happened with my 180 degree turn in lifestyle from ages 17-25. A couple of bad lifestyle habits aside, i work out anaerobically 3-5 times a week, super careful about dietary needs, do not consume heavy alcohol and be a party animal like 99% people my age and i am still low.
For a 25 year old, it’s not normal and an illness, taking ZMA or eating more nuts(Which i consume anyway) will not make symptomatic difference to my condition. I try to make them consider how stupid this question would sound to a Type-1 diabetic, “Have you tried this supplement that supposedly lowers blood glucose?”
Now, i understand why therapy is controversial for older men when the decline is associated with age rather than an anomaly, but this view remains for younger men with doctors sending every obviously symptomatic man away even when levels are very low for age even when in “range” which includes men with low T themselves. We do not see such negative perceptions with hormone replacement for diabetes, thyroid, and adrenal diseases, so why with hypogonadism? Doctors should also understand that nobody apart from some very serious gym rats/ bodybuilders would want to pin themselves and rely on external delivery of T for their lives and the presence of life halting and long lasting symptoms force young guys with problems to the doctors for what is a very difficult topic to talk about. It should be encouraged by doctors for young men having abnormal symptoms to come forward and look for help rather than making a difficult and pride swallowing task and impossible one. I don’t know a single guy who would be comfortable talking about sexual problems at a supposedly peak age to a doctor, i even doubt they would want to accept such a problem. What does society do to these people? Tell them it’s all in their head.
Now for people with other conditions and evident lifestyle shortcomings, high body fat and unhealthy diet, i understand that treatment should be last resort but what about otherwise healthy people?
I understand that not everyone needs to know your personal problems and i am more reluctant to share my malaise with others after understanding the negative perception but how do you guys feel about such things? Has it deterred you? create self doubt, whether treatment is right for you? I know it did to me.
It’s not a big deal. I’ve seen a doctor and taken T (medication) for hypogomadism (a medical condition) for near fifteen years. It doesn’t differ much from taking medication for any condition. Besides, who announces to the world their condition and medicine?
Seriously, people are so brainwashed and willfully wrong about this issue, there’s no point in even starting with most people. It’s one of those issues that everyone has an opinion about, but nobody really knows so much as a single fact about the issue they so strongly believe in.
If you must talk about it, it should only be to challenge people with questions that force them to reveal they have no business holding an opinion on the subject in the first place.
As for doctors, many of them are just as stupid when it comes to this issue, but certainly not all of them are. Find a doctor who isn’t.
Fortunately i have found a good one relatively early who focussed more on symptoms rather than numbers, he looked at the numbers to back up the symptoms rather than the other way around.
It’s just sad that younger people are not encouraged by the doctors to report these symptoms. I emphasise younger guys for two reasons: 1) I am a younger guy myself, 2) Young guys are conditioned to believe that it’s impossible to have issues and when they do doctors are very quick to dismiss them. I was posting on reddit to know more about it before on here, and 21-22 year old,otherwise healthy guys on there were put on SSRIs and had their FT levels BELOW the non-age adjusted range (5-6 pg/ml). It’s retarded. SSRIs are not going to solve emotional and libido problems in these young men and it’s going to f**k them for life as their levels. Their original complaint, a completely valid one being so obvious with T levels lower than their grandfathers but “normal”. It’s damaging a lot of people with problems which can be solved by a natural hormone which they lack and inducing other mental problems.
Of course i do not wear a board to my neck with hypogonadal written in capitals. As i said, loved ones need to know and the perceptions create baseless worries in these loved ones as to what i as a patient am doing is correct or incorrect. You cannot exclude family and friends in terms of your condition as you live with them. I cannot carry my syringes and medication on a trip out without having these people asking what it is and then witnessing the exact same reaction or confusion as to why anyone would need to be on testosterone for reasons other than bodybuilding or “doing steroids”. Obviously, loved ones can be reassured and talked to but still it’s a situation created by society which is not credible. That’s the only thing i am discussing.
Also, while i agree that opinions should be taken with a pinch of salt from strangers on internet for example, as a new guy overwhelmed by information like me, looking for answers, the reactions on the medical boards are heart breaking and follow a similar pattern to the idiot doctors one visits before finding a good one. Of course, i know better now but thinking of myself not knowing much about the condition and searching online and looking for information getting accusations of ulterior motives are heartbreaking.
I would be wary of making such conclusions without possessing the necessary qualifications, Also, it is downright irresponsible to make such statements without knowing their medical histories and relying on only the information they choose to part with online.
Qualifications for what? am i wrong in assuming that with low T levels and the posters complaint for lack of libido, and fatigue and no history of mental disorders should not be treated with SSRIs? Ofcourse i am not a doctor, i don’t play one, i knew zilch all about all this before i got blood work for myself as well. But surely, you can’t be playing doctor is the right card when you experience (Well i have) how idiotic doctors can be in regards to hypogonadism. Just look at the thread on T replacement forum with what people had to say about their doctors. Also keep in mind, the range for Free Testosterone has been adjusted to 9-27 in most labs now, with old range being 3-30. 5-6 pg/ml was in these previous ranges. I do not advise anyone to self medicate, i advise to find a better doctor.
One of them turned out to have a mental disorder which caused him to hear voices. He did not part with this information in that thread. Who knows about the others? You are relying on one sided and incomplete information from strangers to draw your conclusions.
But i can talk about myself right? I was offered SSRIs too, i am far from constantly depressed and sought help 3 years after losing my libido, energy and happiness. A 25 year old guy, low T, in an otherwise happy relationship, studied from one of the best business schools in Asia, financially secure, no history of anxiety, depression prior to when T levels dropped, possibly due to vascular problems in my testes. And SSRI’s for treating my problems, i don’t need to be a doctor to understand that’s stupid. I refrain from advising and giving medical advise, i never do so unless it’s to maybe find a better doctor and seek medical help. I understand that everyone is different and T tunnel vision is not healthy but you cannot treat the invisible without thorough testing and not do anything about the complaints and symptoms of the patient. I am safe though, thankfully cause in my country, GP can’t prescribe T and/or SSRI’s, specialists are only allowed to prescribe, so i did not take the GP’s advice regarding SSRI’s and found a good urologist.
I think it would be good if you did not pick out phrases from my posts and use it to attack me when i have not done anything you possibly are accusing me of.
I did not attack you. I asked you not to make statements like the ones I quoted in my first reply to you for reasons also stated in that reply. Of course you can talk about yourself.
I am sure I would not have made the statement if I didn’t mean what I said there. I do not prescribe medicine so whatever is up on the Internet and how you react to it is an opinion, anyone should know this. When a person complains about libido issues like I have and General depressive mood (again, hypogonadism) followed by low T levels, I would say it is in fact hypogonadism. But as I said, it means f*ck all as to what I say as I don’t have the authority to damage or improve a person with symptoms, I am a voice on the Internet who can point someone to what they should look into, that’s all. I do not think that it’s irresponsible nor is it an attempt to play doctor. It’s about having some cognitive skills.
