How Do You Know if You Have Low Testerone?

By now you may even "know" the symptoms of depression T from listening to all the commercials -- sexual symptoms like erectile dysfunction and loss of involvement in sex, and not-sexual symptoms like low energy, depression, obesity, and a flabby body. Simply how do you know if you really take depression T or if you're just an crumbling burrow potato?

"Men ordinarily show up at my office considering of erectile dysfunction. If they take low libido, low energy, or metabolic syndrome, I do a blood test to cheque for low testosterone," says Joel Lilly, MD, a urologist at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. Metabolic syndrome includes obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and it is a hazard gene for depression testosterone (a hormonal imbalance in men) too as diabetes.

Obesity may be one of the biggest risk factors for low T and can cause depression T at a younger age. A written report published in the periodical "Clinical Endocrinology" looked at testosterone levels in 25 obese young men. Even though they were all under 20 years old, their testosterone levels were already between twoscore to l percent below normal for their age.

Could It Exist Depression Testosterone?

When a drug company gives a affliction a nickname, you might well start to get suspicious. "Low testosterone every bit the cause of symptoms like lack of free energy and erectile dysfunction is probably non as common as the TV ads would lead y'all to believe, only it is fairly common, especially in older men," says Dr. Lilly.

Testosterone levels naturally decrease every bit you get older. Low testosterone is found in 20 percent of men between age 60 and 70, 30 percent of men betwixt seventy and 80, and half of all men over 80.

But Michael Wald, Md, PhD, CDN, wasn't over 60 when he was diagnosed with low testosterone, nor was he obese. He was diagnosed by a neurologist who was seeing him for multiple sclerosis. Many symptoms of multiple sclerosis, especially sexual dysfunction and low energy, are similar to symptoms of depression T.

"My main symptom was fatigue. I was tired all the time. I had no energy. My neurologist made the connexion between MS, fatigue, and low testosterone," says Dr. Wald, who is the director of nutritional services at Integrated Medicine of Mount Kisco in New York. Wald was diagnosed with low testosterone four years agone, when he was 43.

Testing for and Treating Low T

Your doctor probably won't exam you lot for low testosterone unless you lot have symptoms because there is no reason to care for low testosterone without symptoms. In well-nigh cases, the diagnosis tin can be made by your primary care doctor. The Endocrine Society recommends testosterone testing for men with these primary symptoms:

• Depression libido
• Erectile dysfunction that does not respond to ED medication
• Depressed mood
• Low energy
• Thin bones (osteoporosis)

"I usually gild a total testosterone blood test. If that's normal, I don't go any further. If the testosterone is low, I do more than testing to confirm the diagnosis," says Lilly. Total testosterone levels fluctuate during the 24-hour interval. The all-time time to become a true reading is in the morning time. According to the Endocrine Guild, 300 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL) is the low limit of normal.

If your total testosterone is low, your doc may echo the examination or order some other blazon of testosterone blood test called free testosterone. "My neurologist measured free testosterone, which is the best test," says Wald.

Earlier treating depression T, your doctor may do a few other blood tests to check your prostate and red blood cell levels. That's because testosterone is not safe for men with prostate cancer and information technology tin can increase your scarlet blood cell count. Your doctor volition want to recheck these claret tests occasionally if you stay on treatment.

"You can enhance anyone'south testosterone level with testosterone replacement, but that doesn't hateful you should," says Lilly. "Men with borderline levels may not need treatment, and even with lower levels, non all men volition answer to treatment. I ordinarily try treating for a month or two. If there is no response, I stop treating."

Testosterone replacement isn't for men with breast cancer or prostate cancer. Side effects tin can include fluid retentivity and swelling of the prostate gland. The large worry you hear nearly is an increased risk for prostate cancer. "I e'er cheque the prostate size and repeat the prostate blood tests during treatment, but the actual run a risk of prostate cancer from testosterone replacement is very low," says Lilly.

Options for treatment include skin gel, injections, and skin patches. Well-nigh 70 percent of men choose the gel and about 17 percent choose injections. "I have been getting testosterone injections for four years," says Wald. "I had some fluid memory in my hands and some acne equally side furnishings, but these went abroad after the dose was lowered."

The Benefits of Testosterone Replacement

If you go diagnosed, treated, and answer well to treatment, in that location could be some real benefits for you, such equally:

• Increased free energy
• More interest in sex activity
• Ameliorate erections
• Improved mood
• Loss of body fatty
• More than body muscle

"In that location is increasing evidence that testosterone replacement could help reverse metabolic syndrome in men with low testosterone. That would be worth fixing," says Lilly.

These days, Wald has plenty of energy. He writes 2 regular columns on nutrition called "Inquire the Blood Detective" in local newspapers, has written several books, and is interviewed frequently on news shows. He also manages a total-fourth dimension medical practice. "I have run three marathons and many half-marathons. My all-time time for the marathon is iii hours and forty-four minutes," Wald says proudly.

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Source: https://www.everydayhealth.com/mens-health/how-to-tell-if-your-testosterone-is-low.aspx

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