Low testosterone/Replacement therapy

Hi @xtimedt69,

I am glad you have come back and that you on the mend. Glad you are using the Aneros again!

Welcome back!

Thom./BigGlansDC

Agree, as those birthdays go by we don't make the same semen volume. But the feelings are just as great, least in my case thankfully, so I don't worry about it. Glad you're having such great feelings now.

@BigGlansDC I never stopped trying! I am just glad the good feelings are returning.

@slimjim I know what you mean. When I told my female doctor about the reduced volume, she looked over her glasses with a smirk on her face and said "so how do you know?" I said "well, guy know these things."

Yeah, I told my male urologist--a good guy about same age as me--the same thing and he just sighed and acknowledged the same thing.

@slimjim oh well, didn't want more kids anyway, just the fun of making them.

Glad your back @xtimnedt69! :-bd

@ineverknew thanks, it is good to be back at it.

Hi @xtimed69, I wish to thank you for showing an interest in my Aneros journey last spring. 😉

@BigGlansDC Isn't that what we all do? Kind help each other out? 🙂

TO THE MODERATOR: This very long response is on-topic but probably deserves a separate full discussion. It is also what I actually do for a living, so I am kind of "blowing my own horn", but I do not intend this as an advertisement for me, just a way of letting you and others know about something that I think [know] you will be hearing about in the near future. So if I am overstepping my bounds or if the topic is considered out of place in this forum, I ask the moderator to contact me, and I will be happy to modify what I have written, because I value greatly this site and its remarkable forum of users (of which I am one).I am taking a big breath before writing this post because, as you will see, I am getting into what (for the urologic establishment) is a controversial topic on the causes of testosterone deficiency in the older male (so-called andropause) and the entire topic of prostate health.What I am about to write is work in progress that a medical colleague and I have been working on for over 7 years and we have published in peer reviewed medical journals (including the European Urologic Review), but have met total resistance and even ridicule from the urologic establishment. I am an interventional radiologist, who, with my gynecologist colleague have researched and published some work which we believe is very important for prostate health AND so-called "andropause" (male ageing). We developed an effective nonsurgical technique for treating male infertility caused by varicocele (varicose veins around the testis) . I have treated over 2000 such patients in the 20 years that I have been doing the procedure. In the course of this series, we found that in two special groups of patients (a0: patients with low testosterone and varicocele; and, (b): older patients with reduced fertility who also had symptoms of prostate enlargement we saw remarkable improvement in serum testosterone levels and signficant shrinkage of the prostate enlargement. We have since performed a "pilot study" under our hospital's ethics committee and NIH guidelines and published the preliminary results and now have performed the treatment on over 200 patients with very good results that we are going to publish, but have already taken to several international meetings on prostate disease in Europe and the most recent Israel Radiology society meeting this past October.
Xtimedt69, testosterone insufficiency has been recognized as a very common and significant problem in us men after age 50 and surely everyone has been seeing those ads on TV for testosterone replacement therapy. There is no question that testosterone has effects on the entire body, including the brain, and not just on our libido or sexual function. It is the essential anabolic steroid, and thank goodness for it. [BTW, in women, testosterone is made by the adrenal glands in small amounts and also contributes to a sense of wellbeing and good bone structure, as well as...libido--some hormone replacement therapies for menopausal women include a small amount of testosterone for this reason] Unfortunately, I am sure that, like Viagra, this treatment modality is being abused--the fault is in the patients and physicians. Long term testosterone treatment will lead to suppression of the pituitary hormone, FSH, and, paradoxically, can lead to reduced sperm production and smaller testes! There are alarms sounded about the "risk" of exogenous testosterone with respect to prostate cancer, but that is a red herring, since, as our work has shown, the testosterone that affects the prostate gland adversely is NOT the testosterone flowing around in our bodies' veins, but the testosterone that floods the prostate through a "backdoor" route caused by the varicocele. In any case, I would encourage you to look at the information we provide on this issue by "googling": "Gat Goren Method" or through the following website: www.pirion.co.il. If it can be shown by ultrasound that a patient has "varicocele" with low testosterone, I would assert (though I will probably be attacked by urologists) that bilateral varicocele treatment should be performed. That can be done surgically by a microsurgical technique pioneered at NYU by Dr. Goldstein and practiced by well-informed varicocele specialists or by the nonsurgical interventional technique we have developed. I'm happy to field questions outside of this forum if needed, or, if allowed, in another discussion group.

@Armon-neat, good solid information. What level of testosterone supplement is okay for oldies? My blood results put me in the middle of the suggested range.
Thank you.

@Armon Everything we do carries some risk, the key is to reduce the risk as far as possible. My doctor does regular blood tests to monitor not just Testosterone, but a host of other levels. Plus other factors. They she will adjust the dose as needed. For me, too much Testosterone is the greater risk. I was never into any kind of drug and do not like taking meds, but this has helped me in many way not related to sex, so I am willing to continue.

I will relate what you have provided with my doctor.

No doubt about the age factor. At 80, my free testosterone is about 50%, number wise, of what it was ten years ago and I'm beginning to feel the symptoms. Last year both my Uro and PC-doc said, "not now." They also express concern about my lineage having a high death rate from PCa. Since then I've pealed 2" off that old 35" waistline. Perhaps 2014 will be the year I add the "T-bullet" to my med list.

For men who are interested, I'd suggest Doctor Eugene Shippen's excellent book as a good read. It's about $ 8 for the Kindle edition: < http://www.amazon.com/The-Testosterone-Syndrome-Sexuality-Reversing/dp/087131858X >.

There are definite reasons though for not going the TRT route and those are best discussed with your own PriCare or Uro M.D. There's also a wealth of individual Anecdotal experience with TRT on Yahoo's Alt-Support-Impotence (Adult A-S-I) forum.

@rook how did you lose the weight?

@xtimedt69 I'm basically in the same boat as you. Mine stems from hypogonadism though. I also recently stopped feeling much pleasure from Aneros sessions. So I've been doing ALOT of research on reversing hypogonadism (and/or atrophy) and naturally increasing testosterone since the last time I was here. I learned about Tongkat Ali, which kinda works like natural HGC, and is THE best natural testosterone booster you can get. I started taking it about a month ago and I feel like I've just woken up out of a deep, suffocating sleep and taken a deep breath. My testicles are growing fast. Past the point where the natural negative feedback loop always kicks in. Please, for the sake of your balls, stop TRT immediately and start taking Tongkat Ali. I can link you to a couple good sources if you'd like?

@Armon-neat I have hypogonadism that was, until very recently, on the verge of atrophy. I've researched variocles and I believe that was part of the original problem. I remember my scrotum being hot, and the wormy-like veins on the left side. It feels 'normal' now, but I am pretty small. Overheating is part of any feedback loop from whatever I've tried to correct the problem. It's a shame because I respond so quickly to herbal therapies. Even Aneros, at first. Fortunately I found Tongkat Ali and that actually has pushed past the onset of 2 feedback loops.

Do you think I still have a variocle? Do you think surgery would help. I've read mixed results about variocle surgery and I'm a bit afraid of that route, but it might be the solution for me. More info would be much appreciated.

@Wandering_Smoke thanks for the info, but I must follow my doctors advice. She is very careful and monitors everything on a very strict schedule. I am going to ask her about Tongkat Ali.

I can say that in the 8 weeks I have been on this I have seen many improvements in energy, mood, sex drive, desire and other factors.

I just can't abruptly stop and start another treatment without my doctors input.

I definitely get positive feelings on the whole body. 400 mg injections every 3 weeks.

My GP is quite happy with my TRT. I have regular blood work. We have very simple testosterone cream that in compounded locally and is rubbed into the skin. It is also relatively cheap and comes with a syringe to measure the dose, which with a little filing makes an excellent prelube applicator 🙂 but I digress.
My very small dose certainly has made me very positive in my emotions. It makes my penis nice, no button mushroom any more. I have not noticed any decrease in the size of my testes (I had another feel) I also have regular nocturnal erections. I have regular sex up to a couple of times a week, of course with a little help from my blue friends. I also enjoy my Aneros as well. Because my age (75) I take Prostate Manager. I do take a bit of L-Arginine which I think gives my penis body. All this improvement has taken place over the last two years - which coincides with my Aneros adventure. I am grateful for this thread a a bit of a "heads up"