Low Testosterone Symptoms
For a long time, I just thought I was getting older. I didn’t think I was suffering from low testosterone symptoms. But, the funny thing was I was only thirty. Yet I was having a multitude of symptoms. I went from doctor to doctor and had expensive lab work ordered and I still wasn’t getting any better. Finally, after an exhaustive physical at a heart science institute I was ready to give up and just accept that things would never be the same for me.
However, I my last ditch attempt to get to the bottom of my symptoms took me to a nutritional oncologist who suggested that what I was suffering from were symptoms of low testosterone levels. He ordered some lab work, which I did without having much hope that this would help. The lab came back showing that my testosterone levels were extremely low, which was hypothesized to be caused by the anti-depressant medication that I had been taking for years.
The nutritionist started me on an intense supplement regimen and I actually had some hope that we had solved the problem. Eventually, I started this blog Increase Testosterone Levels to share the therapies that have made a huge difference in my life. But, I think I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to the symptoms one might experience if they have low testosterone levels.
The following is a list of the most common low testosterone symptoms:
- daytime fatigue and exhaustion
- difficulty achieving (but especially) maintaining erections
- weight gain (specifically in the mid-section)
- diminished capacity for sustained focus
- diminished libido or interest in sex
- slower reaction times in physical activity (such as sports)
- irritability and disturbed mood
- loss of lean muscle mass
Obviously that is not anyone’s Christmas list. Dealing with low testosterone can cause near misery in a man (or woman). I know, because I was there. Because testosterone is regulates a number of physical processes in the body it’s depletion can lead to a variety of these unwanted conditions. Obviously, and this is especially true for men, the sexual effects of low testosterone levels can be particularly distressing.
The mistake that people often make is assuming, like I did, that aging was to blame for these symptoms. Certainly as we age our bodies become less efficient and we will experience a certain lag in the performance we were accustomed to. As a result many people simply accept this consequences of these changes without considering ways that they can counteract them. For instance, in men the production of natural testosterone will decrease each year after a man reaches age 30 by about 1-2%. While steps can be taken to increase testosterone levels, doing nothing will almost certainly result in some of these low testosterone symptoms.
And while these symptoms occur most often in men over forty, a man of any age can experience them as a result of waning testosterone levels. In my case, I was only 30 (and had already been experiencing symptoms of low testosterone for years) before it was ever suggested that I get my hormone levels checked. And, I have found, that this is actually somewhat common.
Particularly common is the misdiagnosis of chronic depression in patients with these symptoms. This is exactly what happened to me. In my younger days, I was mildly angsty and got placed on an antidepressant regimen by an overeager psychiatrist. Almost immediately the anti-depressants started causing side effects. I complained to my doctor about these side effects which he misconstrued to mean that I was actually becoming more depressed which led him to increase the dosage of the anti-depressants that were, in fact, the root cause of my exhaustion and sexual dysfunction.
It took me several years to self-diagnosis this fact and begin to take measures to combat it. When the nutritional oncologist suggested that the anti-depressants could, in fact, be the cause rather than the solution to the problem I got a little frustrated. I was never really that depressed in the first place, and now I had lost years of peak functioning due to being overmedicated with testosterone-killing drugs. Argh!
If you are in a similar spot I invite you to read everything on this site, as I think that you are likely to get a great deal of benefit from it. Finally, I’d like to point out, that with a testosterone replacement protocol, you can reverse many of these effects with very few side effects. And that is why I started this site. I plan to share the methods that I use to increase my testosterone levels naturally with supplements. I will probably provide purchase links to buy the supplements that I use (for which I will get a tiny commission) but basically the information on this site will be free.
I hope that you can derive some benefit from it.
