Male menopause affects 2million Brits but 'can be safely cured

[denphone]

It has long been dismissed as an excuse for men behaving badly in middle age.

But the male menopause is very real, affects more than two million British men and can be cured, doctors said last night.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...treatment.html

Really - with the Mail's record of disingenuous interpretation of medical research, I would be taking anything they print on medical matters with a Doctor's health warning...

[alferret]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Really - with the Mail's record of disingenuous interpretation of medical research, I would be taking anything they print on medical matters with a Doctor's health warning...

So cynical

But your right, anything connected with health & DM should come with its own health warning!

Originally Posted by Hugh

Really - with the Mail's record of disingenuous interpretation of medical research, I would be taking anything they print on medical matters with a Doctor's health warning...

you mean like this

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...t-flushes.html

Menopause cures: Can putting a magnet in your underwear banish hot flushes?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Really - with the Mail's record of disingenuous interpretation of medical research, I would be taking anything they print on medical matters with a Doctor's health warning...

The Mail is a major contributor to the media's current habit of taking theories with little or no evidence and promoting them as fact.

A friend of mine is a member of a campaign to get the Media to present science properly, and is quite passionate about it.. http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/a4e.html

[Ignitionnet]

TRT rocks, but NHS doctors are for obvious reasons reluctant to prescribe it!

---------- Post added at 23:13 ---------- Previous post was at 22:23 ----------

Just to clarify I speak from experience, having enjoyed the delights of keeping premature age at bay yesterday.

I suspect the perceptive watching my posts can tell when my 'reserves' are running a bit low, I get grouchy

The shot was a bit late due to my messing up refilling my private script but all good now, happy Mrs Ignitionnet again

Ah yes topic. It's very real but there's a concern of it becoming like the USA with a ton of 'anti ageing' clinics basically lurking as on-demand dispensaries for growth hormone and testosterone.

[candy1567]

Hi

i can see this from the otherside of the coin

my hubby has wat i suppose would be described as the male menopause, but at his age of 45 is far to young!!!!

he has the TRT therapy, but jeeze its not all its cracked up to be, loads of unwanted side effects, def not like the female menopause at all.

he is getting treated for the side effects rather than the lack of testosterone which he has, or should i say he doens't have lol

he actually says that if he had known wat would happen he would have never started on the TRT

I just thought that they would give him some replacement patches like they do with the HRT patches for women, oh boy how i wish it was that simple!!!

Juliex

[Ignitionnet]

I'm 33 Julie and had testosterone levels that just scraped in at the very low end of normal. For a >85 year old

I other things along with the testosterone, talk with the doctor about either getting an aromatase inhibitor or a selective estrogen receptor modulator. Something like Arimidex or Nolvadex. The doctor should be getting regular blood tests from your husband to check on amongst other things his oestradiol / estrogen levels which are prone to going up due to the extra testosterone.

I also use HCG, yes extract of pregnancy, to 'reinflate' the boys a bit - I'm guessing that having a shrunken under-undercarriage is also something he's noticed.

How's he taking his treatment? I am too slack to bother with patches or gel so it's the needle for me which seems to have less side effects as far as conversion to Dihydrotestosterone goes - this is good as too much DHT can cause premature baldness and prostate swelling.

It's tricky but with the right doctor and a good protocol it's a rebirth. It's sadly not as easy as simply popping a patch on the arm once a day and forgetting about it, I just incorporated the extra medicines into a routine along with vitamin pills.

[candy1567]

@ignitionnet

Hi there

my hubby's on the gel, which is a pain in the bum to say the least, he just started takin the oestrogen blocker as he developed boobs, and yes i was gettin jealous as his were gettin bigger than mine lol Hes a chef and they were very prominent through his chef whites, been infomed that although the meds can stop the boobs from growing anymore, they cant reduce them so bein referred to a plastic surgeon for reduction.

Our PCT dont do the test injections, so its either patches or the gel, were fighting this at the moment, hes 45 and been told hes not even got the levels of an oldie, there almost not on the scale. (free test is 0.102)

hes gone from the most gentle man to the incrediable hulk at times, and memory loss jeeze, my clients are not as bad as him (am a older persons social worker!!), hes lost muscle tone from his arm and legs but now has a barrel like stomach, and he says he feels like hes got the flu all the time.

Hes been told he cant drive due to the side effects of the oestrogen tablets due to the high dosage he needs to block this, oh it just gets worse and worse.

Just waitin on MRI to see is there is a tumor on the pit gland as his body is not responding to the testosterone at all, he cant maintain any levels even using the gel, (he has to use it 3 times a day to maintain a level of 1.6 and thats still way to low.

on another point, 12 weeks wait for an MRI scan, i wont say wat i want to as the swear filter will ban me lol, but we have no paid for this private and he goes for it on Thursday of this week!!!!

But suppose it can only get better hey lol

Juliex

ps. yes hes got the prostate swelling, so now he cant pee to good, and as for his marital rights, jeeze wat are they lol, just one thing after another

[Ignitionnet]

Crikey I'm so sorry, what a nightmare.

His case and mine are two that put the difference between NHS and private in pretty horrible focus, I'm really sorry that you both have had such a bad experience especially when there was no need - he should have been having blood tests at least fortnightly to start with for free and total testosterone / SHBG / prolactin / E2

The 'flu' feeling sounds like the male equivalent of hot flushes due to too much 'e' and not enough 't'.

Injections are so much more convenient and can give a more stable level. It's absurd that the PCT are wasting their money on the far more expensive patches when they could just give you guys either a multi-use rubber stopped vial of cheap testosterone enanthate/cypionate which will last as long as 3 months or even Nebido which is a shot every 10-12 weeks.

Maybe you guys are an advertisement of why the NHS doesn't really do TRT that much - they're not too hot at it.

[candy1567]

@ignitionet

hes on bromocriptine to block oestrogen, but as hes on such a high dosage, the side effects are horrendous, so now hes been told not to drive, so its either taxi's to work, go on the sick, or he doens't have a job, must admit work have been fantastic though.

his gp told him and i quote "it might be better to put up with the boobs due to the side effects of the tablets and then just have reduction surgery when they sort ur t levels out"

i didn't realise that in a man the testosterone is the central core to how the male body works and if off balance it upsets everything

and us women thought we had the rough end of the deal having babies and such lol

Our GP was managing his condition, and woudn't refer to hospital, until we demanded a second opinion, we got his appointment through last week and its for Jan 2012

we have paid to have a MRI scan and a 2hr private appointment with an endocrinologist on Thursday, and we had to pay £275 to have a set of blood tests done for this appointment as its not on the NHS

Juliex

ps, sorry for the rant, i just wonder wat we all pay our bloody taxes for

[Ignitionnet]

Err what? He's on this stuff to control oestrogen levels?

I can see it's used for pituitary tumours, I can't see anywhere that it's used for oestrogen control.

I am quite suspicious that your GP is well outside his comfort zone and doesn't really know what he's doing here, this should have gone to an endo well before this

Your man should have been closely monitored when he started treatment and appropriate treatment either to stop production of oestrogen through an aromatase inhibitor or to stop it acting on his breast tissue like this through a SERM should have been done.

It's a bit of a disaster. I had to beg and plead with my own GP to get a private referral.

[candy1567]

yeah GP said it would block the prolactin/estrogen and stop the boobs from growing, but the side effects are horrendous

GP is well outside his comfort zone, thats why we demanded a second opinion, but again i know its only a couple of months away in Jan, but, thats still far to long for coping with the side effects of the awful medication, thats why we choose to go private.

Also applying the gel 3 x times a day is a procedure in itself as he has to make sure hes not transferring it onto myself or anyone he comes in contact with, has to make sure he is covered up till it is dry on his skin, have told him me and testosterone dont mix lol, as 2 hulks living in the household just wont work lol

have tried to get him on my private healthcare through work, and yes its not a prob, but they wont treat him for this condition as hes already got it, sods law hey. I've had private healthcare for years through work as am seconded into the NHS lol, yep i work for NHS but have private healthcare backward thinking hey!!!!!

Oh well role on Thursday, he discussed with the GP to stop takin the Bromocriptine and he stated that he cant just suddenly stop he has to be weaned off it, oh it just gets better, cant wait till hes seen by the endo

Juliex

[Ignitionnet]

Saying all that my treatment isn't all sunshine and light, just bled like a stuck pig after an HCG shot, silly salt water.

I'm hoping you find yourself a competent endo and this can get fixed, no reason why it can't be...

Anyway was there a topic here apart from discussion of TRT?

It's a bit depressing actually that so few have experience of it, no doubt far more men would benefit from it than actually receive it.