Should You Treat Your Low Testosterone (What You Really to Know Before Considering Treatment)

Should you treat your low testosterone — what are the pros and cons of treatment? Dr.Majd reviews the answers to these questions to help you make an informed decision in today’s video.

Majd MD – Your YouTube Family Doctor, reviewing what you really need to know about the latest medical topics, news, & headlines.

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Annals of Internal Medicine article about the new testosterone treatment guidelines:

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All content presented is for informational purposes only. It is not specific medical advice. Please always seek a licensed physician in your area for all health related concerns.

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[MajdMD]

If you have taken testosterone treatment, i would love to hear about your experience -- how effective was it at improving your quality of life? Please share in comments here!

[crookedstick]

12 weeks on TRT and I feel amazing. 54 years old and my T level was at 270 NGDL. I was loosing muscle even working out 5 days a week and I was exhausted after lifting. Started on 200 MG a week and found it was too much. Levels were too high, around 1500ngdl after 10 weeks. Dropped to 140 MG a week and I have built muscle and lost fat. Blood work looks great and BP was at 130/80, not bad. I cant tell you how much better I feel in general. deeper voice, more assertive, and anxiety has dropped to nothing. Sleep has been deep and restful. Cannot disagree more with this studies and libido and erections are like it was in my 20s. I liken it to the analogy of boiling a frog slowly. Your manhood slips a little each year and you don't notice. You forget what it was like to have test in your body until you get it back. Not for everyone with underlying issues, but I know it has changed my life for the better.

[niltomega]

I'm a male and have been taking TRT for 16 years. It has vastly improved my life. I have shared it with my wife with about 20 mg a week for her. her libido is much much better. we are in our mid 50's.

[aussiejetjock]

47 years old and 6 months in and I've never felt better. 175mg pw

[johnmoore]

Testosterone lab ranges are almost useless. The ranges are based off data from the population which doesn’t have enough exclusionary criteria. I’ve seen the lab ranges drop 3 times since I started getting tested back in 2014.

We know testosterone is lower in overweight patients, yet most labs will include data from people with BMIs between 25-30, some even up to 35.

We know testosterone declines with age, yet most labs lump in old men, which makes no sense when a young 25 year old comes in feeling like crap but is deemed “normal” because old men are dragging down the bottom of the reference range. At the very least the lab ranges should also have age ranges.

We know antidepressants cause lowering of testosterone especially with long term use, yet people on antidepressants are included. Really there’s a whole slew of drugs that can lower testosterone yet those people are included in the data.

Microplastics and pollution are slowly poisoning the population, testosterone levels in newborns and their mothers are dropping resulting in smaller genitalia and reduced “taint” distance, (unaware what the proper medical term is.)

The labs, from what I’ve found, aren’t very strict when it comes to fasting criteria. Not to mention you have to rely on the patients word. Eating prior to a testosterone test can temporarily cut levels in half. 12 hour fasting is a must.

Labs don’t question patients on sleep, someone getting less than 7 hours of sleep prior to the test will drop their level significantly. Even if someone gets crappy sleep 2 nights prior that can effect their results.

Alcohol consumption, if the patient drinks the night prior that significantly impacts their production, not to mention their sleep which also impacts their production.

I can keep going but basically there’s almost a dozen variables that can easily impact testosterone levels which completely screws up the lab ranges, consequentially preventing men from getting treatment.

If the variables were properly accounted for, the ranges for men 18-30 would easily bottom out at 500ng/dL not this ridiculously low 220-280ng/dL that I’ve been seeing recently. It makes absolutely zero sense that we continue to drop the lab ranges, humans aren’t evolving to have lower testosterone, it’s environmental factors causing it. Thus men are still going to feel crappy at 300ng/dL just like they would’ve 50 years ago despite the lab ranges continuing to drop. Who knows 50 years from now the lab range could bottom out at 100ng/dL and guys will get turned away in mass.

[mitchellmimier]

As someone who prescribes testosterone on a daily basis, I wanted to point out that the potential adverse affects listed here are seriously overblown. I understand why you mention them, but they shouldn't even be on the radar for most patients. The Finkle and Vigen studies from 2013/2014 are highly flawed and should have been retracted by now. They were poorly conducted observational studies with seriously questionable data sources. There are literally dozens of RCTs that show the cardiovascular benefits of high-normal testosterone levels and TRT, but no one seems to pay attention to those for some reason. And the saturation model described by Morgentaler that is generally accepted now as reliable should alleviate concern of TRT and prostate cancer for most patients. I know plenty of many highly qualified urologists who treat men on active surveillance with testosterone if it's indicated for symptomatic reasons.

[squidly]

It's not just "libido" I wake up with granite in my shorts every morning now.

[ghiblinerd]

This video needs many many more views. She’s dropping diamonds here

[MichaelPhelpsMedia]

My story: I've been on and off TRT for about 10 years. 51 years old (level consistently less than 200 when off therapy, once tested at 70 at age 42) I understand the studies, but in my single case, TRT greatly increases my mood, apathy, energy level, libido, overall feeling of well-being and health, and helps with ED issues. My only concern is hematocrit level which I am genetically high to start. I donate blood 3-4 times a year to control the hematocrit. I discussed the issues with my family physician, endocrinologist, and urologist. After weighing the risks/benefits, we all agreed to start TRT. It's the best health decision I have ever made. Side note: switching to a Keto diet/intermittent fasting naturally raised my T level by almost 100 points and lowered my triglycerides by 100 points. Combining Keto and TRT, I almost feel like I'm 25 again.

[johnmoore]

My other comment I left is long so I’ll tell my personal story in this one. Since I was 17 my libido tanked and erections became an issue. My levels came back between 176-300ng/dL for years. I kept getting denied referrals/treatment by my doctor because I was too young and/or borderline low (lab range at the time bottomed out at 300ng/dL.) This went back and forth for years and around 21 years old I really started to take it seriously and tried to increase my levels naturally. I started taking magnesium, zinc, and Vitamin D (which I was somewhat deficient in Vitamin D according to labs) and I started working out 6 days a week, lost some weight, and I regulated my sleep schedule much stricter, making sure I got 8-10 hours. Even after a year of all that I still only crept my way up to 454ng/dL, I was still largely symptomatic although there was some improvement. But now because I was well within range there was no way a “normal” doctor was going to treat me, so I basically screwed myself.

Fast forward a year (still continuing my routine) my levels didn’t even budge. So I decided to go through a TRT clinic. I started 0.1mL (20mg) of testosterone cypionate daily via subcutaneous injection back in April of 2021 and now in September of 2021 I can tell you it has drastically improved my symptoms. Not 100% but then again I don’t think it’s possible to recreate how I felt when I was 16.

[Alessandro]

As a 40 year old man. I wish I had it like i did in my 20s. Unfortunately. I did consider TRT initially but after hearing and reading about the negative side affects, I'll just stick to natural sources.

[JohnHBatte]

After a decade fighting Drs to get trt I hate seeing Drs saying it is bad that’s why I struggled to get a needed treatment while women are having it thrown at them

[aresxerxes]

This is great, but it doesn't fix the root of the problem. Again, it's great we have it, and like anything else, what are the long term effects? Are they worth it?

[allenglishknives]

Dr Majd, please, please do some more content!! You are an oasis of cool refreshing sanity in this online world of click bait and miss information. Come back!!!!

[sal]

I’ve met some men in there 60s with the same testosterone levels as most young men how is that normal ?

[bobbybob]

If you go on TRT for about a year, is the shut down of your body's production permanent? Can you stop TRT and safely restart your body's T?

[TheRayd]

I am 50 and just had mine checked it this Monday. Waiting for results. Thank you for such a great video.

[chargerse]

In Canada ( metric) my level was 2 and 4 (different tests) I was awful dead tired but a new doc did a prolactin test and it seems I have an issue in my Pituitary gland. A couple weeks in and things seem to be reversing . The treatment drug has some side effects but eventually ... and T shots were a PITA every 2 weeks. But I did feel a lot better just not sustainable. Oh and Im 63. and was on injections and creams for 15 years.

[brucenichols]

So, if artificially boosting Testosterone with drugs seems to have some negative side effects, what's your opinion of Dietary methods to boost it? Do Dietary changes have any effect, and if so do the hazards come along with them also?

[jwwilliams]

First off if you’re a man watching this video for advice you should probably look for a male version. They would potentially have a much better knowledge of the subject. I'm not being sexist just stating a fact. This lady missed many points on the many benefits of TRT. Too on sided on the subject as most female doctors are at least from what I've seen.

Second you can find study's showing you anything you want. If you're for it there will be study's for it and if you're against it there will be studies against it. So you have to take both sides and weigh them.

Third issues with testosterone as with any drug are dose-dependent. To accurately describe testosterone and its side effects one must add the phrase if dosed improperly. Because if dosed properly there are no side effects. It’s like saying studies have shown that putting salt on your lawn will kill your grass and it will if too much is put on it. Some salt on your grass given a particular condition is actually good for it.

Fourth, Studies? What was their dose protocol? Was it 100mg once a week or 200mg once every 2 weeks? Two very different examples that will yield two very different outcomes.

Fifth, is it "natural" for hormones to digress as we get older or is it one of the consequences of our modern environment with its many endocrine disrupters? Have you seen the study's on testosterone decline in men over the last 20 years? Have you seen what "normal" testosterone reference range levels were in men 30 years ago in comparison to today? I have they are significantly less today.

If you want to "naturally" decline mentally and physically over the years as you age assuming that is even the case in our current environment then go right ahead. I prefer keeping my levels optimal for as long as I can.

With that all being said hormones are complicated to say the least and finding a urologist' who knows their stuff enough to give you what you need will prove to be difficult. If you're looking into it study all the aspects of HRT/TRT in depth. You should know more than your doctor on the subject before ever seeing him, otherwise, you will most likely be in for a roller coaster ride.