Androgen Deficiency? - Men's Health Message Board

mindful_being · 06-05-2003, 09:38 AM

In reading some of the other posts, and seeing that masturbation once or twice a day is normal for teens, I'm wondering if I might not be suffering from some other condition? I'm 23 years old now, but I remember that I never had to masturbate that much, even as a teenager. Is it normal NOT to be that sexually active? The reason I ask is that I am currently looking for the cause of anxiety and fatigue that I've been fighting since I was a teen. In addition, I find it VERY hard to put on any muscle, even when on a balanced (20% fat, 50% carbs, 30% protein) 3500+ calorie per day diet, my semen volume is and always has been low, and I don't recouperate well from physical activity (weight lifting, running, ect). I've read that all of these signs might point to an androgen deficiency. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

- Mindful Being

InSolitude · 06-05-2003, 03:33 PM

Hey Mindful being, it's possible that you could be testosterone defficient. Those are some of the signs of a testosterone problem, but I am sure there are also many other guys out there who have the same symptoms and have perfectly normal testosterone levels. What you need to do is go and get a total testosterone test done, and also a free testosterone test. Around the age of 18-25, your testosterone levels will be the highest during your entire life. at about age 30 they start to decrease rapidly. Labs use one "normal testosterone Scale" and apply it to a 18 year old and a 90 yeaar old, and if you fall in between that range, you are "OK". This is not true because a low test result on that scale is not adjusted to your age. Your testosterone should be in the high range of the scale. an average young male under the age of 25 should be over 600 ng/dl ( testosterone range of ng/dl is 220-1000 ng/dl. some labs start the scale at 300 though). Surely, there are young guys out there that have very low levels of testosterone, but have no symptoms because everybody's body is different and their sensitivity to the testosterone is different. So what I am saying is, that if you have the symptoms of low Testosterone levels along with low test levels, even if on the low end of normal, it's well worth atleast a trial of testosterone replacement therapy ( although I have found that doctors do not want to treat you for any disorder, unless the test results are way off, so be persistent if a doctor says no to helping you at first)

InSolitude · 06-05-2003, 06:40 PM

By the way, there is a ton of information to be learned about testosterone problems and the web is a good place to start looking, but becareful of the information you find because much of it is unreliable. You will also find information that is contradictory to other information, and much of what is on the web comes from sources that have their heads burried so far up their ***'s that they haven't seen the light of day in years ( that goes for many doctors as well). So if you have any more questions and can't find good information, Post them here and I'll do my best to answer them