4 ms·

Seemed like the OP was making the point that lower sex drive could be caused by the same chemical effects that could be causing lower sperm counts. How would a

Seemed like the OP was making the point that lower sex drive could be caused by the same chemical effects that could be causing lower sperm counts. How would a mental health professional help with this?

wonderwonder 4y ago
OP is guessing based on reading a random article on HN. A medical Dr. is probably more equipped to root cause their issue and more specifically treat it.
- concinds 4y ago
  Doctor are unlikely to help, since most medical societies consider 300ng/dL (incomprehensibly low) T levels acceptable. With this (and a sadly too large number of other conditions), doing research and being one's own advocate will fare 1000x better than naively expecting a doctor to correctly spot, and be willing to treat, low T. That just isn't how they're trained, and here, their training is wrong.
  - wonderwonder 4y ago
    Generally yes, I agree with you. In this case though OP was doing nothing and in no way appeared to be motivated to investigate. A dr. is going to be better than nothing. With that said I specifically went to male hormone / TRT doctor because that is what I wanted after my own research.
    - no_wizard 4y ago
      if by OP you mean me, thats not true, I am motivated. I was being succient in my point and hoping to understand what others felt / do in my situation, if they have any similar experience. I'm extremely motivated to get to the bottom of this. I've been roadblocked by therapy in some ways, because they just say your sex drive is yours, her sex drive is hers, and it shouldn't define your relationship on one hand to another therapist telling me that women should drive sex in a relationship not men to yet another telling me that I don't exhibit a normal pattern of sexual desire but gave little recommendation in the way of action on what to do about it. Doctors are even worse, they either don't see an issue, or just want to throw ED pills at me. Its alot more complicated than you might think. I just didn't want to put all of this into one post like that, so it didn't augment peoples opinions. I'm somewhat regretting this now, as I wonder if any potential employer might track down my identity now and see these posts and think lesser, but I'm willing to put myself out like this so I can hear from others, and I think thats worth the potential exposure
      - wonderwonder 4y ago
        I misunderstood then and apologize. With that said I highly recommend going to a TRT doctor and getting your total and free levels checked. Your issue could be as simple as just having low T and that is a very easy fix. I very much doubt an employer is going to go through the trouble of tracking your anonymous HN accounts down. You are likely safe :) Note: personal unpopular opinion unrelated to anything in particular that will get me down voted, unless recovering from some incredible trauma (death of a child, sexual abuse, etc.) I have never understood the need for a psychologist / psychiatrist. Best advice I have ever gotten is just to get on with it. No need to talk things through with some person that has never been through what you have and is just making it up as they go along. Trudge On.
      - ddingus 4y ago
        >somewhat regretting this now, as I sure hope not. Frankly I'm struggling with some of this stuff, and found your comnent refreshing, in that I see someone having Frank open conversation about things that matter. I put a lot of effort in my life into getting rid of personal judgment of this kind. This conversation is why. We should be able to talk openly and frankly about these things. About a lot of things. We're better humans when we do. That's it, just throwing a little support your way.
  - 0des 4y ago
    I've been told that medically below 1200 for a healthy and young male is low
    - staticman2 4y ago
      Been told by whom, a drug dealer?
      - 0des 4y ago
        essentially yeah, an endocrinologist.
        staticman2 4y ago
        Am I missing something? Here's a quote from The Penis Book by Aaron Spitz, MD: "So what is a normal level? Good question. This has been the subject of a lot of debate amongst experts . Probably the best rule of thumb is if your total T is less than 200 nanograms per deciliter (ng/ dl) and you have signs or symptoms, then you are too low. Normal T ranges from 400 to 1,000 ng/ dl, and it will tend to be higher in young guys and lower in middle-aged men. This is not an absolute, and there are plenty of younger guys with T levels below 400 who are completely normal, so symptoms are key. The real fun comes when a guy’s level is between 200 and 400 ng/ dl— now what? Many experts feel that being above 300 ng/ dl is the real cutoff for normal, and as long as there are no symptoms, there’s usually no problem. On the other hand, we can do a deeper dive and check the free testosterone" You found a doctor who said 1200 was normal? Are we talking about the same measurement? I'm not a doctor but if we're talking about the same thing this makes me think you were treated by someone who is a recreational drug dealer who happens to have a medical degree.
        0des 4y ago
        That level is a fairly safe target for healthy active young males that remain asymptomatic, and show low levels of aromatization potential. Proper labwork performed often is a must regardless of dosage. Adverse effects obviously would mean it has to be reduced, but usually if there will be any issues youll see it in cholesterol, and ancillary hormone responses first. High levels of activity can make it hard for certain esters to keep the levels stable if stable is what is desired. For some people longer release solutions are better, like testopel which is a pellet that goes in subq like a chip you put in a housecat's neck. Some prefer to taper over days, or even have smaller doses more often during the week. It's ultimately up to what the patient and doc arrive at that works best. Everyone is different, to an extent.

wonderwonder 4y ago

OP is guessing based on reading a random article on HN. A medical Dr. is probably more equipped to root cause their issue and more specifically treat it.

concinds 4y ago
Doctor are unlikely to help, since most medical societies consider 300ng/dL (incomprehensibly low) T levels acceptable. With this (and a sadly too large number of other conditions), doing research and being one's own advocate will fare 1000x better than naively expecting a doctor to correctly spot, and be willing to treat, low T. That just isn't how they're trained, and here, their training is wrong.
- wonderwonder 4y ago
  Generally yes, I agree with you. In this case though OP was doing nothing and in no way appeared to be motivated to investigate. A dr. is going to be better than nothing. With that said I specifically went to male hormone / TRT doctor because that is what I wanted after my own research.
  - no_wizard 4y ago
    if by OP you mean me, thats not true, I am motivated. I was being succient in my point and hoping to understand what others felt / do in my situation, if they have any similar experience. I'm extremely motivated to get to the bottom of this. I've been roadblocked by therapy in some ways, because they just say your sex drive is yours, her sex drive is hers, and it shouldn't define your relationship on one hand to another therapist telling me that women should drive sex in a relationship not men to yet another telling me that I don't exhibit a normal pattern of sexual desire but gave little recommendation in the way of action on what to do about it. Doctors are even worse, they either don't see an issue, or just want to throw ED pills at me. Its alot more complicated than you might think. I just didn't want to put all of this into one post like that, so it didn't augment peoples opinions. I'm somewhat regretting this now, as I wonder if any potential employer might track down my identity now and see these posts and think lesser, but I'm willing to put myself out like this so I can hear from others, and I think thats worth the potential exposure
    - wonderwonder 4y ago
      I misunderstood then and apologize. With that said I highly recommend going to a TRT doctor and getting your total and free levels checked. Your issue could be as simple as just having low T and that is a very easy fix. I very much doubt an employer is going to go through the trouble of tracking your anonymous HN accounts down. You are likely safe :) Note: personal unpopular opinion unrelated to anything in particular that will get me down voted, unless recovering from some incredible trauma (death of a child, sexual abuse, etc.) I have never understood the need for a psychologist / psychiatrist. Best advice I have ever gotten is just to get on with it. No need to talk things through with some person that has never been through what you have and is just making it up as they go along. Trudge On.
    - ddingus 4y ago
      >somewhat regretting this now, as I sure hope not. Frankly I'm struggling with some of this stuff, and found your comnent refreshing, in that I see someone having Frank open conversation about things that matter. I put a lot of effort in my life into getting rid of personal judgment of this kind. This conversation is why. We should be able to talk openly and frankly about these things. About a lot of things. We're better humans when we do. That's it, just throwing a little support your way.
- 0des 4y ago
  I've been told that medically below 1200 for a healthy and young male is low
  - staticman2 4y ago
    Been told by whom, a drug dealer?
    - 0des 4y ago
      essentially yeah, an endocrinologist.
      - staticman2 4y ago
        Am I missing something? Here's a quote from The Penis Book by Aaron Spitz, MD: "So what is a normal level? Good question. This has been the subject of a lot of debate amongst experts . Probably the best rule of thumb is if your total T is less than 200 nanograms per deciliter (ng/ dl) and you have signs or symptoms, then you are too low. Normal T ranges from 400 to 1,000 ng/ dl, and it will tend to be higher in young guys and lower in middle-aged men. This is not an absolute, and there are plenty of younger guys with T levels below 400 who are completely normal, so symptoms are key. The real fun comes when a guy’s level is between 200 and 400 ng/ dl— now what? Many experts feel that being above 300 ng/ dl is the real cutoff for normal, and as long as there are no symptoms, there’s usually no problem. On the other hand, we can do a deeper dive and check the free testosterone" You found a doctor who said 1200 was normal? Are we talking about the same measurement? I'm not a doctor but if we're talking about the same thing this makes me think you were treated by someone who is a recreational drug dealer who happens to have a medical degree.
        0des 4y ago
        That level is a fairly safe target for healthy active young males that remain asymptomatic, and show low levels of aromatization potential. Proper labwork performed often is a must regardless of dosage. Adverse effects obviously would mean it has to be reduced, but usually if there will be any issues youll see it in cholesterol, and ancillary hormone responses first. High levels of activity can make it hard for certain esters to keep the levels stable if stable is what is desired. For some people longer release solutions are better, like testopel which is a pellet that goes in subq like a chip you put in a housecat's neck. Some prefer to taper over days, or even have smaller doses more often during the week. It's ultimately up to what the patient and doc arrive at that works best. Everyone is different, to an extent.