Male menopause symptoms are the wakeup call you need to address low testosterone! Be aware of the symptoms of male menopause, and learn about the treatment for male menopause. Your life may depend on it.
Menopause in men? Am I kidding? Well, not really. Men DO have a male counterpart to menopause, which is actually called “andropause.” Like women, men suffer diminishing levels of critical hormones. In women it’s estrogen, and in men it is testosterone.
People have always known about women’s diminishing hormones, but the concept of a male-menopause is relatively new to society, and yet it’s no less serious for many men. Male menopause symptoms shouldn’t be ignored, as they can eventually be life threatening.
As I mentioned in a page about sexual functioning, the issues surrounding this loss of testosterone go far being sex and erectile dysfunction. When testosterone levels fall, the quality of life declines as well, and risk of serious chronic disease goes up drastically.
Symptoms of Male Menopause
What are the symptoms that indicate that your testosterone levels have declined and constitute a problem you need to address?
Here are some of the signs:
- Low sex drive and lack of interest in intimacy
- Constant fatigue
- Erectile dysfunction
- Moodiness, lack of optimism
- Loss of lean muscle mass
- Increased bodyfat especially around the waist
- Testicular atrophy
Some men characterize this feeling as loss of vitality, energy, optimism, and enthusiasm for life in general. Since testosterone affect the brain dramatically, a low level of this hormone can cause moodiness, irritability, and mild depression.
Male menopause symptoms generally show up in the late 30’s to late 40’s but this is a very individual thing. Some men suffer declines in testosterone in their early 30’s although this is not as common.
Men suffering symptoms of male menopause lose that drive, the desire to compete, and may even feel as if they want to withdraw from life. This loss of aggressiveness and change in attitude is perhaps the most outwardly visible sign that testosterone levels have declined significantly. It is very disconcerting for men as it involves aspects of their personality and behavior that define their masculinity!
Treatment for Male Menopause
Fortunately treatment for male menopause is both available and effective. There are a number of options ranging from standard hormone therapy (not a very good approach) to Bioidential hormone therapy which is more precise and subtle.
How would you go about getting diagnosed and treated?
Start with a visit to your primary care physician or antiaging doctor and have your testosterone levels checked. Antiaging doctors tend to be much more keyed into optimizing your hormone levels rather than just looking at simple reference ranges.
Such a physician is concerned with returning you to optimal physical, mental, and emotional functioning rather than treating you based on one size fits all protocols. Male menopause symptoms involved elevated risk of chronic disease as well as declines in the quality of life.
The doctor should test both free and total testosterone, as men convert a certain amount of their testosterone to estrogen. Excessive conversion of testosterone to estrogen is something that should be investigate and dealt with as well.
Recommendations from free testosterone are: 15 pg/mL to 25 pg/mL of blood
An antiaging physician such as the BodyLogicMD docs will address multiple health and lifestyle issues I a way that supports healthy hormone levels. Treatment for male menopause is relatively simple and the effects are well worth the effort in getting treated.
Another option for treating low testosterone is Biosignature modulation. This is a technique that uses skinfolds to assess bodyfat storage sites that correlate. Treatment consists of nutritional supplements, diet, and exercise protocols designed to address all of the aspects of testosterone production and aromatic conversion to estrogen.
The embedded links will bring you to my pages on Biosignature and bioidentical hormone therapy.
Which ever method you choose, remember that male menopause symptoms are a warning to you that you need to correct hormone imbalances both to protect against heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.
The symptoms of male menopause should lead you to seek treatment for male menopause. Doing so will add years to your life and life to your years!
