Testosterone is one of the main hormones in men of all ages. It can help regulate muscle, bone, hair loss, sexual drive, and much more. As men get older, they will most likely see a decline in their testosterone levels. This means that their physical health may change, as well as their mental health occasionally. It is important to watch how you feel as you age to see if it changes testosterone levels.
What Normal May Look Like
There are normal levels of testosterone in men, even once they start to get lower numbers of the hormone, it can still be considered normal. Men may regulate around 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter in their bodies as they get older or from physical conditions. After 40 years of age, men could start losing one percent of their testosterone each year.
As those years progress, they may start to feel the symptoms start to occur within them. This may look like the loss of muscle, depression, anxiety, hair loss, or lower libido. If levels are lower than they should be, it could show themselves in different ways like the inability to have a child, erectile dysfunction, or over-tiredness. It can be vital to watch the differences and make sure that if you are not feeling right, to go to a doctor and see if your testosterone levels are lower than they should be.
The Testing Process
If you believe that your testosterone levels are lower than you should be, your doctor may ask to take some tests. These are done with a blood test in the morning. Your doctor will also ask you to stop taking any medications you may be currently taking before the tests.
There are some medications that may falsely raise or lower your testosterone levels and stop them before the test can show what is really going on. Steroids and barbiturates could possibly raise your testosterone levels artificially. While medications like opiates could be lowering your testosterone levels without you realizing it. You want to make sure that the result from the blood tests is currently showing where your T-levels are at naturally. Because of this, the test may have to be redone a couple of times to make sure the correct results are being represented.
Your doctor may also take a physical exam as well, especially if they are looking for lower testosterone levels. Since low testosterone can affect your body in many ways, they may look for new hair loss, weight loss or gain, and loss of height.
There are at-home test kits that can be done as well. These test your blood or saliva and then you can send that to the lab for results.
What Happens Next
If you are showing levels of abnormal testosterone levels, there are things that can help. There is testosterone replacement therapy that can help bring your levels up to a normal range. These are usually prescribed by your doctor and taken by pill, pellet, or even shot depending on your comfort.
If it was a certain medication that was causing the strange levels, you will probably be asked to stop taking that and that alone may help bring you back to normal.
Having low testosterone doesn’t have to be scary, it could be a very easy fix. It just takes talking to your doctor for help.
