Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion Men Only Message Board Testosterone replacement

For the men here: Does anybody here have experience with testosterone replacement? Chronic use of opioids for pain can drive testosterone into the dumps. I had mine tested recently and it was quite low, probably from all the Tramadol. Supposedly testosterone can help reduce pain and inflammation, and improve mood and energy.

I use a testosterone gel.

Mine numbers were at the bottom of the normal range. rheumy thought it could help with my osteoporosis. My bone mass is improving nicely but he never mentioned any benefit for inflammation. I think It definately did help with energy levels.

You mention an important issue, which is loss of bone mass from low testosterone.

It seems important to keep an eye on hormonal health, expecially since some of the medications commonly used here can cause low testosterone.

I already mentioned opioids, but other medications commonly used here such as MTX and Sulfasalazine are also known to reduce testosterone levels.

For some reason, many people who would never have a problem with taking thyroid medication seem to have a problem with taking testosterone. Testosterone is at least as important to male health as thyroid hormones, and a testosterone deficiency can cause not only loss of bone density in males but also a range of other health problems.

I'm not an expert on this, but I remember reading that low thyroid and low-t scores can be related, ie, low thyroid can decrease your testosterone level.

The problem with replacement gel is that it fools your body into not producing testosterone, so you get dependent on the gel. Maybe that's not a big deal to you, but its something I think about.

My t level was at the low end of normal about a year ago -funny, I was taking Tramadol at the time - but my MD wouldn't do anything except give me a referral to an endocrinologist. I hear those folks don't give you anything unless your levels are severely out of whack.

That is certainly an important issue.

Some say that you can get off the gel and recover your own production in a couple of months. Some say that doesn't always happen.

Right now my quality of life is so low, though.

I'm also on T-gel replace due to very low numbers. 10yrs ago I had severe chest pain (which later turned out to be my spondy flaring.) They did stress test which was inconclusive, so due to Spondy dx they wanted do heart cath, which made sense.

Heart Cath showed my heart was fine. The doc went in thru my right femeral artery in groin. Apparently, from all the doc visits & test since, the cardiologist initially went into my femerol artery as suppose to, but punctured thru the other side of it. He then pulled it back into artery & proceeded up to the heart. He did not tell anyone at the time, but one tech in room later stated he had major issues inserting into artery.

After Heart Cath I was placed in bed (still in hosp)with sandbag on groin so artery could clot. I was in severe groin pain since I woke from proceedure. After 6 hours of lying in bed, they said it was time to get up. I couldn't. The pian was so bad I could not stand or walk. The cardiologist gave me 2 percocet & once they kicked in he had them take me to my car in a wheelchair.

I'll try make Long story shorter.. the "other" puncture in my femeral artery continued to bleed unabated. The next moring my right testicle was twice normal size and had huge blue lump on it. I called cardiologist who had me come in. They said was normal, gave me 30 more percocet & sent me home. 2 day later, my entire testicles where black/blue & size of grapefruit and my entire mid sction and legs were also black & yellowish. The pain had increased beyond comprehension. As directed on phone, I went back to cardiologist office. Again, they said probably normal as they didn't "feel" and aneurism. They gave me more percocet & sent me home.

Two more days later, they had rush me to hospital as I was blacking out. I was white as a ghost. I was still bleeding internally for several days after heart cath. The ER did test and determined the "other" femerol artery puncture has clotted. But, I now I had a massive hematoma (blood inside) that could not be drained. I was packed with blood that was now like playdough. The ER doctors said it was too late to drain all the blood.

The many doctors I saw after concluded this major trauma/injury to my testiclesis main reason for my low T. I also sufferred severe inguinial & spermatic nerve damage which still to this day, 10 years later, gives me pain. I've had several nerve blocks and 3 cryo-ablations, where they go in a freeze/burn/kill the nerves. This helped somewhat but to this day I have daily groin pain in my testicles.

The T-gel replacements certainly made a difference & my levels qucikly got back to normal. They also feel the mega pain meds I was on for several years after also played a role.

Sorry for long post... sometimes I need to vent, today was one of those days. If you're feeling "down" or no sex drive, get your T-levels checked! KurtAS

That sounds terrible. Hopefully you got reparation from the hospital. That's scary that a doctor can make a mistake and try to hide it rather than dealing with it especially when a patient's life is on the line.

I had a friend who had been taking medication for years, and when she was in another country she found out from another physician that her medicine was something not meant for her at all. That was really scary.



This is a rather frustrating marketing scheme. I'd consult a physician and get a second opinion first if I were you.

Has anyone tried hormone replacement therapy? If so, could you let us know how it effected your energy levels (if you suffer from fatigue). Thanks!

I think you may need to see endrocoligist (spelling ?) for
test. Keep in mind that it can and will bring up your
cholosterol level (bad kind) and reduce the good kind. So if your gonna go long term your best to see your Dr.

How old are you? What do you intend to do? If you gonna use test, bear in mind that if it is a aging problem
you may run the risk of prostate cancer.

So if your needing blood test go and find out what your
natural level is first. If it is low, then he can figure it out for you.