Hypogonadism

Hi crystal, i've had this condition since I was a kid and I understand this is more common than you would think (in the uk anyway). Most cases are the result of testicular cancer in later life, but it can occur for a variety of reasons, in my case it was due to complications at birth and a bunch of bungling doctors. Something similar occurs in women as well, but is more to do with the pituitary gland in those cases (well, you'd hope so anyway :) ).

I dont know what the details are of your boyfriends condition, but i'll try to help with the little info i've got.

There isnt, unfortunately, a lot of info widely available about the condition, but I can answer a couple of questions. In regards to his life expectancy I wouldnt worry about that too much, people with this condition are only at serious risk of reduced life expectancy if they develop the condition young (pre puberty) and arent treated, and then most of the risks are a result of poor development, i'm guessing your boyfriend didnt have this condition young and matured normally, so he should be fine. As far as I can tell in your boyfriends case he would be physically ok even without treatment but it would screw up his quality of life. I havent come across any definite complications in the future so long as treatment is given.
The medication he takes is an "androgen" and there are a bunch of treatments available, the medication I use is called andropatch and is a daily patch that delivers through the skin, I had those fortnightly injections for years and man did they suck, your boyfriend has my sympathy. You can find some info on these here:

http: //www.Drugs.Com/cons/depo_testosterone_cyp ionate.Html

i understand if sufferers dont get treatment later in life they have an increased risk of osteoperosis, I think the risk is minimised if treatment is given.

Speaking from my own personal perpsective this condition is not great. While there are few health risks I have found that the condition can cause depression and tiredness, I find there are mixed opinions on this in the medical profession, but I find I tire easily and am inclined to feel tired, anxious and generally miserable a lot of the time. This may or may not be the case with your boyfriend, so long as he gets plenty of exercise (and some calcium and vitmain d to help against osteoperosis) and has his friends and family around him for support he should be ok.

I'm having a browse at the moment to see if I can find any useful websites, but no joy so far past a few outlining the basics of the condition.
I found one site that looks interesting;

http://216.239.59.104/search? Q=cache:x4uijtgfekwj:www.Aace.Com/clin/gui delines/hypogonadism.Pdf+hypogonadism& hl=en

which im reading now, which may be of some interest.

I hope this helps. It may be worth talking to your doctor to see if there is any further information they can give.

Nick

Sorry that link doesnt work, here's a copy of the document.

Http://niku.Servehtt p.Com/hypogonadism.Html

Wow, thanks so much for the helpful information. I posted my link months ago and was hoping someone would eventually reply. My boyfriend is now 37 years old and because he was diagnosed at age 28, it's still fresh in his mind. He doesn't like to talk about it and sometimes gets emotional about it. I'm not sure if certain symptoms are because of his hypogonadism or not. For example, he does tire easily. At night, when he lays down to sleep, he will fall asleep within seconds. Sexual symptoms as well. His sex drive is much lower than mine. Also, he tends to be quite moody. He hits these highs where he is in such a great mood, and then the next day, he will be extremely ill-tempered. It's difficult for me. I'm not sure how to react. I have been nothing but supportive and wish there was something I could do. I think I will ask him if he has heard of that patch you referred to, because you're right, those shots every 2 weeks are a pain. He injects himself in the thigh and he usually does it at night before bed, every 2 weeks. Before he was diagnosed, in his early 20s, he noticed symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, muscle wasting (he lost a lot of weight), sexual dysfunction, and other things. He had every scan done and the doctors could find no cause for his hypogonadism.

Anyway, do the symptoms I describe sound related?

I'm surprised to hear how common it is. I appreciate all your insight. Thanks also for the website links.

Crystal

Hi crystal

i gotta say, those symptoms sound familiar, most doctors i've seen are extremely coy about any psychological symptoms, but from experience i'd say there are symptoms like tiredness and moodiness. If his sex drive is really low (i dont know, you might just have a really hgh sex drive :lol: ) then he may not be getting a high enough dosage, i'd recommend speaking to his doctor about this(they should be able to run some blood tests to check testosterone levels in the body), I can understand why he might not be comfortable speaking about this but it helps to be as well informed as possible. In regards to the mood swings, I know from experience that what you get with the injections is a really erratic hormone level, really high to begin with and then lower as the days go by, this tended to make me all happy and motivated some days and then gloomy and lethargic on other days, with no real pattern. I dont really know what to suggest in terms of dealing with it, theres not much you can really do, apart from being patient and not taking it personally, i'd recommend reading up on depression forums and support groups, they sometimes have great advice for coping with this sort of situation. I know from experience that these mood swings are less common with the patches but they do still occur.

Its interesting that they can find no cause for the hypogonadism, i'm guessing he's still 'all there' if you know what I mean. Maybe its a pituitary problem, that can cause hypogonadism.

Btw. Theres an implant thats available as well, cant remember what its called, but your doctor should know. Its a little pellet that is surgically implanted under the skin and slow releases over 4-6 months, i've heard some good things about it, i've been meaning to try it myself, but youre boyfriends not alone in finding this a difficult topic, I still dont like even talking to doctors about it.

Http:/ /www.Endocrine-abstracts.Org/ea/0005/ea000 5p213.Htm

http://www.Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov/entrez /query.Fcgi?Cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed& ;list_uids=15049955&dopt=citation

this is about all the info I could find regarding the implant, not much but I hope it helps.

Nick

Everything you say sounds right on. Thanks for all your help! I mentioned it to him and he actually did some research on the internet regarding the patch and the implant. The implant scares him a little because he is scared of surgery of any kind. But, I think the patch might be a good alternative. He's going to set up an appointment with his doctor. Thanks again!

Crystal

Glad to help, hope it all works out for you. :d

Hi crystal, I too have just been diagnosed with this condition. I became aware of it when my wife complained of my lack of sexual interest. I didnt notice myself much as you dont notice if you are not hungry!
Anyway after an mri scan to rule out pituitary tumour my endocrinoligist started me on testosterone replacement in the form of "striant" this is supposed to stick to your top gum & be repacaed every 12 hours. Great idea in theory ! However I would advise strongly against this product.
I have been attemping to use this for the last 2 weeks without much success. First off, the tablets do not stick properly, second you can keep them in position if you are careful but its like keeping a peanut there and it feels like it too! Thirdly the info given makes out it must be removed carefully so as "not to scratch your gum", in fact after about 5-6 hours the tablet turns into a messy white gooey mush!
Finally (& most importantly) the product had no effect on my sex drive so I can only conclude it is a total scam! Dont touch it!!
I am going to my doc this week to ask for some other form of trt.
Ps, does anyone here know of any independant drug trial results sites? I can find plenty on striant but all from the manufacurer!