Young British men with low sex drives getting testosterone injections to boost their flagging libidos
WHEN it comes to testosterone, we're not the men we used to be.
Because for reasons that aren't entirely clear, the average level of the main male sex hormone has been tumbling all over the world in recent years — having disastrous consequences for blokes' sex lives.
Scientists found, for example, that an average 60-year-old American man in 2004 had around 17 per cent less testosterone than a 60-year-old in 1987.
And it's not just in the States — other studies have found similar double-digit drops in testosterone levels in men in European countries too.
Researchers don't know exactly why this is happening, but men with low testosterone have all kinds of issues — especially in the bedroom.
Daniel Kelly was working in finance in London when he started taking testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) when he was just 28 years old after suffering from the negative effects of low testosterone.
He said: "I didn't feel any desire to have sexual intercourse. It was very rare that I did.
"And when I did, I felt very drained because I simply had no energy.
"Many men with low testosterone report the same thing."
'TESTOSTERONE OF AN 80-YEAR-OLD'
Daniel's symptoms also included struggles with depression and anxiety, as well as difficulties with his fitness.
He added: "I was going to the gym three to four times a week, but I wasn’t really experiencing results, despite the fact that I was training very hard.
"At the time, I didn’t realise this had anything to do with testosterone – I was just going through a bad patch in my life.
"It wasn’t until I had a blood test a year after I was experiencing these symptoms I found out I had the testosterone levels of an 80-year-old man, and it was kind of a shock."
Lads with low levels of testosterone get erectile dysfunction and, coupled with a much weaker sex drive and less semen production, can experience a catastrophic impact on their sexual relationships.
And the problems don't end there — men also have less muscle mass, poor cognition and even less ambition.
So it's no wonder there's now a booming medical demand for solutions — the most sought after being TRT.
SEX DRIVE BOOST
Daniel went to a private doctor who put him on TRT to boost his testosterone levels up to those you'd expect to find in a healthy young man.
And the medication, which Daniel injects every month, had a substantial effect on him.
He said: “I felt a lot more confident, my libido was a lot healthier, like a healthy normal man.
“My results in the gym reflected my efforts and I just felt a lot better about myself.”
He also claims the treatment meant his self-consciousness around women faded.
Daniel is now a health and fitness coach seeking to help other men having written a book about his experiences with TRT called Optimized Under 35.
He said his initially drained state was so bad it "got to the point where sex felt like a chore".
Daniel will now be on the treatment for the rest of his life to keep his hormonal dials where they should be naturally.
And he's not alone.
LIMP LIBIDOS
NHS ADVICE ON TESTOSTERONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
If you think you might have low testosterone levels, the NHS points out there may be several causes for your symptoms.
For example a low sex drive or erectile dysfunction could be the result of stress or anxiety.
A lack of sleep, poor diet or drinking too much can also bring on 'midlife crisis' types of symptoms for men in their 40s or 50s.
But if you are concerned you may have a testosterone deficiency, the NHS advises that you see your GP.
They will be able to assess if your problem is related to your work or personal life.
And they can also order a blood test to objectively measure your testosterone levels.
Your GP can then refer you to an endocrinologist - a horomone specialist - if necessary, who in turn can offer you a replacement therapy to alleviate symptoms.
Find out more information .
TRT's popularity has exploded in the past decade as millions of middle-aged men have turned to the treatment as a way of recapturing the vitality they used to have in their 20s.
But as young men now have less sex than blokes born a decade earlier, more and more men are turning to TRT earlier in life to rev up their own slouching libidos.
Alastair Kennett, who himself suffered with low testosterone, founded a company offering TRT to UK men called in 2018.
Alastair said: "We’re seeing more and more young guys around Daniel’s age, 27, 28, 26, who often start getting the symptoms."
Optimale offers blood tests to objectively determine if men actually do have low levels of the hormone.
And if a man does have low levels, Alastair then provides a synthetic version of the hormone which can be in the form of a gel, a patch or a regular injection.
DROPPING TESTOSTERONE LEVELS
Alastair says: "The research seems to suggest that average levels across the board are reducing every decade.
“There are a few things that people have suggested might cause it.
"Things like an increase of chemicals like BPA in water bottles, for example, potentially more hormones in the water supply.
“But it’s very difficult to put a finger on exactly what that is.”
The treatment sets patients back £90 a month and the idea is that if you need it, you're on it for life.
But within six to eight weeks of starting the treatment, some men report a dramatic turnaround.
Alastair said: "People will say ‘it’s changed my life, it’s saved my marriage.’"
And Daniel agrees: "It completely transformed my life. It gave me the confidence in myself to leave my job and go after things I really wanted to do in life."
"A lot of people think taking testosterone is some kind of panacea or magic bullet, but the only reason it worked so well for me is because I looked after myself."
Critics of TRT have pointed out that previous research results suggested the treatment could be linked with cardiovascular and prostate problems.
But different studies have come to a variety of conclusions about the long-term effects of TRT, which has led some doctors to take a more cautious approach to prescribing it.
MALE MENOPAUSE
Alastair says most men with low testosterone start experiencing symptoms in their late 30s and early 40s — which is why the condition is sometimes dubbed the "male menopause".
But it's not just the timing of the onset that's similar with the female menopause, as some of the effects are similar too.
He said: "A lot of men get this kind of brain fog, a lack of concentration – they even get hot flushes also sometimes.
"That’s normally because their oestrogen is also low.”
Alastair says the service he provides is all about helping men feel healthy again.
But in America, thousands of middle-aged blokes use TRT to top up their normal midlife testosterone levels to recapture the libido and vitality they had in their 20s.
He said: “In the US, I think that may be the case because of life extension clinics and stuff like that where they just give people anything.
“It’s not like that in the UK. In the UK, you have to have low levels.
“If somebody comes to us and says: ‘Oh, I just want to have more energy and build bigger muscles,’ we’ll say: ‘This is not for you.’”
MORE IN SUN MEN
Instead, Alastair sees TRT as part of a much more urgent effort to tackle serious problems with men's health.
He said: “The suicide rate is going up all the time – it’s the highest it’s ever been in young men.
“And it’s possible this has something to do with it.”
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