Low Testosterone 101: Symptoms, What to Do & More

Low testosterone effects all men and not all men age in the same manner thefore each man is different. You may have noticed young men barely in their 20s with their shoulders hunched, with a noticeable pot belly, lacking any muscle of any sort, and looking completely short of energy, drive and confidence.

Then you have some men in their 40s and 50s, who still retain their lean and mean look, with a glint in the eye, who ooze sex appeal and can get any woman they want, even at this age.

What’s the difference between a rugged, strong and masculine man, an Alpha, and an effete and weak and timid man, a Beta?

Testosterone.

Testosterone is what makes a man a man. Without that, there is no such thing as masculinity or manliness.

High Testosterone = Strong, Sexy, Masculine.

Low Testosterone = Weak, Effete, Timid.

Men with Low Testosterone are never happy. They suffer from a severe inferiority complex. They lack courage to simply walk up to a beautiful woman, put themselves out there and ask her for her number.

They lack concentration and focus and are too timid to try out something new or daring, like starting a business. They always look for the safer or easier option, and have this morbid fear of rejection.

As a result

Low T often leads to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression. Testosterone starts declining as soon as you hit your 30s. Thereafter, depending on your lifestyle – it can go down rapidly. So do something about it.

Start by reading the rest of this article. We have discussed everything you wanted to know about Testosterone, Low Testosterone, what causes Low T, what the symptoms of Low T are and what the best treatment for men with Low T is (Anabolic Steroids).

Let’s begin.

What is Testosterone?

Testosterone is the principal male sex hormone that belongs to a group of other male hormones such as DHEA, DHT, etc.  While Testosterone is found in both men and women, it is found more prominently in men – up to 10 times as much as women. Testosterone is what makes men, men. 

Androgens such as testosterone have a pronounced effect on sexual characteristics. Testosterone stimulates the growth of the penis and the scrotum and is essential for sperm production. It strengthens vocal cords, improves the muscle tone and shapes the body, is essential for the growth of body and facial hair and basically makes a man manlier.

Testosterone is also anabolic. It triggers protein synthesis on entering the androgen receptor and hence the growth of new muscle tissue. It has the same effect on bone tissue, as testosterone molecules bind themselves to the skeletal androgen receptors and enhance the bone density, strength, and mineral uptake.

Why Professional Athletes and Bodybuilders Take Testosterone?

Testosterone is highly sought after by athletes and bodybuilders who take it through various means, such as creams, injections, patches and pills. The main reason for this is that testosterone helps build muscle mass very quickly and speeds up the muscle development process, give athletes and bodybuilders the type of physique that would otherwise take years to develop in just a few months.

Testosterone boosts stamina in athletes and makes the body capable of taking on more strain. It helps with the even distribution of body fat and fat burning. Athletes take testosterone to stay fit and recover faster from injuries. For these reasons, synthetic testosterone is taken by athletes and bodybuilders.

What is Low Testosterone?

We’ve talked about the benefits of Testosterone. But here’s the question – what happens when someone suffers from Low Testosterone?

Every man suffers from low testosterone at some point in his life. This cannot be avoided, no matter how healthy you are. There are many reasons why people suffer from low testosterone, which we shall discuss next. But here’s what you should know.

By the age of 40, a majority of men, or over 50 percent of men are hit by low testosterone. By the age of 50, 80 percent of men suffer from this condition, believe it or not.

Testosterone is life for a men, it is what manliness is all about. When your testosterone levels are on the decline, life is not so good. You feel pretty bad about it, and wish you could do something about it.

If you suffer from Low T

You should know you’re not alone. Most men are worried about it: Which is why you have so many products targeted at men suffering from Low T. You have no doubt seen the ads on TV on this.

Don’t you wish you had the same sex drive or the energy you had when you were in your early or mid 20s? That was when your testosterone was at its peak.

Many men go to specialists for testosterone therapy. The hope is that with proper therapy and medication, their testosterone levels will return to normal.

But really, there is only one treatment for Low T that works – anabolic steroids. We shall talk about the different anabolic steroids that could help address this issue of low T later.

Shop Testosterone Here

What Happens When You Have Low Testosterone?

When you have low testosterone, you may suffer from any of the following symptoms.

Poor Sex Drive

Testosterone is important for libido in men. As men get older, they experience a decline is sex drive. Those with low Testosterone are likely to experience a much greater drop in their desire to have sex. Lower testosterone can cause a drop in sex drive in women as well.

Erectile Dysfunction

Testosterone not only boosts the male sex drive, it also helps men achieve erection. No, testosterone does not cause erection by its own, but stimulates certain receptors in the brain that produce nitric oxide, which is a chemical compound that triggers an erection. When testosterone levels are low, men have difficulty getting an erection prior to having sexual intercourse, or may experience erections unintentionally, during sleep, for instance. Erectile dysfunction can be caused by many things, but low testosterone is one of the most common factors.

Low Semen Volume

Testosterone is necessary for the production of semen. Men with higher testosterone will produce more semen and those with lower testosterone produce a lower volume of semen during ejaculation.

Hair Loss

Is one of the factors that cause hair loss in men. While balding may be caused because of several factors, men with low testosterone generally find it difficult to grow body and facial hair fast.

Fatigue

Men with low testosterone suffer from lack of energy and extreme fatigue. If you’re someone who experiences tiredness and exhaustion all the time, despite having enough sleep, or find it hard to motivate yourself to exercise, then it is possible that you’re suffering from low testosterone.

Loss of Muscle Mass

Men with low testosterone suffer from inadequate muscle mass and strength. Testosterone is necessary for building muscle. When you suffer from low testosterone, it would be hard to get your muscles back even after weight training or other exercises.

Build Up of Body Fat

Lower levels of testosterone are known to cause an increase in body fat. Men with low testosterone develop enlarged breasts, a condition known as “gynecomastia”. There are a plenty of studies that prove that your testosterone levels influence how your body stores fat. 

Decrease in Bone Density

Low testosterone causes osteoporosis in men – which refers to the thinning of bone mass and decrease in bone density. Testosterone is so important because it strengthens the bones and increases the bone mass. Men with low testosterone, especially older men are always at a risk of bone fractures.

Mood Changes

Men with low testosterone experience mood swings much in the same way as women experience changes in mood during menopause. Low testosterone may influence the mood, make you less alert, or sharp and more irritable, make it harder to concentrate and may even cause depression.

What Causes Low Testosterone in Men?

Low testosterone in men is not a condition that happens all of a sudden. It is caused due to a combination of several factors – wring diet, not exercising enough and other reasons. Let’s discuss a bit more about the causes of low testosterone in men.

Obesity

Obese men generally suffer from lower testosterone levels than those who are leaner and fitter. It’s not so difficult to see why this is so. Obesity causes an increase in the amount of aromatase enzyme, which converts testosterone molecules into estrogen molecules. Obesity causes your estrogen levels to shoot up and slows down the production of sex hormones, which causes your testosterone levels to decrease further.

In fact, this starts a vicious cycle – obesity causes lower testosterone and lower testosterone makes it so much more difficult to get rid of the fat. To deal with low testosterone, you should worry about shedding fat and decreasing your body fat percentage rather than worry about your weight or measurements such as BMI.

Stress

Stress is never good for your body as the primary stress hormone, which is called cortisol, is a catabolic hormone that breaks down muscle tissue, causes an increase in body fat, increases blood pressure, induces visceral fat gain, and plays havoc with your body. Cortisol also has a negative effect on male testosterone levels.

Your testicles produce an enzyme called 11ßHSD-1 that protects your testosterone molecules from the effects of cortisol, but when you’re under great stress, the levels of cortisol are simply too high. So, the enzyme 11ßHSD-1 finds itself unable to handle so much cortisol, which results in the destruction of the testosterone molecules in the gonads even before they enter the bloodstream. That’s why stress is one of the most important reasons for a drop in your testosterone levels.  

Alcohol Addiction

You should avoid drinking too much alcohol as that would affect your health adversely. While having a couple of glasses of red wine once in a while is fine, having too much alcohol would damage your body irreparably.  Alcohol also affects male hormones such as testosterone. It shuts down and impairs hormone production and regulation. 

The liver won’t be able to metabolize estrogen when it finds itself having to filter out alcohol for the most part, which lead to an estrogen build-up. Alcohol addiction affects the activity of the P45 enzyme which is necessary for testosterone production. Alcohol also increases cortisol levels in the body and causes oxidative damage inside the testicles. Acetylaldehyde is a toxic byproduct of alcohol that lowers testosterone levels in the body by a considerable extent.

Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency

A deficiency in vitamins and minerals affects the complex functions of the endocrine system. Those who are deficient in minerals or vitamins suffer from lower testosterone levels.  A Vitamin D deficiency is known to lower testosterone levels.  Zinc deficiency, magnesium deficiency, selenium deficiency and vitamin A deficiency are also known to cause a drop in testosterone levels. The only way to avoid deficiency of vitamins or minerals is to have good, wholesome food, with all the necessary nutrients.  Processed food or junk food has NO vitamins and minerals. That’s why they have to be avoided.

Depression

Depression may be a psychiatric problem, but it also destroys the body physically. Not just that, depression causes low testosterone levels, largely because it causes an increase in cortisol levels. Lower testosterone levels are also known to cause depression – so this is pretty much a vicious cycle.

Depression should never be left untreated. Depression is a silent killer that has led many otherwise healthy men to commit suicide. Depression is a very complex condition and if you believe that you suffer from it, it is important to get treated by a qualified psychiatrist immediately.

However, you should not overdose on medications for depression as that would lower your testosterone count further. The best way to shake off your depression is to find a job that you enjoy, exercise regularly and have healthy relationships.

Endocrine Disruptors and Estrogen Mimics

You should guard yourself against the chemicals and compounds that fill up the environment that act as endocrine disruptors and estrogen mimics. For example, when you take unfiltered tap water, that would contain chlorine and fluoride that affect the functioning of the hormone system and thyroid gland. Tap water also contains traces of a female hormone estradiol, which is present in birth control pills.

Plastics contain estrogen mimics such as phthalates, BPA (Bisphenol-A) and so on that damage the testicles. Personal care items contain estrogen mimics such as parabens, which disrupt the hormonal system as well as the reproductive system. All of these endocrine disruptors and estrogen mimics together lower testosterone levels. That’s why you should be very careful about what you consume, whether intentionally or not.

Unhealthy Diet

The food that you have on a daily basis helps with natural hormone optimization. But that is only if you have a healthy diet. A healthy diet would boost your testosterone levels significantly. You should have healthy, wholesome meals, and have all the nutrients in sufficient amounts, including fats.

You should have organic foods as much as possible as they are very healthy and avoid foods that damage the endocrine system. You should have healthy carbs, but only in the evening, following a workout. 

You shouldn’t eat multiple small means a day, contrary to what many dieticians recommend. Have no more than 3 or 4 healthy, wholesome meals, including a sumptuous breakfast. Avoid all processed food such as cereals and twinkies. Avoid foods that cause estrogenic activity such as soy, spearmint, flax, licorice, peppermint, beans and legumes and avoid beer completely.

Low fat vegetarian food would lower your testosterone levels significantly, especially when you include too much soy and flax in your diet or have a calorie deficit ketogenic low-carb diet.  

Lack of Sleep

It should not come as a surprise to you that you need to have at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night to have a healthy life. Lack of sleep plays havoc with your testosterone levels, even if you are in reasonably good health. There are several studies that have come to the conclusion that men who slept for 8 hours per night had twice the amount of testosterone as those who only slept for 4 hours.

Another study came to pretty much similar results, reporting 15% more testosterone in the blood serum with every one extra hour of sleep.
  

Too Much Exercise

While exercising is a good this – strength training and intense exercises such as HIITs (or High Intensity Interval Training) are known to boost testosterone levels – overdoing the exercise could possibly have unintended consequences. Overtraining boosts cortisol levels, which, as you know by now, results in lower testosterone levels. So while you should exercise with great intensity and with brutal force, it is important not to exercise for too long. Never have more than 3 to 4 sessions of strength training in a week and never spend more than 45 to 60 minutes at the gym. You don’t really have to!
  
Hot Baths and Tight Pants

Having hot baths would expose your testicles to heat and that would affect them badly. Keep the water temperature a couple of degrees below your usual and avoid hot showers and baths. Also, avoid wearing tight boxers or skinny jeans as those would press against your testicles and cause your balls to heat up.  Ideally, you should wear loose pants, take cold showers and, possibly, sleep naked.

Prescription Medicines

There are many prescription medicines that are known to have serious side effects. Some are known to lower testosterone levels considerably. Hair loss drugs are the worst culprits, for instance. Now, there are occasions when you have no choice but to take prescription medicines, especially when you’re sick. In that case, there is little you can do but to wait patiently till you get better.

Low Testosterone Treatment

There is no perfect cure for low testosterone. Once your T levels go low, they will remain naturally low. You cannot do anything about the problem, but you can address the symptoms of Low T.

That is what Testosterone Therapy is all about. Basically, the treatment for Low T involves taking supplements of the same hormones that the body produces naturally.

The body cannot really tell the difference between a hormone produced naturally and a synthetic or artificial version of the same. As long as the body gets the testosterone it needs, it will do fine.

Injectable Testosterone

Test is easily the best and most effective treatment for Low T. It’s really simple – take one injection of Testosterone once every 10 to 14 days. That’s it. Of course, taking injections is cumbersome and not something you would enjoy. Regardless, this is one of the most efficient ways to inject T into your bloodstream.

Some Caution

It is very important to consult with your doctor and get a blood test done before trying any of the treatments for Low Testosterone discussed here. Your doctor would examine you and recommend an appropriate treatment.