Castration & Mental Health

[Kangan2008 (imported)]

You are doing the right thing in my opinion, although I am not medically qualified to say that... LOL Surgery and zero (minimal) T was right for me. I hate shots or pills. Surgery was quick, relatively painless and, most importantly, permanent.

[bigdude1 (imported)]

Went in for my complete yearly Physical about 10 days ago. I get pretty good checkups every 3 months but this was the "Biggie". The Good News is that everything is looking pretty much normal except that I'm STILL having the Testicular pain that I've been dealing with for 5+ years now. This day it just happened to be worse. My PCP, who my wife & I have had for close to 10 years now & we think the world of, had me lying on my back & when she reached up under my gown & lightly grasped my left testicle I let out a Fred Flintstone quality yelp! I think she got the point! The right one is having some pain too but it has a ways to go before it catches up with the left one!

My PCP got me an appointment with an Urologist as fast as she could. That would normally be good news except that this Urologist is in a Catholic owned Clinic. I just happen to live in a city where a little better than half of our Health Care & Hospitals are Catholic run. I'm afraid that this will severely limit the options that I will have in dealing with this pain, PERMANENTLY!

Going in & getting a shot in the butt is not exactly the easiest thing in the world to fit into my schedule when I'm trying to run a business that is needing my attention 10 - 12 hours a day! Beyond that having to deal with testicular pain when I trying to run that business double downs the bad!

The Depo Provera got both my Bi-Polar & hyper-sexuality under control so that I can now focus intently. Isn't it amazing what shutting off a simple hormone can do? Now if we can just solve this pain issue & the BP issue all at the same time on a permanent basis I just might be a Happy Camper for a long time to come!

[bigdude1 (imported)]

Wow! This was Mind-Blowing for me! About two weeks ago I got super busy with the company we own & somehow managed to blow off going in & getting my every two week Depo-Provera Booster shot for a little over a week. By the time I was able to get into my PCP's Office & get my shot I was a friggin mess!

MY Bi-Polar which has been a non issue & pretty much 90%+ completely contained was all over the place! I was a grumpy, grouchy, argumentative, jerk, & that's putting it nicely! Considering that people say that I'm normally one of the nicest people they've ever met that ought to tell you something! I office out of the house & my family was ready to out a steel barred door on my office & only come to my door to pass the meals through the slot to me! Sales which have steadily growing every month tanked because there were days I just couldn't get anything done no matter what I did!

Fast forward to two days after I got my Booster Shot. My family is starting to like me again. I'm amazingly fairly organized with our company which even on my best days is a small miracle! I'm on the phone calling customers, getting sales, & arranging trucking for our customers! Amazing what happens when you shut off one hormone that is throwing the rest of the body, & in my case, my mind, into a crazy, head over heals, out of control, insane spin that if not stopped would have led to my destruction!

I'll be completely honest here. Moving forward with a "Permanent Solution" scares the c**p out of me! However, after this episode I just described, I see now that I'm basically down to two choices.

The first choice is that I can keep taking the shots every two weeks. The problem here is that I'll have to take a shot every two weeks for the next ??? years. I'm in my early fifties so who knows how many years this would carry on. This is an expensive option & it can also be a painful option. About two months ago one of the nurses must of hit something just right or wrong because for the first 4+ weeks it hurt to sit or lean on that spot & to this day if I sit on that spot for an extended period I can still feel it! However even worse is the issue of missing or being late for a Booster as I described above. That is really scary!

The second choice is the "Permanent Option". Like I said, this one really scares me, however if it will prevent an episode like the one above, then I may have little choice. I'm pretty certain that my insurance will cover it at this point if I can get it done in the next three months or so. I just need to get my PCP to give me a referral to a Urologist that would do it. The one that did my vasectomy would do it I'm pretty sure but I'm having trouble getting back in to see him. The one Urologist I can get in to see is in a clinic that is part of the Catholic Hospital system in our area here. These Catholic Hospitals won't do Vasectomies so I'm pretty certain that a "Permanent Solution" wouldn't even be asked about!

So there's where I'm at.

Now I have to decide what to do.

I also don't have much time to decide.

I'm normally outstanding at making decisions.

It's what I do for a living.

Now I'm stuck because it's purely on me.

So many questions.

So little time.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Cleancut01 (imported)]

You know bigdude1 I was glad to read that the surgical option scared the crap out of you! It should for any thinking person, an operation that would alter you that much should never be taken lightly. I sometime worry a great deal for some of the folks that I read about here rushing into a decision that is permanent.

That said I am greatly interested in your situation since it is similar to mine. I have an overactive sexdrive to say the least and have intense issues with concentration and focus. I am not bi-polar as you state you are but reading many of these threads over the years I have begun to suspect that for some small percentage of the male population testosterone reduces life quality. I wish there were a more clear understanding of what point getting rid of it would be a good decision, unfortunately no recommendations exist other than those vague concepts about burdening your life. It would seem you are close to deciding that and as importantly to me your wife seems to be supportive of the decision. My wife is also encouraging me to seriously consider this choice.

It was also good to read you are working with a counselor, an outside opinion of your decision making process is key to making a rational decision based on both rational and emotional sound decisions. That your wife is supportive and understands this will make a change in your relationship is also key to me. Having this part of our life be positively impacted by this change is a huge part of my decision, I read these pages and try to gain understanding from any information provided by married couples. Unfortunately many times here if wives or women in general post they tend to receive negative or unwanted attention so gaining more specific knowledge is difficult.

So I set out these things for myself.

1, It has to be done safely and with medical professionals.

2. A professional counselor needs to agree I am making good decisions both rationally and emotionally.

3. My spouse need to be supportive and agree to these changes.

4. It has to have an overall positive impact on my life. Like now I still enjoy contact sports, that would be negatively impacted but in the next few years I will become highly uncompetitive due to age. Which will change the decision process.

5. I should be able to converse about and communicate to my close family or friends in a rational way about my decision if I choose to include them. Probably many here would disagree with this statement of reason, I live a very friend oriented life, this much of a change would be noticed. In fact several of my friends have said things to me about it would be easier or better if the rough edges were not there, which is an encouragement to cause this change. Further it is if I choose to include them if what I have done and why. I am still in control of this.

No easy decision, but it should not be. I would be happy to converse with you more if you would like about what I think on this subject.

[bigdude1 (imported)]

Thanks Cleancut! I meet tomorrow morning with my PCP. I plan on getting her thoughts on a permanent solution. I plan on approaching it in the way of "What's your thoughts on a more permanent solution to having

to take a shot every two weeks

AND having to deal with CHRONIC Testicular pain? After all, I'm in my Fifties, we've got SIX kids & we sure don't plan on having any more! Plus we know what happens if I miss a booster shot & that's not a pleasant thought!"

I'll be interested to hear her reply!

[bigdude1 (imported)]

Saw my PCP & had my wife along for the visit. My PCP is open to the idea of recommending me for an Orchiectomy. She is going to have a referral scheduled to a Urologist group that do these type of procedures here where I live. Like I said in my earlier posts this scares the C**P out of me! My PCP did however see in the long run where this could be the best option for me.

One question that I do have & maybe someone can answer is this. I'm a very active person both energetically & physically exertion wise. How long can I expect before I can get back to heavy, repetitive lifting after an Orchiectomy?

Thanks!

[Wellesley (imported)]

For me what I worry most about when going off T is mental issues, sleep and energy.

The surgery is usually really simple and quick. Inguinal for me recovered much faster than scrotal. I had one done each way. Not cutting the scrotum seems best. It is really full of blood vessels it seems.

A month? Depends on your method. I got a TRT shot the day after the surgery. I had more energy than I knew what to do with and I think that sped my recovery. That was when they gave me something like 5 times the dose I take now though.

Recovery time will very with age of course.

[kazman0608 (imported)]

Anyone here that was either surgically or chemically castrated feel less aggressive?

[Hopeful1 (imported)]

Anyone here that was either surgically or chemically castrated feel less aggressive?

That's one thing I do notice. I've been on cyproterone acetate since September 3 and when I'm on the highway, things that would normally aggravate me don't seem to as much anymore. Oh, don't get me wrong. Downtown Atlanta traffic still gets to me but Atlanta traffic would piss off the Pope.

The other thing that's happened is my gender dysphoria is kicking my butt. About five weeks ago, my GD got so bad I just had a sort of a meltdown and started crying. I swear I think I've cried more in the last few weeks than I ever have in my adult life.