I have been checking on side effects on all the drugs I have been prescribed for high Blood pressure and cholesterol. Every one of them have impotence or decrease in libido listed. Some also cause "man boobs", depression, myopathy, depression and nerve damage. I just got lab work for cholesterol back with a recommendation to double lovastatin anf gemfibrozil. I will have to talk to my PCP about that before I up my doses. The propanalol and Cozaar I take for blood pressure also cause impotence. I sometimes feel like just not taking any of those meds. I guess that it will take lots of time and experimentation to try to understand the complex interactions of all these drugs.

Impotence is not the same as low testosterone...although proper levels of T will help your body function properly and help control blood issues like cholesterol, blood sugar regulation...etc

I'm not saying if you have high numbers this will cure them, but it should help over the long haul to get them lower.

Talking to your doctor is of course the BEST thing you can do. I suggest making a list of questions and writing them down to take with you. That way you can get the answers you want and as better informed questions.

gjvr2001 (imported) wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:54 pm I have been checking on side effects on all the drugs I have been prescribed for high Blood pressure and cholesterol. Every one of them have impotence or decrease in libido listed. Some also cause "man boobs", depression, myopathy, depression and nerve damage. I just got lab work for cholesterol back with a recommendation to double lovastatin anf gemfibrozil. I will have to talk to my PCP about that before I up my doses. The propanalol and Cozaar I take for blood pressure also cause impotence. I sometimes feel like just not taking any of those meds. I guess that it will take lots of time and experimentation to try to understand the complex interactions of all these drugs.

Try changing your diet. Eliminated statins and type 2 risk by cleaning up my act.

Drugs, our thoughts, our environment all have a natural physics impact upon us.

For every action there is a reaction. (or as it is called in the medical world, a Side Effect).

This really never stops, not even when we die. Our decomposing bodies, or our ashes from cremation, continue to contribute to every action results in a reaction. Material from the "Big Bang" are in us. And what is in us will continue to exist for all time - in different forms, somewhere.

What is so interesting is that as human life forms we are particles of atoms that can actually think about ourselves. Truly a remarkable accomplishment. Thinking atoms. Maybe we just think too much for our own good.

I wish that I could be happy with the eunuch calm as that would be the cheapest and easiest to accomplish but that doesn't seem to work for me. we are what we are.

have continued on 5mg testim with no significant good things happening and starting Saturday I had cold sweats and frequent and burning urination. I ran a temp of 102.5 and began taking gercillum 500 mg frequently. I'm still running a 101.5 temp and not scheduled to have a Dr's appt until tomorrow but think I'll see if I can see dr today. Has anyone had these symptoms or did I just get a flu bug?

Looked back in the thread but not seeing symptom history.

If you have a fever a virus may be indicated and antibiotics will do no good.

Although a massive bacteria infection could affect temp.; antibiotics might be prescribed.

Good luck at the Dr.

Just a few basics that might help.

The 101 on Androgel is that you go on a starting dose (5 gms) go with that for a couple of weeks then get morning labs (Before you rub it in for the day) to get an idea how much is getting into you.

The doctor quizzes you on symptoms looking mostly at mood and energy which are the first things that come back. If your mood went high and crashed? You have a common complaint and it normally because your not taking enough. If the labs are still semi low you will probably get bumped up in dose.

Then repeat. Two weeks later you get labs and if you have complaints maybe another dose change (If labs are lowish)

Once your mood is "ok" (Not euphoric it only feels like that one time when you start) you go for about 6 months, get a PSA and a DRE and labs and go over how its going. It only then that your sex drive etc are probably improved. It takes months for that and mental focus to change for the better.

You might get labs for E2 (Estogen) if your overweight etc. Testosterone tends to convert to E2 if your fat.

After a while the 6 months dre/psa labs go to yearly with your physical.

Androgel is nice in that it mimics the male 24 hour hormone cycle. Injections change that to weekly (or longer) and it may spoil you a bit.

Compounded testosterone creams maybe cheaper (Without insurance for sure)

Anyway, don't be impatient. Follow the routine and be clear how things are going when you see your doctor.

Yes, there are side effects to many drugs but read up and see how often these happen. Many are very low percentages of people reporting any problems or no one would use them. If you think you will loose sex drive from a drug? Guess what? You might but not from the drug...

Relax!

Had my uro appt and after discussing possible affects of meds side effects he said all I could do was increase dose to 10 mg for 2 weeks as I had unfunctional testes and that I thought to much. I doubled up to the 10 mg of Testim and it seems to be a little better as I can get a weak O if I really work on it. I tried to get him to prescribe a shot or First T but he said just double the Testim. I have lab on the 1st of April so will see how it turns out and try not to think about it.

If some of your functions have shut down in the interim, it will take time for the testosterone to reactive/rejuvenate your systems. Give it a fair chance to work.

When I started on T from being low, it was a few months later that my thinking really started to crystallize and I felt sharper.

Please keep in mind if the Testim doesn't seem to work or you get low scores on it, you may need to go the injection route instead...some men can't absorb it properly. In my case it caused rashes wherever I applied it.