Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with testosterone

Possible hormone deficiency?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:45:59 -0800

I think I may have a hormone deficiency. I plan to see a doctor. What should I expect? I (male, late twenties) have recently started to suspect I have a hormone deficiency. This is very unscientific, based on internet diagnosis, but the symptoms seem to fit: depression, fatigue, low sex drive, trouble building muscle/burning fat even when I work out regularly. I'm thinking of going to a doctor about it, but I don't know what to prepare for.

For one, I'm currently unemployed and without health insurance. There's a good chance that will be rectified within a week or two, but no guarantees so I'm anxious about anything that might lead to expensive tests or treatments or be considered a pre-existing condition.

As for the clinical stuff, I don't want to come off as a hypochondriac, or worse yet that I might be trying to finagle some legal steroids (thinking about Bigger, Stronger, Faster* here). What would be a good way to broach this issue with a doctor? Also, is this something I would just bring up with a GP or should I be making an appointment with a specialist?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Does injecting tesosterone in a vein require an immediate trip to the hospital?

double block and bleed — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:21:32 -0800

I may have accidentally injected testosterone into a vein. Do I need to go to the ER or can I wait until my endocrinologist's office is open tomorrow? I am a man in my late 30's and I have hypogonadism, my body makes little or no testosterone naturally. Every two weeks, I inject 1 ml (200 mg) of testosterone intramuscularly into my thigh.

About 15 minutes ago, I injected my medicine. When I removed the needle, about 1/4 of a ml of blood welled up from the injection site. This has never happened to me before. I'm wondering if I accidentally hit a vein and shot some or all of the medicine into it.

I've been on metafilter long enough to know that the answer to this type of question is "Go see a doctor" and I will. I just want to know if this is something that can wait until tomorrow or if I need flashing lights and sirens.

Note to my friends from not America: today is a holiday here

Does additional testosterone, post-puberty, alter the bones of the face to any notable degree?

adipocere — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:28:01 -0800

Does additional testosterone, post-puberty, alter the bones of the face to any notable degree? I know that testosterone during puberty and just after puberty changes the shape of your skull. I know that additional testosterone after that point can make your jaw muscles larger and shift some of the fat deposits in your face. However, would it alter your skull at all after, say, your mid-twenties? Specifically, would the size of the jawbone and chin increase, or would you develop brow bossing? Any other potential changes in the skull or skeleton?

I have not been able to find a great deal of information on this topic. Of the communities for whom that would be of interest, neither had a great deal of information about bone changes aside from increases in density; they focused more on libido, muscle growth, hair, and so forth.

Hormonapalooza

thehmsbeagle — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:59:33 -0800

Can you suggest articles or books that are anecdotal descriptions of people taking opposite-sex sex hormones? Once upon a time I read the blurb for an article that seemed to be about how a woman had happened upon a stash of testosterone injections and had, uh, experimented on herself. I vaguely remember that she suddenly "got" visual pornography, and theorized that this was testosterone at work.

Like an idiot, I put the link by to read later and then lost it. A recent FPP on the "third world squat that led me to the mind-blowing Testosterone Nation Magazine reminded me of my interest in these things, so:

I'm not so much interested in things about gender reassignment as I am in, say, some guy's book about how he took estrogen as a one-person experiment and discovered X,Y and Z, or as above, a woman taking estrogen and experiencing this and that.

I guess I'm interested in layperson accounts of how sex hormones might affect the behavior/emotions/thoughts of someone who grew up in the kind of body that doesn't normally have much of that hormone, and not in stories about someone who feels like a man trying to become a man, or stories about what being a woman is like, since those probably won't have the contrast-and-compare thing I'm looking for.

Does that make any sense? I'm not a scientist, so I'm fumbling through the language of what I'm interested in, sorry.

How to boost testosterone levels?

Thistledown — Thu, 10 May 2007 12:15:36 -0800

Are there any safe, legal methods of raising testosterone levels in conjunction with a weightlifting regime? My search-yu yielded a lot of stuff about protein, which I'm already using. Interested in a supplment or foods that contribute to greater testosterone levels - or both. Thanks in advance.

How can I boost my testosterone level without hard exercise?

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 07:29:21 -0800

How can I boost my testosterone level without hard exercise? I'm off heavy training due to shoulder and hip problems, and I miss the testosterone boost. I feel a lack of drive, libido and sense of wellbeing. I know there's a herb called tribulus, but this works by stimulating the thyroid which doesn't seem clever. I don't want to turn into a wolfman, just feel more normal.

What will happen to the man that puberty forgot?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 10:17:28 -0800

Has puberty passed me by? I'm a 23 year old male who still physically resembles a 16 year old in many ways. My chin and chest are baby-soft, my nipples underdeveloped. My pubic hair is pretty fine, not the wiry MAN version most people have. And although everything down below seems to be in good working order, I can't help feeling a little cheated.

So what is this - low testosterone? Lack of patience? I'm interested to hear if there are other Peter Pans reading this with similar experiences, and whether things changed for them.