Listen up, men! We’ve got something to tell you that your dad forgot to mention! Hormone imbalance doesn’t just affect women. It affects men too. As you age, your hormone levels will change, which will affect how you feel and how your body works.
- Has your performance at work decreased?
- How about your performance in the bedroom?
- Have you gained weight but lost muscle mass?
- Are you turning into a tired old couch potato?
- Do you feel the mirror is something to avoid?!
Then you may have male hormone imbalance.
The good news? Doctors are now treating male hormone imbalance as seriously as female hormone imbalance. And you’ve got treatment options! But to understand male hormone imbalance treatment options, you first need to understand what’s going on in your body.
What Hormones Do
You’ve got more than 50 hormones coursing through your body right now. Each hormone has an optimal level. These hormones are there to keep your body’s systems communicating with one another. If a hormone’s level is above or below the normal range, it can’t do its job correctly and that affects other hormones and body functions.
Why? Hormones interact much like a sports team. Everyone has a job to do, and if a player is injured or having a bad day, then the whole team suffers. The same goes for hormones. Hormones together regulate the systems in your body, including digestion, growth, metabolism, mood, movement, reproduction, respiration, stress, and tissue function. One hormone level that is too low or too high can affect all aspects of your overall health and functioning.
Male Hormone Imbalance: Symptoms You Can Expect
Before we detail the types of male hormone imbalances, let’s do a Q&A to see if you have any symptoms. (You could fill in a checklist here and use it when you call in for a consultation with us.)
- Have your muscles been aching for no apparent reason?
- Are your joints causing you pain?
- Have you been having to take an extra shirt to work because you’ve been sweating excessively?
- Was the last time you got a good night’s sleep so long ago that you can’t remember when it was?
- Are you tired all the time?
- Do you feel like flying off the handle more than usual?
- Have you been getting nervous and fidgety? Anxious? Depressed?
- Is the word “vitality” no longer part of your vocabulary?
- Do you feel like you’re past your peak?
- Has your beard been sketchy, or has your hair been falling out?
- Have you been embarrassed about your ability to perform sexually?
- Have you had fewer morning erections than usual?
- Do things seem like they weigh a ton when you used to carry them easily?
Answering yes to any or all of these questions is a flag on the play telling you to stop and pay attention!
Types of Male Hormone Imbalance
You probably think of women and menopause when you think of hormone imbalance. Or you may just think of low testosterone. But sex hormones aren’t the only hormones that can cause a hormone imbalance.
Most male hormone imbalances involve testosterone or thyroid hormones.
Testosterone-related hormone imbalance
The most common male hormone imbalance is called andropause.
The natural aging process causes andropause, or male menopause. Low testosterone levels can produce symptoms like low libido, sleep disturbances, decreased sexual function, anxiousness, and low mood. These symptoms can become intolerable and reduce your quality of life.
There are also links between low-T, or low testosterone, and primary hypogonadism and secondary hypogonadism. Primary hypogonadism occurs when something has injured your testicles, or they’ve not descended, or if you have Klinefelter syndrome. Secondary hypogonadism can be a result of medications, pituitary disorders, elevated blood sugar, and aging.
Low-T symptoms are not always obvious because they’re linked with other conditions or sometimes part of a busy life. Common Low-T symptoms include low energy, weak bones, mood swings, hair loss, decreased muscle mass, low energy, and low sex drive.
Thyroid-related male hormone imbalance
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck that produces hormones that regulate many different metabolic processes throughout your body. Thyroid disorders affect thyroid hormone levels and can cause symptoms. These disorders can be acute or chronic.
If your thyroid becomes underactive, you have a condition called hypothyroidism. Some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism include:
- Poor concentration and memory
- Fatigue
- Low libido and/or erectile dysfunction (ED)
- Low blood pressure and arrhythmias
- Elevated cholesterol and weight gain
- Dry skin
- Constipation
- Feeling cold
Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, occurs when the thyroid gland becomes overactive. Why is that important? Remember when we were talking about teamwork? When there’s too much thyroid hormone in your system, your testosterone levels are affected. Too much thyroid hormone equals not enough testosterone. Hyperthyroidism symptoms are similar to those of hypothyroidism and low-T, but osteoporosis and male breast enlargement also fall under this category.
Other hormone imbalances in men
There are a few other less common male hormone imbalances. Two of these are adrenal fatigue and metabolic syndrome.
Adrenal fatigue happens if you’re stressed out for a long time. Your adrenal glands can go on overdrive, eventually leading to higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone).
Metabolic syndrome consists of several conditions that have links with hormone imbalance. These conditions increase the risk of stroke, abnormal heart conditions, and elevated blood sugar.
If it’s Not Aging, What Else Causes Hormone Imbalance in Men?
We’ll take a quick look at some other things that can impact hormone balance in men.
- Your activity level directly affects your hormone levels.
- What you eat affects hormone production.
- Consistent, unmanaged stress can quickly lead to hormone imbalance.
- Hormone imbalances can be passed down through the genetic lines in families.
- Medications can interact with hormones and cause hormone imbalance.
Treating Male Hormone Imbalance
Good news! We promised you earlier that male hormone imbalance can be successfully treated. The most direct way to treat a hormone imbalance is to boost low hormone levels back up to optimal levels.
A BHRT practitioner can easily do this with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). BHRT is a natural hormone treatment using hormones that are biologically identical to your own to replace the hormones that are in decline.
After a few tests, your BHRT practitioner will know where your hormone levels fall and what you need to revive them. With BHRT pellet therapy, they can customize the dose for your needs, quickly implant a small pellet under your skin, and you’ll be good to go for 4-6 months!
Want to know more about male hormone imbalance and how BHRT can help? Contact us for a consultation today!