I was assuming that NABP's H has had weight problems all his life, especially to lead up to the point of becoming obese. That could be due to hormonal problems. It could also be due to FOO issues and in those types of situations, overeating is often a symptom.
I don't think that everyone who has low testosterone is depressed, unhappy or has lost his sex drive. Yeah, get the medical check up, balance the hormones, then see how things go. But a lifetime spent obese will already have created major emotional problems for this guy.
None of this other stuff is even pertinent. until someone has an appropriate amount of sex hormones going through their veins, they're just not going to be interested, period. I assume this applies to women as well. The guy can take testosterone to solve his problem. What do the ladies do?
The thyroid is the master of the endocrine system so anyone who has a low sex drive should have their thyroid checked. Most MDs only do a TSH test which once you understand the thyroid/pituitary relationshiop is only part of the equation. Free T3 and Free T4 should also be checked. T3 and T4 are two of the thyroid hormones produced and usually one or both will be low. I believe low thyroid is much more prevalent than most people think because of MD's only doing the TSH test.
Estrogen and Progesterone levels can also be checked.
So many questions. I will get to them all but have to do some work first. Thanks for all the ideas and thoughts.
thing is, much of your "t3" isn't actually created by the thyroid gland; it creates "t4", which is converted to t3 at varying rates by different organs...which have different requirements for t3. So the typical treatment is that they give you synthetic t4, and "assume" that the body has everything it needs. not much is visible in the bloodstream. Looking at the hormone levels alone is like trying to analyze someones finances by looking only at their bank balance.
cemar: testosterone regulates sex drive in women, too, and they also can take it. they just need way less than we do. But some women do take T for "low libido"...kind of controversial. a lot of docs (I suspect) don't want to play w/ fire like that.
