Depression & Testosterone

[ccjamesdean]

I'm a 65 year old male who has been treated for depression ( slept all day on couch at its worst) for the past 6 years, seeing a shrink ( 4 different ones to find a doctor who could help)  and being treated by taking many different antidepressants, right now I'm on 60 mg Cymbalta and did feel a little better.

Cymbalta had the side effect of eliminating my sex drive and performance to zero. So I saw a urolgist and got my testosterone checked, it was low normal, but he still prescribed Testim.

Magic, on only 1/2 tube a day I'm 1000% better, more energy, sex drive is back, feel better, happier.

My shrink says their no correlation between depression and Testosterone level.

I think he is very wrong as its a life saver for me. Should I find another doctor or are thier doc's who specialize in depresson and hormone levels.

James

[donb_fl]

the chief symptom of testosterone dysfunction is DEPRESSION! I know this because i have to have artifical T, i dont make any. If i stop, boy, i get "gun in mouth" level depression. My minor is endo, i know these issues both acadymicly and personaly. The shrink who said that, frankly, dosnt know jack ****. Low T levels can also inhibit the effectiveness of anti-depressants. It is thought that 75% of men currently being diagnosed with depression are actualy suffering from low T, it is a major educational issue to get the message across doctors heads who havent steped in school for a decade. Here are the symptoms of Low T:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/male-hypogonadism/DS00300/DSECTION=2

Notice the mental symptoms at the end:

Fatigue
Decreased sex drive
Difficulty concentrating
Hot flashes
Irritability
Depression

This from the mayo clinic, cant get much more authoritative than that!

[donb_fl]

oops forgot to spell check the above, my spelling sucks, sorry

[donb_fl]

oh, and normal for one guy can be low or high for the next, the set value standard is stone age medicine, diagnosis should be subjective to the patients symptoms, per AACE Medical Guidelines for Clinical Practice for Evaluation and Treatment of Hypogonadism, 2004 update. Personally i cant function at levels below the upper 2/3s of the "normal" range.

[ccjamesdean]

Thank you very very much