Signs of Low Testosterone

Video Transcription

Dr. Philip Faler: Hi everyone. I’m Dr. Philip Faler with Anti-Aging Northwest. I thought we’d touch base today and discuss the global decline in testosterone and how to know if your testosterone is dropping, what are the signs and symptoms?

Why Testosterone Levels Are Declining

So first off, we have on average lower testosterone than our fathers and our grandfathers and that trend seems to be continuing. So why is that happening? I think partially it’s because society is less physically active now than it was. That’s one big thing. Our food sources, high sugar, high cabohydrate, ultra-processed foods, none of those things are helping our endocrine system. And then also we’ve got a lot of what we call environmental endocrine disruptors, all your plastics, your phthalates, BPAs, these sorts of things. They take their toll on the endocrine system.

Sign 1: Poor Sleep Quality

So how do we know when our testosterone is dropping? The things men tell me most often, one of the first ones people see is that their sleep becomes less restful. So maybe they were tired all day long and they finally laid down to sleep and their brain just picked up once they laid down and started thinking about all kinds of things and they can’t fall asleep. Or very common also is they fell asleep easily, but then, far earlier than they needed to wake up, they woke up and they could not go back to sleep. So poor sleep is a big sign.

Sign 2: Low Libido and Erectile Dysfunction

Obviously, there’s the obvious ones like declining libido and erectile dysfunction. Those are actually, in my experience, some of the later signs, the libido and erectile dysfunction.

Sign 3: Mood Changes and Loss of Motivation

Before that, men tend to see that their mood declines, they feel less motivated to want to do things.

Sign 4: Increased Irritability and Feeling Overwhelmed

I see a lot where men tell me they feel really irritable. And if you dig a little deeper, you find out that they feel more overwhelmed by their normal workload day than they used to. Which chronically feeling overwhelmed leads to feeling irritable, which leads to you snapping at people, which is no fun at all.

Sign 5: Loss of Interest in Hobbies and Activities

Loss of interest in things outside of what you had to get done that day. Maybe you like fishing, or you like soccer or whatever it is, or you like the gym and you get through the workday and there’s just nothing left. These are all signs and symptoms that it might be time to check your testosterone.

Sign 6: Exercise Recovery and Performance Changes

Another one would be guys who are exercising regularly. They’ll tell me that, “Geez, what used to take 24 hours for recovery, now three days.” Or, “Geez, doc, I’m eating right. I’m putting in the work. I’ve been doing it for three and a half months very consistently. I’m just not getting results.” These are all things.

What To Do?: How Testosterone Testing Works

So what do you do? Well, blood test is where you start. We get a free and total testosterone, we get an estradiol, we get a CBC and a CMP, and we get a PSA. Look at all that together, find out where your numbers are at and then there’s a number of different roads we could go. So if you’re experiencing any of those symptoms: declining mood, energy, libido, poor sleep, motivation, reach out to us, book a free 10-minute consult at antiagingnorthwest.com. We’ll jump on a call. We’ll run through it all. If it looks appropriate, we’ll go ahead and order you some lab work and take it from there. Thank you so much and I hope everyone’s having a great day.