Are Your Low Testosterone Levels and Anxiety Connected?

While most men associate their testosterone levels with their sex drive or building muscle mass, this hormone is responsible for so much more. Vital processes such as building bone density, red blood cell and sperm production, and regulating fat storage all rely on testosterone levels.

It even plays a key role in the state of your mental health.

So if you find yourself wondering if low testosterone cause anxiety, the short answer is yes. If you want to understand how it all works, the rest of this blog is for you.

Understanding Anxiety and Depression

As one of the most common mental health disorders in the U.S. today, depression impacts more than 21 million people across the country. Anxiety disorders are even more common.

While it’s normal to experience occasional bouts of anxiety, crippling anxiety that impacts your day-to-day life is not.

But what does anxiety look and feel like?

• Your thoughts are plagued with worry
• You experience excessive nervous sweating
• You struggle with insomnia
• Your moods are unstable and you feel on edge/irritable
• Your heart feels like it’s beating out of your chest
• You experience nightmares and night sweats
• Feeling a sense of being overwhelmed

Some of these symptoms may feel worse depending on the type of anxiety you have. You may experience all of these symptoms, or only a few.

Much of the time, anxiety and depression go hand-in-hand as co-occurring mental health disorders.

The causes of anxiety and depression aren’t the same for each person – it’s very nuanced and person-specific. However, traumatic life events, genetics, socio-economic conditions, medical conditions, and hormones can all play key roles.

How to Tell You Have Low Testosterone

As mentioned, testosterone is a key hormone responsible for multiple functions in the body – not just in men but also in women.

As an androgen hormone, it’s responsible for reproductive development, but also the regulation of your sex drive, cognitive abilities, and mental health.

What are normal testosterone levels in men? Generally, this ranges between 300 to 1000 nanograms per deciliter. Or, 10 to 35 nanomoles per liter of blood.

Some of the most common male hormonal imbalance symptoms include:

• Low libido/sex drive
• Erectile dysfunction (ED)
• An increase in body fat
• Poor bone density
• Loss of muscle mass
• Poor concentration
• Low sperm count
• Unexplained fatigue
• Bouts of anxiety and depression
• Sense of being overwhelmed

What are the causes of low testosterone, also called ”Low T”?

Most of the time, it boils down to aging, poor thyroid function, being severely overweight, medications, the use of drugs, and other chronic diseases. Also, environmental endocrine disruptors, such as micro plastics and phthalates, becoming more and more frequently calls, agents of low testosterone.

Can Low Testosterone Cause Anxiety?

Hormones in the human body work in an intricate, interconnected manner. While there is no exact theory about why low testosterone causes anxiety, research suggests it has to do with a chemical imbalance of hormones.

Normal or healthy testosterone levels promote the production of the ”happy” hormone serotonin. When testosterone dips below normal, so does the production of serotonin, which ultimately impacts your mood.

This puts you at risk of developing anxiety and depression. There are a few other factors that can lead to anxiety when you have Low T:

Stress

Whether the physical symptoms of low testosterone stress you out, or you’re experiencing stress for other reasons, it can all lead to anxiety.

Stress increases the production of cortisol, known as the stress hormone. This, in turn, reduces the production of testosterone. The increase in cortisol and decrease in testosterone loop around in a vicious cycle, leading to anxiety and even depression.

Physical Symptoms

Reduced testosterone can lead to a host of physical challenges in men. The most stressful of which is low libido and erectile dysfunction.

Struggling with physical symptoms of Low T, such as a lack of interest in sex or an inability to perform can cause major anxiety issues. It can also lead to major bouts of depression.

Poor testosterone levels can also impact your physical image, which in itself can increase stress levels. You might gain weight, lose muscle mass, and just not feel like yourself.

This physical deterioration can wreak havoc with your confidence and feed your anxiety. If left unchecked, these feelings could also worsen over time as stress increases and testosterone levels dip even further.

Sleep Disruption

As your testosterone levels drop, so will your sleep quality. Poor sleep can have a dire impact on your mood and lead to issues with anxiety and depression.

To add to this, you might feel extra lethargic during the day, adding to your frustration of not feeling like yourself.

If you’re experiencing any of the above symptoms, it’s important to speak to your healthcare provider about getting a blood test. This will confirm whether you have Low T and help you formulate a solution.

What Are the Solutions?

The good news is that you don’t have to live with low testosterone and its crippling side effects. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, improving your testosterone levels can improve or even banish these symptoms for good.

The best testosterone treatment on the market today is testosterone replacement therapy, also called TRT.

During this process, you can increase testosterone levels with a prescription pill, gel, implant, patch, or injection.

If your levels are toward the lower end of the normal range, important lifestyle changes can make a great difference:

• Improving your sleep habits, i.e. getting better sleep
• Prioritizing regular exercise
• Improving your diet
• Taking supplements such as magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D
• Reducing your levels of stress

Not only can these simple lifestyle changes improve your testosterone levels, but they can improve your mental health.

Seeking out therapy is also a good way to prioritize your mental health and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Rectify Your Low Testosterone Levels With Us

So, can low testosterone cause anxiety? The reality is that there’s a definite link between the two. If you think you could have lower-than-normal testosterone levels, now is the time to get tested and find a solution.

At Anti-Aging Northwest, we specialize in rectifying low testosterone levels to help you live a happy, anxiety-free life. Schedule a virtual appointment with us today if you’re interested in seeing if this is the right solution for your problem.