The state of Andropause, also
commonly known as male menopause, is when a man reaches his late forties or
early fifties and reaches a time in his life when his hormones start to
decline. It is a gradual process and symptoms vary from person to person. What
usually happens is that the man fails to have an erection or has difficulty
getting one, feels grumpy, is more fatigued than before, has night sweats and
sometimes even palpitations. Mood changes are also known to occur and the man
is usually edgy, depressed, anxious, nervous, or any one of those.
Symptoms of male menopause
·
One of the first
signs that a man is menopausal is that he becomes clingy and takes more
interest in family life and being at home. He is losing interest in certain
things and with his inability to perform his manly duties he feels almost
incapacitated.
·
There are mood
and other changes and he is nervous and irritable and also depressed. He can’t
articulate his distress as he is embarrassed about his erectile dysfunction. He
also turns more to his wife than he did before.
·
He has night
sweats and palpitations worrying about his testosterone levels and so slides
deeper and deeper into depression. He is difficult to approach because he
cannot accept that he no longer is that virile 30 year old he used to be.
·
Men have a hard
time dealing with the fact that they are getting older. They do not want anyone
to know and don’t want to discuss their inability to have sex with a doctor.
This makes the condition harder to treat as he has now also become sullen.
·
An andropausal
man loses his love of adventure and takes few chances now. He errs on the safe
side. His razor sharp wheeling and dealing in business is a thing of the past.
·
A decrease in
body hair and an increase of fat around the organs. This is not true for all
men, and all men also do not experience Andropause.
·
A decrease in
lean body mass and bone density.
·
He starts to
forget things, misplaces the keys, or forgot that he turned on the stove. He
puts this down to normal aging when in fact he is in the grip of male
menopause.
Treating Andropause
Some doctors recommend
vitamins and herbal and natural cures. There is also testosterone replacement
therapy which is often very effective. Treatment includes restoring sexual
function, increasing libido, an increased sense of well being and the
prevention of osteoporosis by optimizing bone density and improved muscle
strength and mental functioning. Treatment should not only aim for normal
testosterone levels, but also aim to normalize levels of secondary hormones
affected by testosterone levels. Present options include oral tablets,
capsules, injections, slow release pellets and patches and gels. These last two
are easy to apply and fairly safe with a very low incidence of side effects. Andropause
affects a man’s ego and he rues that he no longer is the king of the pride that
can leave his scent anywhere; that’s a hard blow for a man. Go online if you
want to know more about Andropause and treatment.
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