Table of Contents

Chapter 6: Using Hormone Therapy

d. Managing the Effects of Testosterone Loss

Testosterone is the primary male hormone, playing an important role in establishing and maintaining the typical male characteristics, such as body hair growth, muscle mass, sexual desire, and erectile function, but also controlling many other physiologic effects that we don’t typically think of as hormone related. The list of potential effects of testosterone loss is long: hot flashes, decreased sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, osteoporosis, weight gain, decreased muscle mass, anemia, and memory loss.Most men who are on hormone therapy experience at least some of these effects, but the degree to which you will be affected by any one drug regimen is impossible to predict.

Before you begin hormone therapy, be sure to discuss the effects of testosterone loss with your doctor, so you can alter your lifestyle to accommodate or head off the changes.