depression

[matthew1]

 I have  been  having  depression issues  since my teens,  only I did not know what it was untill two years ago and I was hosptalized ,  could not stop crying  for 2  days. I  drank  booze and used nicotine to mask depression for years. Gave those  both up 2 years ago when I entered a hospital.
            Anyway, been  on anti depressents  for two  years. With therapy  I have improved somewhat . Reduced medicines  by  1/2 over the last 8 months. The medicine  can  make  you depressed themselves.
             After reading about  gynecomastia and  low testosterone I found  that low testosterone  can  lead to depression also. I scheduled a  appointment  with  an endo. doc next week. Trying to gather all the  tests I want run    from reading what  other guys had    done at their endo. docs on this site.
                 I had  puffy  nipples from age 14. I did not reach puberty till 18 yrs old!  was in my 20s when started to shave. Nipples  are still very puffy. Been  hiding  my chest  for  30 years. Made a  visit with   a gyne  doc  on this site. Hope he was not the one that left.  Doc and I agreed to wait  a bit prior to operating.
          My questions is does anyone have experience with  Tet. replacement therapy  as a  relief  for depression?

[outertrial]

Not personally. I've found Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to be very helpful though, not just with depression but with chronic fatigue too. Hope you find the help you need.

[Hypo-is-here]

Depression is multifactoral in that it can be caused by a whole host of differing factors.

It can be caused by a chemical/hormonal imbalance as a result of low testosterone or a poor androgen status, via thyroid issues, due to growth hormone deficiency etc

All the above said depression can have nothing to do with the aforementioned conditions.  It can in fact have no known cause and be independently a condition in its own right.

Gynecomastia is an associated condition to low testosterone with 10% of all gynecomastia sufferers having hypogondism, so given you have an associated condition to hypogondism and you have at least one further symptoms of hypogondism in depression it is clearly worth clarifying the situation with endocrine tests.

For men that have had depression as a result of a hormone imbalance, correct treatment of that underlying cause is often far more successful than simply treating the symptom with anti depresants.

I do not get this simply from reading the web or a book.

I know this first hand from talking to hundrends of hypogondal men over a number of years many of whom were incorrectly simply given anti-depresants prior to the discovery and treatment of hypogondism.  I have heard of endless stories of men greatly improving in this regard once on correct treatment.  As well as this firts hand experience I can talk of my own situation and say I am easily depressed if I am not on the correct treatment and I can also say from reading of hundreds of case studies in endocrine books on the subject this has also been found objectively to be the case.

I can also say that this effect has also been widely reported with thyroid disorders and with growth hormone disorders.

The initial tests you would want are;

LH
Total/serum Testosterone
Free testosterone (as well if possible)
SHBG
Estradiol
Prolactin
TSH
Free T3

Have the tests and request a physical copy of your results on paper that includes the accompanying reference ranges. 

Once you have done that you can post your results here at the site and you will then have the professional medical opinion of your endocrinologist and independent experienced laymans opinion on your results. 

[matthew1]

hypo, I can not thank you enough  for   your reply.
          I am  hpyothyroid and  taking  synthroid  also. I am  meeting  with  endo  doc   this week,  but  tests   for test. issues  wont be done till later.
        You are a valuable asset to this  forum, if ever in Maryland   I will buy  you a $150 steak dinner.
            Or a  free foundation  evualuation

 www.mtaylorenterprise.com     lol           [ my biz]

[matthew1]

 One more thing,  I agree on getting the WRITTEN test results, very  important.
  Do you think it prudent for me to get  TWO  sets of blood work done independ of each other? to confirm results. I am in financial position to do  pretty  much whatever I want   out of  pocket  beyond  what my insurance will do.
                 

[Hypo-is-here]

I think one set of test results would be fine. 

Make sure that you have the tests in the morning prior to 11am.

It is key for some of the tests (sex hormones) to be valid, as the reference ranges are calibrated around a morning test.

You have mentioned a treated thyroid condition.

Given what you have mentioned, a treated thyroid condition, one specifically treated with synthroid, I think that the free T3 test is very important for you. 

In some men synthroid provides adequate T4 but is not converted into adequate levels of free T3 which is the active thyroid hormone.

If you are undertreated/underdosed or the medication is not being correctly converted then you could be suffering as a result.

So make sure that Free T3 and not just T3 is tested.

Also low Cortisol can cause thyroid issues with or without treatment so I think that a Cortisol test should also be included.

So Remember, Morning tests, Free T3 included and Cortisol included.

If you can find out what the exact diagnosis was for your thyroid condition, find out if your doctor diagnosed it as a primary or secondary condition etc.

We can speak when your get your results, if you find this information helpful.



 





 here I think it is very important that you