A Disturbing Side Effect

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I wonder if anyone else has had something like this.

I am 55 years old. After starting Androgel, my energy levels rose, my sweating episodes cease and my wife and I were both became very delighted with the return of our sex life.

However, there is a dark side. I have also become obsessed with pictures of naked men – specifically, their genitals. It’s like looking at a Playboy when I was 12. I find myself thinking about joining a gym just to go to shower room. Clearly all of this is very different for me and it is very uncomfortable. I am embarrassed to talk about it to my doctor.

Does anyone else have anything remotely similar to this?

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1

I had a few different ones, they come from repressed hidden thoughts, not meaning you are gay but most likely just something you have had happen as a child. I've gone from being used in a male gang bang to going down on every woman I saw on the street, mainly older woman. It will pass to some degree. Personally it doesn't bother me, at least sex is on my mind again. If it concerns you lower your dose a bit. I think it has something to do with all the repressed time my brain was deprived of sexual satisfaction

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2

Anon, I do understand how disturbing and alarming this is for you, however, going through such phases is completely normal for everyone.

In addition, whenever you are on a medication or medical treatment and experience something so unusual, you should talk to your doctor about it and there is no reason to feel embarrassed. You can be sure that unless they are fresh out of medical school, they've heard pretty much everything before and some stuff that is was worse than anything you could come up with.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Androgel/­

Are there any other comments or questions?

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3

2 days on AndroGel
OMG, I was on the train yesterday, and I found myself admiring another dude, I am happily married and love women, I think you're on to something.

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4

I have been on Androgel 1.62 for 5 days now and cannot believe the awsome changes, my t levels were 5.3 / 173 very low. no sex drive very tired all the time. cant remember the last time I had a morning erection. the morning erections are back, if I touch my wife or have any thoughts of sexual activity or seeing someone partially clothed man or women I become very aroused.I am not gay , it is a normal reaction since your sex drive is comming back according to the doctor it dosen't take much to set you in motion. I am glad I had my t-levels checked and my doctor started Androgel therapy I feel alive again after 3 or 4 years of no sex and energy. life is great now, it is a normal thing guys just keep moving forward and good luck.

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5

Dump the b**** and make the switch...

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6

Gee, I hope that affect does not happen to me, making me want to look at pics of naked women!

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7

well testosterone boosts dopamine. Dopamine antagonizes seritonin. Low seritonin causes bisexuality.

Take some 5-htp and tryptophan (5-htp is more effective) to increase seritonin and go back to pure straight.

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8

I had been on Androgel 1.62 for almost 3 months, and felt absolutely no different; still no sex drive (and I used to be always looking for sex). My doctor started me on testosterone cypionate injections 6 days ago. Much to my surprise, on the 3rd day I woke up with morning wood, which I have not had in years...I was thrilled! But so far that was the only day it happened,and I still am not thinking about sex. Does anyone have any experience with testosterone injections and how long it takes for my desire to come back? Thanks guys.

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9

What is 5-http? And what is tryptophan?
What do you mean by "go back to pure straight?
Thanks

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10

Tryptophan and 5-HTP are both supplements, google them. They can be found at any vitamin or supplement shop. They both can increase the production of seritonin.

By "pure straight" I mean sexual orientation. Hopefully by increasing your serotonin, you will go back to preferring only women.

Recent studies have shown male mice lacking serotonin mounted males and females to mate, and when they were given serotonin injections, they mounted only females.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

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11

Hi Marcus, That guy who was upset because he became attracted to women and men was not me. I think that post was from a year ago.
I used to be horney 24/7, but for a while now I have no sex drive. I tried Androgel for a couple months and it did nothing. I just started testosterone cypionate injections last week. 2 days later I very happily woke up to morning wood, which I have not had in a very long time. However, that was the only day that it happened and that was a week ago. So now I am worried that the injections are not going to help. I will be getting my next injection next Monday. Ha ve you any experience with these injections and how long they take to work?C

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12

I don't have experience with injections however what comes to mind is the testosterone in your case may be aromatizing into estrogen. I know some forms of testosterone aromatize easier than others, so google the type they are giving you and try to find out how readily it aromatizes.

If the testosterone is aromatizing it would make sense since you would notice the boost in libido and then it would go away as the aromatase enzyme is upregulated.

However it could be somethin else, in your case too much seritonin may be causing the lack of libido.

Seritonin is released after orgasm so you may want to decrease your sexual activity if applicable and see if that helps.

If decreasing your sexual activity doesn't help, I would get your hormone panel tested (if your on testosterone they should be monitering it, but mabye not) and see what your free and bound testosterone is as well as estrogen and prolactin. You should be able to tell from those results if you are converting (aromatizing) the testosterone into estrogen.

Good luck let me know if you have questions.

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13

And how quick should they work? Not sure exactly, but well within 2 weeks I'm sure.

It looks like that form does aromatize quite readily. If you have some body fat, that can make it worse since body fat cells contains aromatase enzyme.

If you are starting to retain water that also may be a sign it is aromatizing.

Some drugs that would help prevent the aromatization would be Arimidex, Femara, or Aromasin.

If you are noticing lumps under your nipple, that is gynecomastia from the estrogen and that can be treated well with Nolvadex. Nolvadex prevents estrogen binding to breast tissue.

Once again good luck and let me know how it goes at the doc.

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14

I appreciate your advice and sharing your knowledge on the subject Marcus. As far as decreasing my sexual activity goes, that is impossible since my activity has been none for quite some time. In fact, I very rarely even masturbate because I have no desire to. Sexually I used to want it all the time; if I wasn't having sex I was masturbating at least once a day. Now it's the opposite. Before I started Androgel, my T level was I think 325. After 2 1/2 months, it was like 475, but I felt no different. My Dr wants me to get tested after 3 injections, which will be six weeks on the T.
Another factor that most likely contributes to my lack of desire is that I have been on Celexa for at least 5 years. I told my psychiatrist last week that I wanted to decrease it. So I went from 80 mg to 60, and in 2 weeks I will go down to 40. I also am on Wellbutrin (300 mg), but everything I read on the subject said that Wellbutrin is one antidepressant that does not affect sex drive.
Someone at the gym suggested instead of injecting 200 200 ml every 2 weeks, I should inject 100 weekly. However, I cannot do that because right now I am not injecting myself; the Dr is injecting me. And each time I go for the injection obviously cost money, so I do not want to go there more often, and besides its up to the Dr and not me.

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15

Ok, I'll look into those meds and see if I can connect the dots. I'll let you know what I figure out.

Also when they test your T they should be testing your estrogen too to see how much of the T is converting to estrogen. Also I've heard to check for free vs bound testosterone, if I remember right free is what will effect you most.

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16

Yes, I remember from my last test that my Dr. Requested the Free T as well as the bound. I will have to ask him about the estrogen before I get tested next.
Thanks a lot Marcus. You do seem to know a lot about this stuff. Are you in the medical field?

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17

Your welcome. Kind of, I have a degree in Nutrition and have 4 years experience working in Biology. But I know most about it from just learning things online to try to figure out things about the body and solve problems I have. The training has however made it easier to read research papers and apply the results to supplements and applicable drugs.

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18

And if it is aromatizing to estrogen there are some supplements you could try like I3C, vit E and DIM but honestly with T injections my thought is you would have to use something more powerful like a perscription aromatase inhibitor like Armixex, Femara, or Aromasin.

If T is highly bound I'm not sure what would make more free, worth googling.

Another option could be low dopamine. I will look at your drugs and see if they could cause that. If dopamine is low, large B-6 doses may help like 500 mg a day. Also L-Dopa from mucuna piuriens dramatically helps raise dopamine. L dopa dosing is kinda tricky, make sure the L-dopa % from the mucuna is below 500 mg a day. I like to do 100 mg several times a day since the half life is very short, around 1 hr. L-dopa can also be had from perscription drugs for parkingson's.

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19

It all sounds very complicated to me,lol. I do take several different meds. I have cardiomyopathy and suffer from depression. For depression I have been on Celexa and Wellbutrin for years. I just recently asked my psychiatrist to lower my Celexa, because I have been doing pretty well for quite a while, and most antidepressants affect sex drive and performance ability. From what I have read, Wellbutrin does not have any affect on sex drive because its not in the SSRI category. So I went from 80mg to 60, and next week I will go to forty, and we'll take it from there. It really sucks that so many medications have bad side effects.

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20

Ok ya. The ssri would do it. Ssri increases seritonin, and seritonin antagonizes dopamine. Testosterone increases dopamine and thats why it increases libido. So you might need more dopamine support, my suggestion would either be L-dopa or a dopamine agonist (acts like dopamine) like mirapex.

Jumpin on my soapbox for a bit: Yes it's complicated but peoples bodies are their own responsibility no one elses. Most doctors just don't care enough to take the time to address and moniter every issue. Make sure you do enough research that you are comfortable with any reccomendation before acting on it; even from your doctor or other source.

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25

Welcome to the club!
Dump her!

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24

Thanks. I will post on here sometime after I see the Doc.

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23

Sure thing, good luck.

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22

Hey thanks buddy. I will ask my doc about it, although I really don't want any more meds than I already take. I am really hoping that the T will do the job for me. Monday will be 2 weeks since my first injection, so it really has not been that long. I get my next injection on Monday.

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21

Hmm and with your cardiomyopathy be extra careful. Talk to your doc/ research if increasing your dopamine might put you at risk.

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