Finally admit/realised I have been suffering!

[chrishell76]

Hi all

I am a 36 year old male.  It all started around 1.5-2 years ago, I was living with my previous partner which was a poor relationship, no love or sexual relations, I felt trapped with no way out.  We broke up and that was messy as we were both living together with our then almost 3 year old son, the stress I was under was undescribable and would say it's been the most horrible thing I have experienced.

Late last year I went to the doctors with low libido and loss of interest in the stuff I would be usually interested in.  I had several blood tests and saw different specialists and it can back I was suffering from low testosterone, which does cause someone to be depressed.  I was then put on a course of treamentl, but this took several months to get on the right one, but although my symptoms did alleviate slightly, I still didn't feel like I did previously.

So now, I am having regular testosterone replacement injections and it had been confirmed by blood tests that my levels are fine, I am still getting times when I feel low and kind of lost and spaced out.  My sexual desire, although came back slightly, is more low than high and as I said, it's never like it used to be before, as I would say my drive was very high.

So I am coming to the conclusion that I everything is ok with my testosterone, then I maybe could be suffering from depression and have booked in to see my doctor tomorrow to discuss.

A bit of further info, I moved onto another relationship lasting over a year, which has also since broke down as I initially I thought it was what I wanted, but realised I don't.  One of the reasons I decided to end it was sometimes I would have no feelings to care for her and I am no usually that sort of persons, in fact I had tried to separate on a few occasions before, but she talked me round.  Sometimes I would be happy, but would go through spells that a change of event or disagreement would cause me to go into a low mood, this did happen quite a few times.   She did say she thought I needed help, but I dismissed as I was always convinced I needed my testosterone fixing.

Do you think being depressed over a period of time can actually physically lower your testosterone?  Like I said I have had periods of feeling not too bad over last 4 months, but still get hit by the lows for no apparent reasons and although I have regained a bit of interest back, my libido is still low, despite my testosterone levels being ok.

Sorry for rambling on, would be interested to know people's thoughts.

Ps, I probably won't have covered every bit of info I the way I have felt or events that have happened, so will add as I go.

Thanks

[captainkeefy]

Hi,

Your testosterone question is interesting. I did a little bit of research into naturally raising my testosterone as I was working out it the gym and started wondering if I had low testosterone. Things I read where that smoking, drinking alcohol, being in love and masturbating can all lower your testosterone levels. I thought damn all my hobbies out the window in one sentence! Lol, just kidding. Anyway something I think and I could be totally wrong is that depression is a chemical unbalance in the brain. I wonder if this chemical imbalance could effect your testosterone levels?

To be honest, I've read your post and I notice that a lot of what you have written does sound like depression. The feeling low and loosing interest with things you enjoy usually. I'm no expert, far from it but from what I gather when you get depression your mood drops really low and you stop feeling the enjoyable emotions, or it dulls them out. Love, happiness, pride. Them kind of things but because your moods are low you feel negative emotions even more. Frustration, despair, hate. Then with all these negative things swimming round in your head it makes you feel worse. I know when I feel down it becomes chronic in my head, people asking me pointless questions repeatedly then because I don't have the energy to answer with an essay they seem to get annoyed by me and ask "What's wrong with you?" I usually say nothing but then I usually get the "Oh just leave him, he's feeling sorry for himself again." Anyway I digress...

To me it sounds like you have been suffering from low moods for a while and they will have an impact on your mojo. Thinking back about what I've just written I don't know if I've written anything that is helpful but I wanted to respond to you and tell you I read your post and understand how your feeling.

[chrishell76]

Hi,

Your testosterone question is interesting. I did a little bit of research into naturally raising my testosterone as I was working out it the gym and started wondering if I had low testosterone. Things I read where that smoking, drinking alcohol, being in love and masturbating can all lower your testosterone levels. I thought damn all my hobbies out the window in one sentence! Lol, just kidding. Anyway something I think and I could be totally wrong is that depression is a chemical unbalance in the brain. I wonder if this chemical imbalance could effect your testosterone levels?

To be honest, I've read your post and I notice that a lot of what you have written does sound like depression. The feeling low and loosing interest with things you enjoy usually. I'm no expert, far from it but from what I gather when you get depression your mood drops really low and you stop feeling the enjoyable emotions, or it dulls them out. Love, happiness, pride. Them kind of things but because your moods are low you feel negative emotions even more. Frustration, despair, hate. Then with all these negative things swimming round in your head it makes you feel worse. I know when I feel down it becomes chronic in my head, people asking me pointless questions repeatedly then because I don't have the energy to answer with an essay they seem to get annoyed by me and ask "What's wrong with you?" I usually say nothing but then I usually get the "Oh just leave him, he's feeling sorry for himself again." Anyway I digress...

To me it sounds like you have been suffering from low moods for a while and they will have an impact on your mojo. Thinking back about what I've just written I don't know if I've written anything that is helpful but I wanted to respond to you and tell you I read your post and understand how your feeling.

Thanks :)

Well been to docs and he agreed with me and put me on 75mg of Venlafaxine, so lets see how I do on these.

[chrishell76]

2 doses down and I am not doing too great, feel horrible, got disorientation, spaced out feeling and nausea.  Spoke to doctor and he said give it a few more days and hopefully it will pass, if not he will look at reducing or changing.

Anyone else had these effects so soon after taking and how long did it last?

Thanks

[nocaph]

Hey chrishell76,

I was on venlafaxine (up at 225mg at one point) and the side effects, as with most medications, diminish after a while.  I'd hang in there and give it a chance if you feel able to.  One thing I did notice with venlafaxine though is that the withdrawal is rapid, so make sure you're timing your doses exactly... right on the same hour and minute every day.  I used to start going into a derealisation mode with low blood pressure and dizziness if I'd taken the pill an hour later than the day before.  I hope you can find some relief, keep us posted on how it's going though 

[bookletters]

Hey Chrishell!
Yes give it some time, it's perfectly normal to have side effects at first but they do go away with time. xx