Yes, anti-aging hormone therapy can help with joint pain and fatigue.
The Hormone Imbalance
A hormone imbalance occurs when you have too much or too little of a hormone in your blood. The imbalance can be very slight, but it will still cause symptoms.
What Is Testosterone?
Testosterone is the male sex hormone, and it is produced inside the testicles. The first time that you experienced a hormone imbalance was when you were in your teens. At that time, testosterone production increased, and your body began to change in several ways. For example, you became more muscular, shaving became necessary, and your voice lowered.
Your testosterone levels peaked at age 20, and around the age or 30, testosterone production started to decrease gradually. Between the ages of 30 and 50, your testosterone levels decreased about 1% each year. You will be diagnosed with low testosterone if a blood test shows that your testosterone levels are below 300 ng/dL.
Testosterone’s Job
By the time you entered puberty, your body began to produce an increased amount of testosterone. When your levels of testosterone were low, the hypothalamus received a signal so that it could secrete the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone or LH-releasing hormone. The LH-releasing hormone caused the pituitary gland to release luteinizing hormone or LH. LH caused the testicles to secrete testosterone from the interstitial cells. The hypothalamus let the body know that testosterone was at its peak and that the pituitary gland could stop releasing LH.
This is what occurs when you have normal levels of testosterone in your blood. If your levels are low, this process doesn’t happen as often, and the symptoms listed below begin to occur.
Symptoms of Low Testosterone
The symptoms of low testosterone include the following:
- Fatigue
- Osteoporosis
- Less body hair
- Less muscle mass
- Low libido
- Erectile dysfunction
Low Testosterone and Joint Pain
Low testosterone levels that cause a hormone imbalance are known to cause joint pain and fatigue, but it isn’t necessarily causing your joint pain. The direct cause could be osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis that both cause joint pain.
Low testosterone can be the reason that you are experiencing joint pain if an examination shows that you do not have rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. In this case, treatment for your hormonal imbalance will help relieve your joint pain, but you will need to be evaluated to find out if you also have arthritis.
Fatigue and Low Testosterone
Low testosterone is associated with fatigue. Men determined to have low testosterone levels complain of several symptoms, including the following:
- An increase in body fat
- A decreased motivation rate
- The inability to sleep
- Mental fatigue
- Physical fatigue
Low Testosterone and Depression
Several other conditions may also contribute to your feelings of fatigue. Depression is one malady that many men with low testosterone levels experience. You will notice that the symptoms of depression and low testosterone are very similar. The symptoms that low testosterone and depression have in common include the following:
- Difficulties sleeping
- Difficulties concentrating
- Memory issues
- A low libido
- Feeling sad
- Feeling anxious
- Irritability
Problems Sleeping
Low testosterone can be the reason that you aren’t sleeping as well as you had in the past. It causes you to feel tired, but it also causes disturbances in your sleep that prevent you from getting the rest that you need. You may also be suffering from sleep apnea, and this condition can cause your testosterone levels to drop.
Sleep apnea can be a very serious condition. It causes your breathing to stop and start several times throughout the night. A sign that you have sleep apnea is if you wake up from an entire night of sleep but feel as if you haven’t slept well at all.
Symptoms of sleep apnea include the following:
- Irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling sleepy during the day
- Difficulties remaining asleep at night
- Headaches in the morning
- A dry mouth in the morning
- Taking gasps of air during the night
- Breathing that starts and stops through the night
- Snoring loudly
Testosterone Therapy
Testosterone therapy is the anti-aging hormone therapy that can reduce joint pain and relieve fatigue. It can do this by alleviating the side effects that low testosterone causes. As men receive this therapy, they begin to notice that they feel younger and that they are more vigorous. They also realize that their sexual functioning is improving.
If testosterone therapy sounds promising to you, we would like to hear from you. Call us at (205) 352-9141 so that we can make an appointment for you or answer any questions you have.
