Hi, DJC, and welcome to EmpowHer! Thanks so much for your question.
First of all, let me say how happy I am for you that you're getting some much-needed sleep. I'm sure the journey through sleep deprivation and sleep apnea was absolutely no fun. You probably are still amazed at how it feels to simply wake up from a good night's rest! Your body has a lot of time to make up for, doesn't it?
One thing to consider, in making your decision about testosterone treatment, is this: Whenever you overlay two new treatments, it can be difficult to know, for sure, the effect of either one on its own. So waiting 2-3 months could provide you with that knowledge.
That said, with a testosterone level of 181 (when it seems like your levels should be more like 550), I couldn't find evidence that a CPAP machine could help it improve that much. That's a nearly 300% increase you're hoping to see.
You may be familiar with this already, but here's a 2006 study that discusses this issue, with a sample of 225/43 men over 3 months:
In that study, it does say that total testosterone (but not free) increased "significantly" after the three months, but it doesn't give specifics. It also mentions that the diminished hormonal levels were related to how serious a person's sleep apnea was. Since you say yours is moderately severe, I can understand why you are interested in the CPAP machine's effect on your levels overall.
I found another study, but as there were only 5 participants, am not sure that it would be as useful.
Question: Do you have different doctors? Is your sleep doctor in touch with your conventional doctor? I ask because I'm interested in what each of them would think about your question. I'm also concerned that you only mention testosterone; did your doctor measure all of your hormones? Including thyroid? (And am I correct in assuming that he is a general M.D., as opposed to an endocrinologist? If so, would it be to your benefit to seek a second opinion from an endocrinologist?)
On a cream vs. an injection, the advantage would be that the levels of testosterone in your system would be more consistent, since you would be using it (presumably) on a daily basis. With an injection, it seems like the levels would constantly increase and then decrease, which might be annoying at best and debilitating at worst, depending on how it affects you.
Are you having other symptoms of low testosterone? Libido or weight issues in addition to the cognitive issues? Was your MD sensitive to these as well?
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Hi, DJC, and welcome to EmpowHer! Thanks so much for your question.
First of all, let me say how happy I am for you that you're getting some much-needed sleep. I'm sure the journey through sleep deprivation and sleep apnea was absolutely no fun. You probably are still amazed at how it feels to simply wake up from a good night's rest! Your body has a lot of time to make up for, doesn't it?
One thing to consider, in making your decision about testosterone treatment, is this: Whenever you overlay two new treatments, it can be difficult to know, for sure, the effect of either one on its own. So waiting 2-3 months could provide you with that knowledge.
That said, with a testosterone level of 181 (when it seems like your levels should be more like 550), I couldn't find evidence that a CPAP machine could help it improve that much. That's a nearly 300% increase you're hoping to see.
You may be familiar with this already, but here's a 2006 study that discusses this issue, with a sample of 225/43 men over 3 months:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/2/352
In that study, it does say that total testosterone (but not free) increased "significantly" after the three months, but it doesn't give specifics. It also mentions that the diminished hormonal levels were related to how serious a person's sleep apnea was. Since you say yours is moderately severe, I can understand why you are interested in the CPAP machine's effect on your levels overall.
I found another study, but as there were only 5 participants, am not sure that it would be as useful.
Question: Do you have different doctors? Is your sleep doctor in touch with your conventional doctor? I ask because I'm interested in what each of them would think about your question. I'm also concerned that you only mention testosterone; did your doctor measure all of your hormones? Including thyroid? (And am I correct in assuming that he is a general M.D., as opposed to an endocrinologist? If so, would it be to your benefit to seek a second opinion from an endocrinologist?)
On a cream vs. an injection, the advantage would be that the levels of testosterone in your system would be more consistent, since you would be using it (presumably) on a daily basis. With an injection, it seems like the levels would constantly increase and then decrease, which might be annoying at best and debilitating at worst, depending on how it affects you.
Are you having other symptoms of low testosterone? Libido or weight issues in addition to the cognitive issues? Was your MD sensitive to these as well?
August 3, 2009 - 10:16amThis Comment
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