The symptoms of Andropause will sound quite common when you know them.
Some of the symptoms are similar to Menopause, reduced or increased energy, irritability, and other negative moods, back pain, sleeplessness, headaches, confusion. Commonly known as grumpy old man syndrome. Physically, when there is a decline in testosterone levels it can affect bones, joints, muscle, arteries and veins and almost every major organ system, because they all require testosterone to maintain optimum function. Hence, quite a number of symptoms are seen at male menopause.
Common physical symptoms are taking longer to recover from injuries and illness. Less endurance for physical activity. Feeling fat and gaining weight. Difficulty reading small print. Loss or thinning of hair. Sleep disturbances and fatigue. "Sore body syndrome" -- stiffness.
Excessive sweating. Cold hands and feet. Itching. There can also be loss of muscle mass, or the muscles turn flabby.
These symptoms are so common it’s almost a surety that you know some one, even some one who is close to you who is going through some of these symptoms and don’t know they are having the onset of Andropause.
Some of the psychological symptoms to watch for are. Irritability. Indecisiveness. Anxiety and fear. Depression. Loss of self-confidence and joy. Loss of purpose and direction in life. Feeling lonely, unattractive and unloved. Forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating. With these symptoms we are not talking about normal everyday incidents, if that were the case we’d all need to go see our doctor, but when these symptoms become chronic and severe we should not ignore the warning signs.
For me the greatest indignity of my eventually contracting Andropause will be the sexual symptoms which none of us look forward to, which are reduced interest in sex. Men may require direct physical stimulation to get an erection; a sexy sight or fantastic fantasy may not arouse them as it did before. Increased anxiety and fear about losing sexual potency. Increased fantasies about having sex with a new and younger partner. More relationship problems and fights over sex, love and intimacy. Loss of erection during sexual activity (impotence). Erections may take longer to occur and the full erection may not get quite as firm as it used to. There is less of an urge to ejaculate. Sometimes a man might not feel the need to orgasm at all. The force of ejaculation is not as strong as it once was. The amount of the ejaculate is less and one may have fewer sperm. The testicles shrink and the scrotal sack droops. The sack does not bunch up as much during arousal.
All of these symptoms, emotional, physical and sexual are interconnected. Only looking at one type and not seeing the overall picture is one of the reasons why Andropause goes undetected and untreated. And of course men don’t like to talk about their ill health at the best of times. But buck up and don’t reach for the Viagra just yet, there are treatments.