A true account

I am a retired physician, and I like to play golf. I remember the day clearly, it was back in 1998. A friend and I set off to play a round on a course near my home. On that particular day I had trouble keeping up. I found it was especially hard climbing hills, even though they weren't steep. There was a bit of a rise leading to the third green, and when I finally managed to reach it I was huffing and puffing like an old steam engine. I also felt dizzy. My friend convinced me to sit down and take a break while he rented a cart so we could keep playing.

I had never suffered from shortness of breath before and, being a retired physician, I suspected the worst - heart disease. I made an appointment with my doctor, a GP (General Practitioner) thank goodness everything turned up normal. Next he analyzed my hemoglobin count. The result was 99, which was worrisome (a low-normal hemoglobin count is about 140). He put me on an iron supplement. When that didn't help he tried another kind of iron. That didn't work either.

I made an appointment with a hematologist (a blood specialist) and he ran a whole series of tests and scans. All the results turned up normal. After another two months of waiting he had a bone marrow test done, which showed that I had something called 'lazy reticulocytes' (reticulocytes are precursor cells used to produce hemoglobin, which was why I wasn't making enough red blood cells).

He considered transfusions and EPO (Epoetin, a man-made version of human erythropoietin, used to treat severe anemia, generally in people with kidney trouble but ruled them out for long-term therapy because they are inconvenient (imagine having to get a blood transfusion every week!) and can even be dangerous.

By this time well over a year and half had gone by, and I was still suffering from shortness of breath and feeling more tired than ever.

I made an appointment with a new GP, Dr. B. He said there was another way to increase my hemoglobin count, and that was to take testosterone supplements. First he tested my testosterone level, and found that it was below normal, so we decided to try testosterone therapy. About 6 weeks later I went back to see Dr. B and I was happy to report that I was feeling much better. I felt a definite increase in energy and strength (I am an avid weight-lifter, and I was able to increase the amount of weight I was lifting). And my shortness of breath was gone too!

Learn about the Bio-T Test: the most effective test to determine low testosterone levels.

8 months have gone by since I started taking testosterone. My shortness of breath and fatigue are gone, I have much more energy, with no noticeable side effects. I see Dr. B every 2 or 3 months for follow-up visits to make sure all is well with my prostate.

"I am very pleased with the results of my testosterone therapy. Although I am over 80 years, I feel that I have as much vitality as I did ten years ago. What I can't understand is why it took almost 2 whole years to find out that low testosterone was the cause of my problem, especially since I'm a retired physician! I only hope more doctors become aware of the benefits of testosterone replacement, so they can help men who may be in situations similar to mine."

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