It turns out there is now a medical school of thought that believes men also go through menopause. Report by Grace Mutandwa
A reader emailed about her husband getting grumpier by the day and that he was always complaining of being tired and seemed to be suffering from depression. She said he had developed mood swings that were affecting their relationship. She assumed the guy was having an affair.
Well, we have heard it all before — a man becoming distant and losing interest in sex and of course, we automatically assume he has found someone more exotic somewhere.
But a friend got me thinking and researching when she said that her husband was still loving and considerate, but seemed constantly hell-bent on playing the avoidance game when it came to making love. She was certain he was not getting it elsewhere because his manhood seemed to have lost its power. She had tried to have him get medical help in vain.
You see, that’s the thing — men are not very comfortable with seeing the doctor about a sexual malfunction. They would rather pretend it does not exist and hope that one day it will be restored. They also do not like talking about their “men problems”.
The reality apparently is that men do suffer male menopause which in some cases see them experience a decline in the male hormone, testosterone and with it comes impotence among a whole host of other problems. According to medical research, along with the decline in testosterone, some men experience symptoms that include depression, weakness, fatigue and sexual performance problems. In both men and women the onset of menopause also affects muscle development, which is why without proper hormonal replacement therapy some find it hard to get rid of the fat that settles around the waist.
Doctors, however, warn that it is not only the ageing process in men that lowers their testosterone, but it could be a sign of creeping diabetes.
While in women going through menopause, hormone production stops completely, in men production just slows down. A healthy man may be able to make sperm into his eighties or beyond, but disease can result in subtle changes in the function of testes in men as early as 45 to 50 years of age.
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Men should seek expert advice on how to deal with low testosterone Because male menopause is not as clearly defined as female menopause, there are blood tests used to measure testosterone. These should be done in the morning to get a more reliable reading as testosterone sampling is said to bounce around during the course of the day. Your doctor will tell you what should be the normal levels.
Going through male menopause can be frustrating. The one thing men really love doing is making love and once that is taken away from them they can feel out of sorts.
There are remedies to get men’s testosterone levels up again and get them back in the game. There are body creams that men can use daily or they can wear a small patch (like the nicotine patches) to help release into their bodies some testosterone. This is almost like taking a birth control pill and if men do not want to forget getting their daily dose they can always get a shot in the butt. If men cannot get these remedies locally, they can get their pharmacist to import for them from South Africa. They should not try to sneak around and get remedies from dodgy online quacks.
The bottom line is both men and women need to learn to monitor the changes in their bodies. If there is a change one does not understand then one should visit a doctor. It is not a show of weakness to ask for help. In fact, some people have healthier and happier sexual lives because they seek help and are not ashamed to admit that they are no longer the raging bulls they were in their 20s.
Now I hope all women feel so much better now that they know that while their men might never have menstrual periods or experience child birth, they do get their fair share of menopausal problems. If your man is exhibiting some of the symptoms above show him some tender love, and help him navigate menopause.
- [email protected]/Twitter:GraceMutandwa1
