Did you know that men’s testosterone levels vary day to day?  Similar to women, who have a 28 day cycle, men actually cycle their testosterone in a 14 day cycle.  Men typically begin to experience low testosterone levels in the late forties to the early fifties.  

There are many low testosterone treatment options.  Typical dosage forms of testosterone can be creams/gels, injections or pellets.  Cream and gel forms of testosterone replacement are typically considered static dosing, which means the same dose is applied daily without change.

Injections or pellets are initial replacement of high levels of testosterone replacement that decline over a period of days, weeks or months.

Static dose cream/gels, injections or pellets are not the the optimal method for replacing a man’s testosterone levels. This is because a large dose of testosterone or a static dose promotes the testosterone to convert to estrogen or into bound-testosterone as opposed to free-testosterone.  In addition, injections and pellets can have a negative effect of testosterone receptors, so the same positive benefits are not experienced overtime.  

Higher levels of estrogen in a man are not healthy and tend to cause weight gain, sugar/carbohydrate cravings and emotional mood swings.  Also, Bound-testosterone can cause anxiety and moodiness as well as hair loss and acne.

Because of the high rate of testosterone converting to estrogen, some doctors will prescribe a medication to block this conversion, but this is a medication that is used in women with breast cancer and let’s face it, we want to reduce the use of unnecessary medications.

The goal with testosterone replacement is to increase the ‘free-testosterone’.  Free-testosterone is the bioavailable testosterone that promotes muscle mass, increased athletic performance, energy as well as drive, motivation, ambition and increased libido.

Using a rhythmic method for testosterone dosing is ideal to promote free-testosterone and reduce estrogen and bound testosterone.  With rhythmic dosing, the testosterone levels are changing day to day as that is would in the testosterone levels of a young male.