Low testosterone requires testing your blood on 2 separate occasions for your testosterone levels. Additional tests may be required to identify the potential cause of low testosterone. In situations where a patient may have signs or symptoms of low testosterone but normal values, the physician will consider measuring and calculating free testosterone.

Before starting testosterone replacement therapy, it is important to consider and treat any reversible causes of low testosterone.

These can include the following:

Acute Illness

Obesity

Medication use (i.e., opioids, glucocorticoids)

Extreme nutritional deficiencies and anorexia

Extreme exercise

Sleep apnea

Hyperprolactinemia

Hemochromatosis

Hypothalamic and pituitary disorders (surgery, trauma, radiation, infiltrative disorders)

Following treatment or stabilization of these conditions, reassessment of serum testosterone levels and the signs and symptoms of low testosterone is recommended. Finding reversible causes is the first step.

The goals of testosterone replacement therapy are to improve the negative signs and symptoms of low testosterone and improve a patient’s quality of life. There are a number of benefits of testosterone replacement therapy which have been well studied that include sexual activity, sexual desire, erectile function, mood and depressive symptoms, anemia and bone mineral density.

You should notice significant improvement in your symptoms within a few weeks of starting your testosterone replacement therapy. During the course of treatment, your physician will order periodic blood work every 3 months for the first year.

Specialist level care - our physicians are board certified Urologists with subspeciality training in testosterone replacement therapy.

Complete and thorough health evaluation – you will be given blood requisitions to identify whether you have low testosterone. If present, we will discuss potential causes and identify reversible causes.

Personalized care – if testosterone replacement therapy is indicated. Our physician will provide an appropriate management plan and discuss plans for follow up.

Follow-up care – by using our preferred pharmacy, you will receive treatment directly to your home every 3 months. Further - all blood requisitions and physician appointments will be conducted virtually. During these follow-ups, your symptoms will be re-evaluated with minimal disruption to your daily life.

There is currently no evidence that testosterone replacement therapy increases a man’s chance of developing prostate cancer.

However, patients with metastatic or high-risk prostate cancer who will need testosterone suppressing treatment should not be offered testosterone replacement therapy. Talk to your urologic oncologist or doctor directly if this applies to you.

Patients may have variable responses to testosterone replacement therapy; however, there is no current evidence to suggest testosterone replacement therapy will lead to worsening lower urinary tract symptoms.

Prior studies have previously demonstrated a concern with testosterone replacement therapy and increased cardiovascular disease risk.

However, there are a number of limitations to these studies and there is no conclusive evidence to suggest a risk exists.

In fact, patients with low levels of testosterone may be at a higher risk of cardiovascular risk.

A detailed counselling session with your male health specialist is important to see if testosterone replacement therapy is right for you.