The Testosterone Puzzle: What Are Your Symptoms Actually Telling You?

Thanks for tuning in to the Armor Men’s Health Hour Podcast today, where we bring you the latest and greatest in urology care and the best urology humor out there.

In this segment, Dr. Mistry and Donna Lee answer a listener's question about what to do when supplements for low testosterone aren't doing the job. Because he suffers from not only difficulties in his sexual relationship with his wife but also fatigue and brain fog, he wonders if he should consider other options. Dr. Mistry points out that when people visit "Low T" clinics, they will sell you testosterone regardless of what your problem actually is. While you may in fact have low testosterone that would benefit from supplementation, sometimes that isn't enough to address the issue you came in with. Other times, the causes of the issue may be complex and require a holistic solution that Low T clinics cannot provide. For these reasons and many others, you should consult a physician and preferably a urologic specialist before taking testosterone supplements. These are surprisingly affordable, and Low T clinics also often hike the costs of their treatments significantly. Finally, an integrative approach like the only employed at NAU Urology Specialists will help make sure that your complaint is properly addressed with not only medications, but also lifestyle modifications, physical therapy, sexual therapy, etc. 

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Dr. Mistry is a board-certified urologist and has been treating patients in the Austin and Greater Williamson County area since he started his private practice in 2007.

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Phone: (512) 238-0762

Email: Armormenshealth@gmail.com

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:07

Welcome to the Armor Men's Health Hour with Dr. Mistry and Donna Lee.

Dr. Mistry 0:17

Hello and welcome to the Armor Men's Health Hour. I'm Dr. Mistry, your host, here as always with my well rested cohost, Donna Lee.

Donna Lee 0:24

That's right. It took a little time off and I keep hearing from people that I look very refreshed.

Dr. Mistry 0:28

That's unfortunate because we really need you around here.

Donna Lee 0:33

Am I crucial to this organization? Is that what you're saying? I like it.

Dr. Mistry 0:37

Well this is a men's health show. I'm a board certified urologist. This show is brought to you by the urology practice started in 2007 right here in Round Rock, Texas.

Donna Lee 0:47

Round Rock, Texas. We've been around a while.

Dr. Mistry 0:48

We've been around for awhile. We have now grown from that little simple operation to one that has four offices. We have four awesome physicians, Dr. Lucas Jacomides, Dr. Christopher Yang, and Dr. Stacy Ong. We have five PAs, one, you know, nurse practitioner in there that help to see patients. We have two pelvic floor physical therapists. We have a sex therapist. And because of our focus on global men's health, we also have a sleep apnea coordinator, a supplement line, and all sorts of help...

Donna Lee 1:18

A sex therapist.

Dr. Mistry 1:18

All sorts of help. And what I think is, is one of the most comprehensive and individualized men's health programs that you're going to be able to find.

Donna Lee 1:27

We employ a lot of folks in this town.

Dr. Mistry 1:28

Yes, we do.

Donna Lee 1:31

We might not be the biggest, but we are certainly employing people.

Dr. Mistry 1:35

We're the second biggest, you know.

Donna Lee 1:36

That's right. More fun on the weekend.

Dr. Mistry 1:38

That's right. So Donna, why don't you tell people where our offices are and how to get ahold of us?

Donna Lee 1:41

You can call us during the week and ask for me now that I'm so well rested at(512) 238-0762. Our website is armormenshealth.com. You can learn more about our armor men's health program by visiting our website. And you can send us your questions that are always interesting and amazing to armormenshealth@gmail.com.

Dr. Mistry 1:59

Questions about men's health are the, the driving force of our show. So we want you to send us questions whenever you are able. Donna, do you have a question for us?

Donna Lee 2:08

I do have a good one. This gentleman is so sweet by starting with,"I hate to bring my personal life to a stranger," but I was kind of like,"Well, that's what we're here for." So thank you stranger for bringing this to our personal life. He said,"I was suggested by my wife to be checked at a low T clinic. Turns out I had low testosterone and doing the injections." But he has since become a patient of a urology clinic."I feel like my penis though is not working well. And I feel like the supplements were okay, but not working as, as I had expected." He said,"Is it my body that is, uh, working against me, and how long should I expect to determine, to feel better? We do not sleep together by choice, so there's no closeness in our relationship. I would be willing though to try more options." He doesn't feel like he's thinking clearly, too. So, and he's also fatigued.

Dr. Mistry 2:56

Those are all some great questions. So...

Donna Lee 2:58

Sounds like a terrible problem for you guys.

Dr. Mistry 3:00

The first part of that story: If your wife tells you to get your testosterone level checked, you need to get your testosterone l evel checked. D o you know what I'm saying? Like, if y ou're f atigued and you're like laying around and your lack of sexual motivation and your erections are bothering her, but she's not getting through to you, one of the ways she may be giving you advice is to tell you to go check your testosterone. And it may be because of a perception that your testosterone level being low is causing some problem or some issue that s he i s concerned about for your health. You know, when you get on testosterone, that is not the end of any kind of journey. That is really the beginning of your health journey. And you need to understand what are you trying to fix? And then try to make that better. If you have brain fog, then certainly testosterone can help, but you need to make sure you're on the right supplements, you need to make sure that you're not on any other medicines that could be causing brain fog, and y ou n eed to make sure you're not suffering from depression, which can also cause brain f og.

Donna Lee 3:53

It sounds like there might be some of that and he doesn't mention what type of supplements. So.

Dr. Mistry 3:57

Sure. And he said his penis doesn't work. It's not supposed to get a job. It only has two jobs.

Donna Lee 4:01

Slacking penis. Like a teenager.

Dr. Mistry 4:06

...to pee and to get hard. So I'm assuming that it's not doing the getting hard part.

Donna Lee 4:09

That's why they're not sleeping together.

Dr. Mistry 4:11

I don't know what that means. If they're not sleeping together by choice, that could mean that they don't have a sexual relationship in which case, and if he's willing to try other options, I don't if that means he's willing to go outside of the marriage. And so if, and so if you're trying to just try out the hardness of your penis, then I might suggest something called a vaginal prosthetic. We have a lot of our patients that are, that are in that situation--a lot of unmarried men who, you know, don't know if they can get an erection or afraid of having sex for the first time. We have them, we get a Fleshlight.

Donna Lee 4:40

Fleshlight. That's right. We're supposed to take a tour at the Fleshlight facility once things open up.

Dr. Mistry 4:45

That's right. We're going to have our own line.

Donna Lee 4:48

What's our goal there? Are we just going to go...

Dr. Mistry 4:48

We're gonna have our own line: Sonny's Mistry's Fleshlight.

Donna Lee 4:53

The Mistry's Fleshlight.

Dr. Mistry 4:54

Mistry Fleshlight. Okay. We're probably gonna go with a different name. And so, so if, if that's the idea that you just want to kind of practice things out, you know, and you want to do it in a way that's beyond masturbation, that's, that's one way to consider. But if you're just not getting hard and forget about whether you're having sex or not, if you just want a good erection, then we have lots of different options besides testosterone. In fact, testosterone really only works as the sole issue in about 20% of patients.

Donna Lee 5:21

So it's a piece to the big puzzle.

Dr. Mistry 5:22

It's a piece.

Donna Lee 5:23

Right? It's not the whole puzzle.

Dr. Mistry 5:25

A lot of times Viagra, and those kinds of medications will not work if you have low testosterone.

Donna Lee 5:30

Oh, I didn't know that.

Dr. Mistry 5:30

So you have to put them both together...

Donna Lee 5:32

OK, that makes sense.

Dr. Mistry 5:32

...to make the whole puzzle work. And so, when you are part of a, of a healthcare kind of program, first if you're going to go to a low T center, don't be surprised that they find low T. It's in the name, you know what I'm saying?

Donna Lee 5:53

I told you we need to open a high T center.

Dr. Mistry 5:56

Guess, guess what they sell hammers. com?

Donna Lee 6:00

Not nails.

Dr. Mistry 6:01

Hammers, OK? So if you're going to go to a place that just has T, you're probably gonna get T.

Donna Lee 6:08

And not the iced kind.

Dr. Mistry 6:10

And, that's right. And if you're going, and if you're in the care of a urologist, but they're not like a men's health specialist, you know, they may not really put the connection together on...you know, if you have ED, they're going to give you the standard treatments for ED. But you know, in our clinic, we're looking to get you not, not dependent on the medication. We're going to offer shockwave for erectile dysfunction. We're going to make sure you're on the right supplements. Make sure that your cholesterol isn't being, isn't affecting it. Makes sure you don't have high blood pressure. Make sure you're, you're not taking the wrong blood pressure medicines. I mean, these are the kinds of like small iterative changes that really maximize how you're going to feel. And if you have brain fog, you're not gonna, you're not going to succeed when it comes to profession, to interpersonal relationships, and to getting motivated, because you're just not going to feel like it.

Donna Lee 6:57

Right. That's a good point. So, and if, being fatigued, I mean, what a general thing, but kind of easy to fix.

Dr. Mistry 7:04

I don't think so. I think that, you know, there are fatigued people because they're overweight. There are fatigued people because they're not oxygenating well at night or not getting like, the full restfulness that they could. There are fatigue people because of low testosterone.

Donna Lee 7:23

Or their wives are just mean.

Dr. Mistry 7:24

No, I don't think so.

Donna Lee 7:25

That's my husband. He was fatigued cause I mean.

Dr. Mistry 7:30

He must be enjoying that you had spent a little bit more time at home.

Donna Lee 7:33

I've been nicer now for some reason.

Dr. Mistry 7:36

And so, the fatigue complaint is one that if you as a man are going to try to fix on your own, I think that you're going to get frustrated because the, what doctor you see is going to think it's that problem. You go see an endocrinologist, they're going to think it's a thyroid problem. You go see a GI doctor, they're going to think it's a GI problem. You really, this is where we love a field of medicine called integrated medicine, integrative medicine specialists. And there are some awesome integrative medicine doctors here in Austin. And if you're out there and you're, and you have a disease complaint that you haven't been able to get a handle on, whether it be brain fog or whether it be chronic bloatedness, or whether it be fatigue that hasn't responded to standard medication therapy, ask us. We'll give you great names. And we even have a wonderful integrative medicine practitioner here, Shefaly Ravula, who does lots of knots of nutrition. She's a PA. She does nutrition.

Donna Lee 8:35

...lots of tests.

Dr. Mistry 8:36

Lots of tests. Understanding heavy metals, understanding oxidative stress, understanding the impact that your diet can have on your cardio-metabolic health. These things are really important. She's helped me with cognitive memory as well as...

Donna Lee 8:52

But do you remember?

Dr. Mistry 8:52

I can't remember the name of the meds. But, but also she's helped me with arterial health, which we can test for. And I think that the kinds of interventions that you need when you have kind of a not straightforward problem, like fatigue, I think demands a different kind of medical approach.

Donna Lee 9:14

And then I'd sent you an article that TMZ sent me:"Penis' Shrinkage Caused by Pollution--So Claims Scientists."

Dr. Mistry 9:23

That's so interesting.

Donna Lee 9:25

Is there any truth to that, because I believe everything TMZ says?

Dr. Mistry 9:28

We just published an article that said that global pollution and exposure to plastics is also lowering fertility. Maybe that's the way that earth is going to take care of us, you know what I'm saying?

Donna Lee 9:42

It's going to wipe us all out.

Dr. Mistry 9:43

The earth is going to wipe us all out and give us small penises and no sperm.

Donna Lee 9:45

We probably deserve that with all of this stuff we're throwing the ocean. It's karma.

Dr. Mistry 9:50

I'm sorry. We are climate change deniers on the show.

Donna Lee 9:54

Holy moly. We don't want to eliminate our listening people. So anyway, throw your trash away. Don't believe all the hype on TMZ like I do. And we're going to fix your penis problems.

Dr. Mistry 10:06

Why don't you tell people how to get ahold of us, Donna?

Donna Lee 10:07

Well, with your penis problems, you can call us at(512) 238-0762. We are located in Round Rock, North Austin, South Austin, and Dripping Springs. Our website is armormenshealth.com. You can check out Dr. Mistry's handsome, smiling face there as well as our other providers. And send your questions. They're amazing, and we answer them all anonymously at armormenshealth@gmail.com. Thank you so much Dr. Mistry!

Dr. Mistry 10:28

Thank you.

10:31

The Armor Men's Health Hour. We'll be right back. If you have questions for Dr. Mystery, email him at armor men's health, ed gmail.com.