November 30, 2015
Sandy: The Perils of Testosterone Replacement Therapy
By: Lisa Marie Shaughnessy
Contact: Lisashaughnessy@outlook.com, 480-209-5774, or testosteroneaddiction.com
When I introduced Steroid and Testosterone Addicts Anonymous to a group therapists and behavioral health professionals this week, I received an overwhelming response.
Three therapists, who have patients addicted to steroids in the form of testosterone, said their patients’ lives had become a shambles. During the past year and a half I have spoken with thousands of people, some who have told me about a spouse who uses testosterone and how it has negatively affected their relationships. One said, “My husband started taking testosterone and he became an angry, aggressive sex driven person,” A man told me, “My wife started taking testosterone and her sex drive is so out of control I can’t take it anymore.”
There are stories of husbands and wives who started taking testosterone and after 25 years of marriage one or the other just up and left. One wife said, “He became angry, his sex drive was out of control, he became violent.”
So why is Steroid and Testosterone Addiction now a God given life purpose for me? I know what they are dealing with. My three years of testosterone chaos led me to recovery by education, information and meeting some amazing people by creating a platform to share with others, one is Sandy, who is blogging about her experience with testosterone. Here is her story:
In our mid-fifties my husband and I had been happily married for over 15 years. Then he came home from a routine doctor’s appointment with a new prescription for injectable Testosterone Cypionate. His endocrinologist had diagnosed Low T. For the first few years, I believed the doctors as they told us that it was medically necessary for my husband to have Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). They convinced me that his testosterone was being kept in a normal range and the mood swings he was experiencing could not be from the TRT. My husband always denied that he had any mood swings or personality changes, and felt it was I who had changed. He was convinced TRT was the best thing that ever happened to him, a fountain of youth that made him feel stronger and increased his sex drive. My husband’s mood swings and personality changes had gradually become so severe after eight years of TRT that I could no longer justify living in what seemed to be a dangerous situation.
The more I researched about testosterone, steroids, and Low T therapy, the stronger was my belief that the medical field had led us astray. When I found articles refuting the medical value of TRT, I started writing down summaries of the publications. After becoming certain that Low T therapy was not a medical necessity for my husband, I insisted on a second opinion with a new endocrinologist. My husband had to be off all testosterone drugs for two months for new blood levels of what his body would produce and a new MRI to check the pituitary.
The new endocrinologist determined he was producing his own testosterone and could increase his levels through losing weight, eating healthy and exercising. He went through very severe withdrawal depression for the first few months and he was very angry and hostile towards me, but he gradually came to the realization that our marriage was more important to him than the TRT.
After about six months, he was almost back to his old self again but still resentful that he had to give up TRT. After a year he seems to be content to be off of TRT, has noticed he has more patience with others, and we are both enjoying each other and our relationship again.
You can connect with Sandy and read her blog at https://tsnmco.wordpress.com.
Sandy and her husband were able to repair their relationship because of her patience and her inner knowing that something wasn’t quite right. She endured nine years of the behavior shift and was at her breaking point, but she hung in there.
STEROID AND TESTOSTERONE ADDICTS ANONYMOUS is a fellowship of men and women who are in recovery from steroids, testosterone or any other performance enhancing drugs and supplements and are seeking to live a healthy and fit life that is steroid and testosterone replacement free!
http://testosteronethenewdrugaddiction.com/testosterone-sandys-story/