[How many of your MLCers are on antidepressants/SSRI medication]

How many of your MLCers are on antidepressants/SSRI medication

Yes started after MLC

9 (20%)

Yes started before MLC

10 (22.2%)

Do not know

4 (8.9%)

No

22 (48.9%)

Total Members Voted: 45

[Love being on higher grounds]

Op,

I agree with you about mt h. The duration may seem shorter but, he was going through this well before he or myself really took notice,between 2 and 3 years...

He KNEW something wasnt right and that led him to seek the help of his physician... it was with the help of the Dr that he was able to somewhat accept what was going on with him...it has still been a LONG haul, and we arent out of the woods yet.....

Point being that depression is consistant during a MLC. If low T and other hormone issues  contribute to depression, those need to be investigated and treated first, then a qualified person can continue treating the one going through it...

more research needs to be done, obviously not by me or you...this is only my story...but I believe whole heartedly that with all of the depression that comes during the MLC...how in the world could being treated for it be a bad thing? the bad thing is that most people do not seek treatment, when indeed they probably should

[OldPilot]

how in the world could being treated for it be a bad thing? the bad thing is that most people do not seek treatment, when indeed they probably should

I completely agree.

[Mermaid]

I agree that being treated for low testosterone, or depression, if possible and applicable, is a good thing. It is certainly important in some cases, although the psychological journey also needs to be addressed.

The latest information I have is that andropause (male menopause) only affects 2% of men (It's "rare but not a myth"):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/10338355.stm

[OldPilot]

2%?

Way too low.  The journalism in this article  is suspect.

Why is the divorce rate 50% if only 2% of the people are affected by menpause. 
It is all the women's fault.  I don't think so!!!

This 2% is also only those that are being treated for male menopause.
I would argue that 100% of all people go though menopause.
They all have different symptoms some far worse than others.
Some barely know that it is happening.

Also if the numbers are so low then why do they sell so much viagra, and cialis.
Certainly that is higher than those 2% numbers.
Depression is rampant in the U.S. among men and women.
And most of it is undiagnosed.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.
 

[Mermaid]

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.

That made me laugh, OP.  I'm glad I'm not the only one with a soap box around here. My turn: it's always better to go back to the study itself; however, the report was not about men who were being treated, but men aged 40 to 79 in general. They measured testorone levels, but even where depression symptoms existed, they did not have low testorone.
2. The divorce rate has been changing along the past 100 years, which suggests socio-cultural changes rather than hormonal.
3. Hormone changes are natural, how we deal with it is multifactoral
4. MLC is multifactoral, like depression, stress, burnout, divorce...

I'll climb down now. Your turn, OP:

[OldPilot]

You know as far as male menopause goes, I only have my own experience to fall back on.
I am not being treated for low testosterone. Nor have I had mine measured.
However, I have an idea what my sexual desires are.
I certainly had a higher desire in my twenties than I do now.
My wife going through MLC has not helped any of this.
I thought that everything was somewhat "normal"(whatever that means)
prior to bomb drop. Maybe my desires were a little higher than normal.
Maybe now they are a little lower. Again I am just measuring ME.

Certainly as men age their testosterone levels decrease.
I do not think that this is debateable.
The brain can make up for the loss of hormones(somewhat).
I think that MLC is the variance or rate of change within the body.
The brain must take time to adjust.

With most men, I would include myself in this it takes a long time to go through this process.
I have read from ages 20-70. So there are no huge changes in the short term
but over the entire time period there are certainly huge changes.

So I guess what I am saying is that low testosterone. What does that mean?
In relationship to what number?
I think the study is flawed in its use of numbers.

What might be low for me might be high for someone else.
The numbers must be looked at over a long period of time which I am sure they are not doing.

[OldPilot]

One last thing.
I agree with the article that giving hormone treatment is not the answer to this problem.
I just don't like the 2% number that they think, is all the people that are affected.

[Love being on higher grounds]

op,

I also agree that 2% is way too low...

although it is real, and not a myth, many out there do not check into it enough to get to the root of the problem...many cases probably are being diagnosed as something similar...

I think in general men sometimes have a hard time admitting something is wrong and wanting to get help...especially when it involves their Manhood so to speak...

I know my h did...but now he can joke about man-o pause! lol

I also agree that hormone replacement is NOT the quick fix....however if proven that low t is a definate issue for a man, i would recommend it where aplicable

[Mermaid]

2% too low? Everything can be questioned, but where is the evidence that it is higher?

Absolutely right about men not seeking help. Medical studies confirm this.

I think what they were looking at were sudden changes, or testosterone as the root cause of depression. Humans are not only biological, although our biology underpins everything, including our sense of self, value system etc. I think this is important; MLC is not ONE thing, it is not caused by one thing (but of course there are triggers, including physical and hormonal).

In the case of my H, there is no evidence of falling testosterone levels. His existential crisis is long and deep, and he has had episodes throughout his life (caused by traumatic external events). He doesn't seem particularly concerned with age, either. He looks 20 years younger than he is, and is physically very fit (but until recently has behaved as if he was 30 years older).

[Mermaid]

"Although the secretion of testosterone gradually decline with advanced age, the rate after 40 is about 1% per year and is not enough to account for any decrease in libido or erectile function"

But "adrenal androgenic steroids... decrease by 50% from 20 years of age to 50 years of age... and may lead to some decrease in physical vigor and musculoskeletal flexibility"

"In numerous cross cultural studies of men and women, there does not appear to be a well defined entity called the "mid-life crisis". In both men and women, there is no well defined increase in major depression or major affective disorders in mid-life"
http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/human_reprod/lectures/pubertal_midlife/#4