From age 35 to age 38 I was on an incredible anti-aging program with the Cenegenics Medical Institute in Las Vegas. I was unable to afford Hgh, but I was on Testosterone Cypionate. It most definitely had an impact on my strength, but was never prescribed in doses that exceed what is considered normal in a male human being in his 20s. Nor was I prescribed my much desired and requested Deca-durabolin. :( In the end, I was a 37 yr old with 20 yr old testosterone levels which I am sure would be considered a legal genetic gift in an olympic drug test.
My concern is that it is a shame that athletes can't say "Yes, I am on a hormone replacement therapy program, I love it, and if you are over 25 you should look into it too!" I think the athletes justifiably fear that making such a statement will only cause the media to blow it out of proportion and label it as doping. Ah well, at least inspired fans will increase their belief in their own abilities and go after their dreams. Will they succeed? In my opinion, you succeed the minute get up off the couch and take a single step toward a dream. What do you think about all this? Is it fair to the younger athletes? Is it ethical to say "I'm not taking anything" to fans? What a tough position to be in for an athlete especially since the general population thinks doping instantly makes a super athlete vs an indescribable amount of heart and hard work. If while I was on Cypionate I had competed in anything, it would have only put my on a level playing field hormonally. That wouldn't have even guaranteed me a winning streak in my hometown.
Mike, if you don't mind saying, how old are you? There are lots of things that can trigger life-mellowing behavioral changes of the sort you describe. I don't think militaries the world over would depend on young male recruits were we guys not so, well, stupidly aggressive at this time of life. Brain changes in the early to mid 20s seem to correlate with reduced risk taking behavior in general, drunk driving, etc.
I am also skeptical of your testosterone levels changing hugely post testicular cancer. Just as the testes shrink when a guy injects anabolic steroids (feedback loops tell the testes they don't need to make testosterone since there's too much in the body already), so would I think that a single testicle would crank up production to compensate for its companion lost to cancer.
I guess what I am wondering here is if everything you describe would have happened regardless of your cancer; my suspicion is it would have.
As for these longevity clinics in las vegas and other hotbeds of quackery, I think they are just another in a long line of American swindles that extract money in exchange for (mainly) placebo effects, and use eager-to-pay Ponce de Leon wannabes as guinea pigs for hormonal tinkering.
About six years ago, testosterone gel came out on the Rx market, and an editor of mine at Modern Maturity magazine wanted me to try the stuff out. A doctor friend agreed to prescribe it provided my various blood tests (like hematocrit and PSA) were normal.
It turns out I was anemic and had such a low natural testorerone level that I tried to get USMS to let me swim against the more masculine women in my age group.
They said no.
Anyhow, if anyone would benefit from boosting T to higher normal levels, it would be me. I massaged the goo in my shoulder religiously for months, went to a national meet, felt empowered by the magical edge...but did the same, no better, no worse, then I'd swum at any other comparable meet.
Besides no swimming benefits, I noticed zero changes in all the other parameters--from muscle buidling to sex drive to energy. Zero! No increased erotic dreaming, desire to watch Fight Club over and over again, urge to throw sand into the eyes of weaklings. Nothing! Bupkus!
I agree that the pharmaceutical industry is always trying to find new, chronic, low-grade "conditions" that can be remedied by regular trips to the drug store to pick up expensive prescriptions. I just don't think normal physiological levels of testosterone do anything, provided you are already in the normal range. For a 35 year old guy to boast of having the T levels of a 20 year old guy seems to me slightly ridiculous.
One final note. For all these different biomolecules that can be measured by various blood and urine and saliva assays, you have to keep in mind that the agent itself is only part of the equation. What is equally important is the various receptor sites on cell membranes and the like where these agents do their work. Just as Type 2 diabetics often produce more than enough insulin, but their cells can't use it properly (insulin resistance), so are compounds like testosterone only one part of the story. Guys like me with low normal levels, the doctor explained, may have cells that are more sensitive to testosterone's effects.
But I still think they should let me swim against East German type women.
Mike, if you don't mind saying, how old are you? There are lots of things that can trigger life-mellowing behavioral changes of the sort you describe. I don't think militaries the world over would depend on young male recruits were we guys not so, well, stupidly aggressive at this time of life. Brain changes in the early to mid 20s seem to correlate with reduced risk taking behavior in general, drunk driving, etc.
I am also skeptical of your testosterone levels changing hugely post testicular cancer. Just as the testes shrink when a guy injects anabolic steroids (feedback loops tell the testes they don't need to make testosterone since there's too much in the body already), so would I think that a single testicle would crank up production to compensate for its companion lost to cancer.
I guess what I am wondering here is if everything you describe would have happened regardless of your cancer; my suspicion is it would have.
As for these longevity clinics in las vegas and other hotbeds of quackery, I think they are just another in a long line of American swindles that extract money in exchange for (mainly) placebo effects, and use eager-to-pay Ponce de Leon wannabes as guinea pigs for hormonal tinkering.
About six years ago, testosterone gel came out on the Rx market, and an editor of mine at Modern Maturity magazine wanted me to try the stuff out. A doctor friend agreed to prescribe it provided my various blood tests (like hematocrit and PSA) were normal.
It turns out I was anemic and had such a low natural testorerone level that I tried to get USMS to let me swim against the more masculine women in my age group.
They said no.
Anyhow, if anyone would benefit from boosting T to higher normal levels, it would be me. I massaged the goo in my shoulder religiously for months, went to a national meet, felt empowered by the magical edge...but did the same, no better, no worse, then I'd swum at any other comparable meet.
Besides no swimming benefits, I noticed zero changes in all the other parameters--from muscle buidling to sex drive to energy. Zero! No increased erotic dreaming, desire to watch Fight Club over and over again, urge to throw sand into the eyes of weaklings. Nothing! Bupkus!
I agree that the pharmaceutical industry is always trying to find new, chronic, low-grade "conditions" that can be remedied by regular trips to the drug store to pick up expensive prescriptions. I just don't think normal physiological levels of testosterone do anything, provided you are already in the normal range. For a 35 year old guy to boast of having the T levels of a 20 year old guy seems to me slightly ridiculous.
One final note. For all these different biomolecules that can be measured by various blood and urine and saliva assays, you have to keep in mind that the agent itself is only part of the equation. What is equally important is the various receptor sites on cell membranes and the like where these agents do their work. Just as Type 2 diabetics often produce more than enough insulin, but their cells can't use it properly (insulin resistance), so are compounds like testosterone only one part of the story. Guys like me with low normal levels, the doctor explained, may have cells that are more sensitive to testosterone's effects.
But I still think they should let me swim against East German type women.
