Tag: doctors

Testosterone

I missed talking about a lot of things during the last few months when I wasn’t writing in my blog, and this is one of those things. It has all the features of a good blog post: It’s a story of success, and a story of how many healthcare professionals are completely incompetent.

My low libido has been a source of anxiety during my entire life. It has had a negative impact on every relationship I’ve ever had, starting with my first one at age 14, continuing to my most recent one in my early 20s. Despite that, it’s not an issue that I’ve addressed until recently because I had bigger problems. When you can’t even get out of bed, it doesn’t seem practical to worry about getting turned on. Now that I’ve made decent progress with my more important symptoms, I decided it was time to start dealing with my penis.

In early 2016, I asked my primary doctor for some blood work as I do from time to time, but this time I asked him to check my testosterone level. Like I always do when it comes to anything health-related, I educated myself about testosterone and what causes the levels to change over the course of the day. I learned that testosterone levels are highest during the first couple waking hours of the day, and that when getting your levels checked, you need to get your blood taken during these first hours because they use the high levels as a baseline. I called in to set up my blood work appointment and the nurse kept trying to write me in for a 7am appointment. I explained to her that my sleep schedule was unusual – my day usually started around 12pm-2pm, so I needed an appointment around then. It took a few calls back and a little arguing, but eventually they wrote me in for 2pm. I got the results, and my testosterone level was on the lower side of the normal range. It was not low enough for any treatment.

Towards the end of 2016 I had a physical, so again I asked to get my testosterone levels checked. I explained to my doctor about my situation earlier in the year, explained why testosterone is checked during the first couple hours of the day, and explained my sleep schedule. He said “Let me check with our endocrinologist and we’ll give you a call.” Endocrinology is the study of hormones. This is basic, fundamental stuff so I figured a hormone specialist would know what to do (you would think I’d know better by now). Sure enough, I got a call back later in the week asking me to come in at 7am. I called back and spoke with the nurse there that the endocrinologist to either write me in for a 2pm appointment or explain to me why I’m wrong about this. I explained to her how people with unusual illnesses like me need to know these things because doctors are so clueless. She told me she would again leave a message for the endocrinologist and get back to me. Sure enough, I got the call a few days later. “Hello um, Adam? So uh, the endocrinologist said um, you need to come in at 7am because uh, um, so the test can be accurate.” I started to argue back explaining that if I had my blood drawn at 7am that would be the END of my day and therefore levels would be very low and the doctor would be concerned, but I stopped myself. “Fine, let’s try it their way.”

Sure enough, I got a call a few weeks later. “Adam? Yeah, your levels are very low and the doctor is concerned.” Shocking! They put me on a testosterone supplement, a topical ointment. As I looked into it, I found that the cream is the worst form of taking testosterone. When you think of guys taking a testosterone supplement you envision them injecting it into their leg, right? Well, there’s a reason for that. The cream is very unpredictable – sometimes the body will absorb 30% of what you rub on your shoulders and other times 70%. It causes a roller-coaster effect of your hormone levels so some days you’ll be getting random erections and other days you can’t get any action going on down there. Oh well, I figured I would give it a try so I could experience what higher testosterone levels felt like and if it was indeed the answer to my libido problem. I set up another blood work appointment (at 7am again) to follow up on my levels after a couple months of taking the supplement, and the fun continued.

I was told to go to Brockton Hospital for my follow-up bloodwork. It would have been easier for me to go to the doctor’s office as it was much closer, but I went there as instructed to. As soon as I got home, I got a call from the office. “Adam, did you go to Brockton Hospital? We were expecting you here at the office.” The icing on the cake was when I got the results of that test. I was interested in seeing how my levels had changed after a couple months of treatment. Instead, I opened up the envelope to be informed that “Adam, your prostate is fine.” Well that’s cool, but what about my testosterone levels?

Later this week I meet with the chump endocrinologist. I’ve read a bit about what I can expect during this appointment. Maybe he’ll continue with the cream, or if I can convince him to switch me to the shots, he might prescribe a low dose that will cause a similar roller-coaster of hormone levels. I’ll probably end up having to find a competent doctor in Boston to give me what I want.

Did the testosterone work, though?

Hell yeah it did. Before this, I imagine if most people thought back to the last time they were really horny it would only be a matter of hours, but I can only really recall one moment in my life when I was really horny in my late teens. Since being on this testosterone though, I’ve had a healthy sex drive as a young man like myself should. Look out, ladies.

 

 

The Absurdity of Healtchare

I learned a bit about how ridiculous the healthcare system is recently.

I had been taking Adderall just 2 or 3 times a week due to the side effects, so I was looking for something else to take during the other days. After some research I decided to Nuvigil (Armodafinil) a “wakefulness-promoting agent.” Once the patent of Provigil (Modafinil) expired, the company created Nuvigil to continue their profits. However, I had been on Provigil years earlier and read that Nuvigil is similar yet different in ways that made me want to give it a shot.

I asked my primary doctor which kind of doctor would prescribe it, and he told me neurology deals with that. I went on my insurance companies website, called some neurologists and asked if they prescribed Nuvigil. One did, and I set up an appointment. We met, I explained to him my situation, and he told me that I’m a great candidate for Nuvigil. Excellent! I didn’t realize it would be that easy. “There’s just one problem,” he says. “Insurance won’t cover it if I prescribe it, so call your psychiatrist or rheumatologist and I’ll guide them through prescribing it.” I’d never heard that one before, but I was hoping it would be an easy task.

I called my rheumatologist first since the neurologist claimed he knew the guy. My rheumatologist calls back and says “Sorry, but it would be better if you ask your psychiatrist.” Then, my psychiatrist explains to me that it’s very difficult to fight with the insurance companies to get them to prescribe a drug like this. Why? Well, they will say “Why not just take Adderall every day?” because it’s cheaper. They might cover if it I claimed Adderall didn’t work for me and stopped taking it, but I didn’t need a replacement – just something else I could take during the rest of the week. Insurance’s option for me is to either take Adderall every day or not at all, and neither of those options work.

This let me know that even if you find a doctor willing to prescribe you a drug, it doesn’t mean the insurance companies are going to go for it. It’s just yet another hurdle in the path of getting better. This situation was just one of many that opened my eyes to the fact that the healthcare system isn’t designed to make sure whatever the patient needs to feel better is done, no. It’s designed to make a profit, like everything else.

So what did I do? I kept looking, and discovered there is a legal alternative called Adrafinil that can be purchased without a prescription. Adrafinil converts to Modafinil in the body.

This entire situation, despite being a huge hassle and a game of hot potato with my doctors, taught me some valuable lessons about how to navigate our flawed healthcare system.

Dealing with Doctors

Not getting anything out of doctor visits? There are things you can do.

Anyone with a mysterious chronic illness is familiar with the disappointing routine of seeing doctors. They run their tests, can’t figure out what’s wrong, try different medications that don’t help, then don’t know what to do. There are some things you can do to get the most out of your appointments.

The visit

We’ve all had doctors that are always in a rush. They hurry you along, asking you to get to the point, and they’re out of there before you know what happened. You are paying for their time, and this is your health and your life at stake here. Warn the nurse if you have a lot to say before the doctor sees you. This way he’ll know and can deal with his other patients first, giving you all the time that you need. You need to speak up and address everything on your mind.

Doctors know far less than what you would think – it’s up to you

Doctors are used to dealing with only the most common of problems. They don’t know what to do for anyone coming in with an unconventional illness. They will run their tests, find nothing wrong, maybe try a couple of medications, but then they’ll be left scratching their heads. You can’t walk into appointments just hoping that the doctor will come up with a great idea for you – you need to have an agenda for every appointment. I understand that when you feel like crap, the last thing you want to do is research things on your own. However, once you find that first drug that makes you feel a little better, that will be just enough to help you looking for more.

Doctors often don’t understand the medications they prescribe

Doctors have a short list of medications they try people on, the drugs that are pushed on them the hardest. For example, go see a rheumatologist for your joint pain, and they will throw Neurontin and Lyrica at you. Look around your doctor’s office: You might notice that every piece of stationery has a drug name on it. The drugs you see advertised on TV are also the ones being pushed on doctors. They are not prescribing unique drugs for your unique problems, they are prescribing the most common heavily-advertised drugs that vaguely treat symptoms similar to yours. The dose of each medication is very important as well, which doctors do not always understand. 10mg might not do anything, but suddenly relief comes at 30mg. Often they will try you on the introductory dose and then move on. For many medications, the starting dose will be completely ineffective, especially for those suffering from particularly debilitating illnesses.

Educate yourself

The internet is a great resource, so take advantage of it! When looking up drug information online, don’t just look at the “WebMD” type of sites. These will tell you the “official” information provided by the drug companies themselves but don’t tell the whole story and won’t tell you what to expect. Look up sites where users discuss their personal experiences. There may be effects, side-effects, concerns, and warnings that you won’t see on WebMD. I used to think drug experience sites like drugs.com and erowid.com were just full of junkies trying to get high… no, often these people are sick and desperately trying to feel better – just like you and me.

 

You need to take an active role in your health care. Putting the effort in can be the hardest thing to do when you aren’t feeling well, but it’s something you need to do.