Male Hormonal Period: Fact or Fiction?

[offtheleft]

someone told me about something along the lines of a male hormonal period. we go through through the same type of depression, etc... as girls? how accurate is this? because, i do notice every so often, for no reason at all i get somewhat depressed and can't control it.

 

[Danger]

Going by personal experience, I believe that to be true. The cycle, however, doesn't conform to lunar months as the female one does. It's probably different for every guy. I go through phases of extreme horniness that last about a week maybe 3 times a year. I haven't noticed any difference in that periodicity since I was in my 20's, and I'm 52 now. If I could manage to get that to coincide with the wife's, I'd be a happy man.

 

[Proton Soup]

i don't remember any such cycles when younger, i was ready all the time. I've seen it mentioned before, but don't know if there's anything to it. this is the only one I'm aware of, not that means much, but maybe a start.

J Zhejiang Univ Sci. 2003 Mar-Apr;4(2):236-40.Click here to read Links
A research on the relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men.
Jiang M, Xin J, Zou Q, Shen JW.

Department of Life Science, Hangzhou Normal College, Hangzhou 310020, China. jiangmy@mail.hz.zj.cn

The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of the relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men. The serum testosterone concentrations of 28 volunteers were investigated daily during abstinence periods after ejaculation for two phases. The authors found that the fluctuations of testosterone levels from the 2nd to 5th day of abstinence were minimal. On the 7th day of abstinence, however, a clear peak of serum testosterone appeared, reaching 145.7% of the baseline ( P < 0.01). No regular fluctuation was observed following continuous abstinence after the peak. Ejaculation is the precondition and beginning of the special periodic serum testosterone level variations, which would not occur without ejaculation. The results showed that ejaculation-caused variations were characterized by a peak on the 7th day of abstinence; and that the effective time of an ejaculation is 7 days minimum. These data are the first to document the phenomenon of the periodic change in serum testosterone level; the correlation between ejaculation and periodic change in the serum testosterone level, and the pattern and characteristics of the periodic change.

PMID: 12659241 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

 

[Danger]

i don't remember any such cycles when younger, i was ready all the time.

Good point. I should clarify that I was always amenable given any proper stimulus. The cyclic part was that even without stimulus I wanted to jump somebody.

Interesting study you quoted, by the bye.

 

[offtheleft]

no, it has nothing to do wish sex, just straight up depression. i felt absolutely horrible for a few days. randomly, i was back to normal. nothing changed in my life or anything, I've been working, hanging out, eating, etc.. like normal but, it was so bad for those three days that my friends and family even commented on it. and, it wasnt the first time this had happened. it happens every few months'ish, and lasts for a few days.

 

[Proton Soup]

Good point. I should clarify that I was always amenable given any proper stimulus. The cyclic part was that even without stimulus I wanted to jump somebody.

i should also note that a good 20 years past my teens, i do see the cycles you mention. libido will be nowhere, and then all of a sudden it's in overdrive for several days. but when younger, i really didn't even need a stimulus, the drive was always there. one big difference between now and then may also be that I've got a lot more bodyfat now, in both total and percentage. bodyfat has the somewhat undesirable effect of increasing aromatization of T.

 

[Proton Soup]

no, it has nothing to do wish sex, just straight up depression. i felt absolutely horrible for a few days. randomly, i was back to normal. nothing changed in my life or anything, I've been working, hanging out, eating, etc.. like normal but, it was so bad for those three days that my friends and family even commented on it. and, it wasnt the first time this had happened. it happens every few months'ish, and lasts for a few days.

you're right, it may have nothing to do with sex hormones at all. testosterone does, however, positively affect ones outlook on life. low testosterone can even be a cause of depression in older men. but there are other hormones at work, too, such as prolactin and estrogen that can have a negative effect. best thing you can do is maybe keep a diary to find some correlation, or see a doc if the symptoms are bad enough.

 

[offtheleft]

you're right, it may have nothing to do with sex hormones at all. testosterone does, however, positively affect ones outlook on life. low testosterone can even be a cause of depression in older men. but there are other hormones at work, too, such as prolactin and estrogen that can have a negative effect. best thing you can do is maybe keep a diary to find some correlation, or see a doc if the symptoms are bad enough.

at twenty? i doubt i have any testosterone problems, hmm. what kind of doctor would i have to see? like i said, I am twenty, still clueless as hell haha.

 

[Danger]

I might not be qualified to comment upon this then, since I'm on antidepressants for the ADD. I do suspect that I have a fairly low testosterone level, though. Not much body hair, except on my head and nether regions, not much muscle, no aggressiveness (with the meds; very violent, but controlled, thoughts without them)...
Even before the meds, though, I never noticed any cyclic pattern to my 'down' times.
Whatever it is, I hope that you find a solution. If you can manage it without medication, that's all the better.

edit: You sneaked that last post in while I was composing mine. An endrocrinologist (sp?) might be the best type of doctor to consult. If Adrenaline is still lurking here somewhere, she can probably steer you in the right direction.

 

[offtheleft]

i have adhd but, I am not on medication. I am hairy just about everywhere hahah, i have a decent amount of muscle mass. i snap over little things but, not often.

 

[Danger]

I really think that this has gone beyond the ability of PF'rs, no matter what their specialties, to deal with. You really should consult a physician of some sort. Your GP can refer you to a specialist if necessary. Paying attention to on-line advice could very well be detrimental to your health. It's not that we don't want to help; we're just not qualified to do so.

 

[redargon]

I find that a few days after a drinking binge, I get depressed and short tempered for a day or two. I guess it's the hormones in the brain righting themselves after the peaks and dips associated with drinking. It took me a while to realize the two were connected because it happens a few days after the hangover. My solution: Drink less and in moderation... as much as possible...

 

[Moonbear]

i have adhd but, I am not on medication. I am hairy just about everywhere hahah, i have a decent amount of muscle mass. i snap over little things but, not often.

If you were still in your younger teens, I'd chalk the moodiness up to hormones. Not a "male period" but simply your body still halfway between boy and man and needing some time to adjust to things being and feeling different. Though, since you're saying you're in your 20s, I'm not sure that's an adequate explanation. Fluctuations in testosterone in men occur more on the range of hours, not days, so if you go through several days of depression at a time, unless you have a real endocrine problem, that's not likely to explain it.

I would suggest starting out seeing your regular physician...general practitioner. They can look for any obvious health issues that would explain your symptoms that you may not have considered. If it turns out that there's no other underlying problem other than the ADHD and these bouts of depression, consider that you might be referred to a psychiatrist. With potentially two problems, maybe related, maybe unrelated, it seems important to get treatment under supervision of someone who can specialize in those areas, i.e., a psychiatrist, and not just have your family doctor prescribe medications. Perhaps it's really some other issue that has been misdiagnosed as ADHD previously and new symptoms are appearing as you get older, or perhaps you really have both ADHD and some depression and managing either one of them will require careful monitoring of the other.

I'm going into this because a lot of people freak out when someone suggests they should see a psychiatrist. You have to keep in mind that these are real medical doctors, and just like you'd go to a cardiologist if you had a heart problem, people go to psychiatrists when they have brain problems. And just like your general practitioner might be able to treat a simple case of high blood pressure without a referral to a cardiologist, they also might be able to treat a simple case of ADHD without a referral to a psychiatrist, but as soon as it starts to get more complicated, it's time to call in a specialist.

But, anyway, the starting point is going to be your general practitioner anyway, because it's possible these symptoms aren't something going on in your brain, but a problem elsewhere in your body, in which case a different specialist might be called upon, such as an endocrinologist or even an allergist. Starting out seeking specialists without someone managing your overall symptoms and helping to keep them on track of the whole picture isn't a particularly good idea either. You might be seeking the wrong specialist if you go off and do it on your own.

I'm going to agree with Danger, though, that the questions you're asking are outside the expertise of anyone at PF to help with. Medicine isn't practiced over the internet and impersonally.

 

[mcknia07]

at twenty? i doubt i have any testosterone problems, hmm. what kind of doctor would i have to see? like i said, I am twenty, still clueless as hell haha.

I think it's more or less your hormones and and young adolescenceness.