Reply #66: to the men!!!

[MrsBrady]

since we are on this topic....

For the men:
My husband (we have been married for just over a year) has been on 200mgs of Zoloft for years.
He can't function without it. He would be not only depressed. He says he can't think clearly, can't control his mood, and if not for going to work would never leave the house so as to not have to socialize. He also has dyscalculia (which is a numbers/math related LD) that he says is worse if he doesn't take it.

I wanted to let you all know that my husband (I am 35, he's 34) was found to have low testosterone about 6 months ago.
Now there is a whole process for determining this, and many men, especially younger men, show no obvious symptoms, until the Dr starts asking questions. His low testosterone was found on a routine physical after they got the results from his blood test.
So the doctor eventually prescribed testosterone gel.

Here is what we found out from the Doctor and with a little research on our own: 1)low testosterone can cause depression in men (and also over time, bone density problems). So before a doctor throws some anti-depressants at you, get a physical, and get your testosterone level checked. You may still need the Zoloft, but if your testosterone is low, there will still be some "left over" issues. 2)My husband has found that his energy level and constant fatigue that he couldn't get rid of is gone! No more overly tired for what seems like no reason. 3)In the last couple of weeks, because he is now on testosterone, he has been able to back off to 150mgs of Zoloft. This is a real coup! We hope he can lower it more later!

As an aside, for those who know the side effects of Zoloft, (I'm trying to be polite here) I can't tell you how much a low testosterone level combined with Zoloft can make a man feel bad about himself. When all the time it's been a hormone/brain chemistry issue.
4) Also, over time taking Zoloft may cause lower bone density in men. So you can imagine if your testosterone level is low, and low testosterone can cause bone density problems (my husband had a bone scan and he was found to be on the verge of a pre-osteoporosis condition!!!) what kind of issues this can cause later on. 5) My husband has also started taking calcium and vitamin D to repair his bone damage, per the Doctor. Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to cause depression and is also tied to immune system health. He used to be sick all of the time with flu, colds, viral and bacterial infections...non stop.

He's been on the testosterone, calcium and D for about 4 months now. He hasn't been sick, his mood is better, the tiredness is gone,...and like I said, he's lowered his Zoloft to 150!

So it's all kind of tied in together for him.
Get your testosterone level checked. If they do find your testosterone level is low, they will probably want to do a bone scan to check your bone density. It can take a couple of years of taking calcium/d and testosterone to repair bone damage, the Dr said. And from my own reading, if you are on Zoloft, even without testosterone issues, I would take calcuim/d to prevent bone and immune problems.

Anyway I hope this helps. My husband is finally getting better, and I wanted to share this with you all, in case someone might need the info.


Me? I'm a musician/artist. As long as I am doing something with that, and stay away from the corporate world (just got out again! whew!)...
If I do that, no depression for me. Doing something you don't like or that goes against your values would make anyone sick/depressed!