Roy's Story

It's August 5th, Roy's 52nd birthday. The cake has been baked, the presents rapped. But Roy just doesn't feel like celebrating. His family and friends know him as active, outgoing and ambitious. He's VP of Purchasing for an electronics firm, he coaches his sons hockey tea and he's the on that gets called when there is a charity car wash to organize. His wife Ellen has always been his best friend. Their lives revolve around their teenaged kids and friends. There are dinner parties, outings, and on weekends he plays tennis or works on his 9 handicap.
But lately Roy has not "been himself". He always feels used up at the end of the day. The old drive is missing. After dinner, all he can think of is hitting the sofa with the remote, often dozing right there. His relationship with Ellen has also been strained. They often argue now and he tends to just clam up more. He doesn't feel like having sex anymore either. In fact its been weeks now. At work he feels oddly threatened by his bright new assistant who would obviously like his job. He no longer feels so sure of himself or his future. His co-workers have noticed that he is edgy and often unreasonable in his demands.
"The golf game tomorrow? How can I get out of it? I'm just too tired to go. I just don't have the same enthusiasm for things. Ah, I don't know, I must be getting old."

Sound Familiar?

Roy isn't just "getting old". He's going through Andorpause, often referred to as "male menopause". And there's plenty he can do about it to feel fit and energetic again ­ and get his positive outlook back.

Andorpause

By the time men are between the ages of 40 and 55, they can experience a phenomenon similar to the female menopause, called Andropause. Unlike women, men do not have a clear cut external signpost such as the cessation of menstruation to mark this transition. Both, however, are distinguished by a drop in hormone levels. Estrogen in the female and testosterone in the male. The bodily changes occur very gradually in men and may be accompanied by changes in attitudes and moods, fatigue, a loss of energy, sex drive and physical agility. What's more, studies show that this decline in testosterone can actually put one at risk of other health problems like heart disease and weak bones. Since this happens at a time of life when many men begin to question their values, accomplishments and direction in life, it's often difficult to realize that the changes occurring are related to more than just sexual conditions.

Unlike menopause, which generally occurs in women during their mid- forties to mid-fifties, men's "transition" may be much more gradual and expand over many decades. Attitude, psychological stress, alcohol, injuries or surgery, medications, obesity and infections can contribute to its onset.

Although with age, a decline in testosterone levels will occur in virtually all men, there is no way of predicting who will experience Andropausal symptoms of sufficient severity to seek medical help. Neither is it predictable at what age symptoms will occur in a particular individual. Each man's symptoms may be also different.

 *Reference Organon Canada Ltd.