Posts Tagged "testosterone"

Irritable Male Syndrome

Posted by Liz on Oct 16, 2008 in Uncategorized | 8 comments

[Marianna Schmidt, Angry Man, 1986]

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled program to….

Turns out that your angry male partner/friend/husband is not in male menopause afterall. At least according to psychotherapist Jed Diamond, whose book, ‘Male Menopause’ caused quite a stir when it was first published in 1998.

So, is your guy suffering from IMS?

IMS is a term used to describe a state in which men of any age become hypersensitive and angry, theoretically as a result of biochemical changes, hormone fluctuations (namely testosterone), stress, and sense of loss of male identity.  With regards to hormone fluctuations specifically, Dr. Diamond explains in an interview featured on WebMD, that:

• testosterone levels can increase and decrease as many as five times an hour
• testosterone levels are higher in the morning and lower at night
• men have monthly cycles that vary from man to man but are trackable using mood changes as a guide
• between the ages of 40 and 55, men go through male andropause syndrome, with declining androgen levels that affect sexual desire, function and overall quality of health. Notably, some research suggests that this is debatable).

IMS evidently rears its head as depression or worse, anger, hostility and violence directed towards another person.  And Dr. Diamond says that until men overcome their denial and attributing their feelings to outside causes, they can’t overcome the problem.

I did a quick search on PubMed to see if any of Dr. Diamond’s research has been published. I didn’t find anything. However, I did stumble across his website, where he encourages guys to take a quiz to determine if they’re suffering from IMS, and women, to sign up for an interactive program called “AliveGuide.”

IMS…is it real? Or simply another way to sell books? What’s more, what can your guy do about it? Dr. Diamond recommends recognition and communication, among other self-help steps.

What do you think?  Men – are you suffering from IMS or know someone who is? What steps are you taking to help yourself? Women – does your guy/friend/partner have IMS?

I’d love to hear more!

HSDD

Posted by Liz on Oct 11, 2008 in sexual health | 0 comments

Bet you didn’t know that they actually named the lack of sexual desire that often accompanies menopause.

I certainly didn’t. But, HSDD, or hypoactive sexual desire disorder, (which is defined in DMV IV as “diminished feelings of sexual interest of desire, absent sexual thoughts/fantasies, or a lack of responsive desire that causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulties, and is not caused by a medical condition or drugs, reportedly affects 1 in 10 women.)

On the other hand, about 70% of women report some decline in sexual desire after menopause. So is HSDD different than the natural decline of sexual “health?”  I don’t see researchers making a distinction.

I’ve written about sex numerous times since starting this blog. In fact, I did examine the role of testosterone in sex drive in an earlier post. (You may recall that testosterone, while primarily a male hormone, also plays a role in driving sexual desire in women.)

Researchers are actively studying the safety and effectiveness of a testosterone gel called LibiGel, which when rubbed on the upper arm once a day, evidently raises blood testosterone levels and improves sex drive without causing any serious side effects. What’s more, testosterone gel reportedly does not cause the hair growth and acne often associated with testosterone pills.

I’ve got no argument with the use of testosterone gel; heck, if it’s going to restore sexual desire regardless of declining hormones, I’m all for it. But do we need to call it HSDD, which for all intents and purposes, classify it as problem and not as a natural part of the transition that we call menopause?

I dunno; it feels a bit clinical to me. What do you think?