Suggestions?

[Wellesley]

32 yo married 1 child, wife recently had total hysterectomy, retained 1 ovary (which seems to be not working, as she is exhibiting all signs of estrogen deficiency, she is not interested in HRT as she took various hormone treatments for her condition, pre-surgery, she had all possible bad side effects) Sexual intercourse is physically impossible for her at this point as well as a "0" libido (pretty much for the last 5 years as well due to her chronic pain issues)

orchialgia since the age of 18
a total of 3 surgeries on the right side (2 exploratory/ orchiopexies and finally 3 years ago an orchiectomy)
1 surgery on the left (orchiopexy at 19)

Currently I have discomfort from the right side with the cremaster muscles moving around with the cords etc (yes, I had a scrotal orchiectomy not inguinal, missed that bit of info) Discomfort is not bad mostly annoying.

Left side is having occasional flare ups. My diagnosis from the surgeries when I was young was a congenital testicular abnormality which makes torsion more likely (thus the repeated orchiopexies).

After talking a lot with different guys I have decided to retain the left testes for as long as possible, basically until it gets as bad as the right was where I was dependent on opiates.

My question is, " Does this sound logical?"

My previous idea was to have the testicle removed ASAP (I have carefully considered denervation, it is not really an option here in JAPAN) however the loss of T and the side effects have scared me out of that.

[Uncle Flo]

I think you are on the right track. A conservative approach is called for. it is always possible to do more but it is not possible to un-do something when you have gone too far. It is possible to live well without testicles so even if it comes to that you will be all right. --FLO--

[Wellesley]

Thanks for the reply. I talked a lot to Mr T and others on the yahoo orchialgia group.

The only thing that worries me is the lack of T effects in terms of the mental focus, sleep issues etc. The surgery is not a concern (having had it on one side already)

Cheers,

[Wellesley]

Wife is against orchiectomy, she says I need to maintain hormones.

If I go to the hospital they are likely to try antidepressants.....

Do I try that or find another hospital???

[clysmaniac]

I had my orchiectomy about a year and a half ago, following nearly 3 years of chemical castration. I also know 3 other eunuchs pretty well, none of them take any TRT and they function pretty well. I am more physical in my work and found that I lost more strength than was desirable so now I do take a small dose of replacement testosterone. The thing I like about taking some testosterone is that I control how much I get. I've played with the level quite a bit and my doctor is pretty understanding. While he would like me higher, I find I do quite well so my level is only about half that of the low side of normal on the lab scale. They use 280 as the low side of normal and I am about 125. This is high enough to give me some added strength and to get my bone density back into the desirable range. I am more temperature sensitive than before and probably don't sleep as well but those are minor issues. My T level is not enough to rekindle my libido so that fits in very well.

You can certainly have an orchiectomy and have hormones- they are not mutually exclusive these days.

[Wellesley]

Yes, I know that HRT is an option, I think she is worried because she does not understand that the options for men are much better than the options for women.

She is not able to take HRT due to side effects and other crazy issues. And fear too I suppose.

Thanks for the feedback.

Anyone actually tried the anti depressants though?

[JessJames1968]

I'm still fully in tact, so I don't know if this will help or not, but I've been on antidepressants for several years. Since my mid to late twenties. I turned 42 late July.

They do help with energy and sleep issues brought on by clinical depression. I've worked in tandem with my doctor over the years and we have been able to tell when a med begins to loose its effect. That's when we look at another.

I started on Paxil, but experienced the erectile disfunction side effect. Since I was in my mid to late twenties at the time and had not realized there was the possibility of genital modification via GRS while remaining male, this was a BIG issue to me. We switched to Effexor with excellent results for several years. Then added Wellbutrin because of lack of energy. Energy issues crept in again within a few years so the Effexor was switched out for Lexapro. That was about three years ago.

It's looking like we may be needing to make a change again, but I'm going to have the Doc run tests on my T levels first to make sure that isn't the underlying issue regarding my lack of energy. In hindsight, we probably should have done this before adding the Wellbutrin.

The very best I've felt was on the Paxil, save for the side effect. Again, I don't know if this will help, but just keep in mind having to take antidepressants isn't the worst thing that could happen.