Allopurinol und Verlust des Sexualtriebs/-funktion?

Fußpflege
1

OK, so I recently went to the doctor as I was experiencing some fairly rapid weight gain and a bit of a lower sex drive. I'm a 28 year old male and never had an issue in the sex department up until this point.

After running 2 separate rounds of blood work, the doctor told me that my uric acid was fairly high and that I had gout and low testosterone. I started treatment for both within the past week (Allopurinol and Androderm), and my sex drive has gone from low to literally non existent. Up until I started treatment, I was still able to function, I just wasn't as in the mood. Now, I am not only not in the mood at all, but I literally cannot function sexually.

I have been extremely frustrated and now I'm beginning to get paranoid as well. I never really had "gout attacks" before other than some ankle pain once in a while from an old hockey injury and a knee that bothers me sometimes if I sit too long in the same position. I've asked my doctor if she was sure it was gout and that she was sure it wasn't anything else or a precursor to anything else and she assured me it wasn't, but I can't help feeling as though something is missing here.

Perhaps I am being paranoid, but I also am beginning to get very frustrated and upset that I cannot function. My doctor also told me that loss of sex drive/function is not a side effect on Allopurinol, but after doing some research online, I have noticed that other people have had similar problems.

I am way too young to have this issue and it is killing every ounce of confidence I have left in my body. This is not fair to me or my wife, who has been very understanding about this so far. 

I guess I just want to know if anyone else has been in this position taking this medication, and if it gets better? If not, what can I do to fix this? Will this be permanent even if I stop taking the Allopurinol? I simply cannot deal with this issue long term.

I have told my doctor about this and she simply told me to give the low testosterone some time to "kick in", but it has been days since that conversation and I still don't feel even remotely better.

I am desperate, I don't know what else to do. It is beginning to drive me insane. 

Somebody please tell me this will get better.

2

My heart felt empathy for your situation. It must be pretty awful.

A few questions first.

You said weight gain. How tall are you and what do you weigh? What was your normal long term weight?How quickly did you gain the weight? Did you recently get married or have a child born? Are you under a lot of stress in your job? How much exercise do you do?

The blood work. What level was the testosterone and what was it in the past? What was the urate level?

As for allopurinol I have read it doesn't have this effect at lower levels but may have at higher levels. As you have only just started you should for safety be on 100 mg.

Androderm: is this the patches? Those are the low end of the solution - the higher end being injections. I wouldn't be surprised if they take a week or so to kick in. I'll ask friends how quickly they work.

Anyone else experience with this?

The take home message from this is though - both these problems are sortable - even more so at your age.

3

Mit Androderm beginnt die Behandlung typischerweise einige Zeit vor der 3. Woche zu wirken, aber die Reaktion wird nach dem ersten Monat deutlicher. Was Gichtpatienten betrifft, sind 1 von 10.000 Männern von erektiler Dysfunktion betroffen. Diese Informationen stammen aus einem Testosteron-Medizinzentrum in Texas.

Es sollte besser werden, wenn Sie weiterhin Androderm einnehmen, aber wenn Sie nach einem Monat immer noch keine Besserung feststellen, sollten Sie Ihren Arzt erneut aufsuchen. Doch, ich denke, Sie brauchen etwas Geduld, um dem Medikament Zeit zu geben, zu wirken, lassen Sie es seine Arbeit tun, anstatt sich selbst zu frustrieren. Ich hoffe, diese Informationen helfen Ihnen ein wenig. Passen Sie auf sich auf.

4

This support Sochima's advice:

"How Long Before Low Testosterone Therapy “Kicks In” — The Short Answer

Understanding that there is no hard fast rule here, most patients feel significant improvement in symptoms within 4-6 weeks of starting treatment for Low T.

It is common for symptoms like low sex drive and difficulty maintaining sleep to respond sooner. On the other hand, factors like obesity, chronic illness, or medications can make one’s response slower or more subtle at first."

5

My weight has always gone up and down a bit over the last few years but I tacked on an extra 10-15 lbs without any change in diet or anything. I'm a stay at home dad for the time being, so I don't get to excercise much. As far as testosterone, I am not sure what it was in the past, but my doctor told me it was in the 200-300 range I believe. As for the uric acid, I am unsure, she just said it was "fairly high". Yes, the testosterone is the patches, 2 mg daily. 

My biggest concerns were if this would ever get better, and if there was possibly some underlying issue here. My doctor assured me my heart was OK, and even did an x-ray and blood work (twice), so I guess it's only right to believe her, I just for some reason feel funny about this. Literally the day after I started taking the Allopurinol is when this started, I don't feel it's just "coincidence".

6

As for my height/weight, I'm roughly 5'7" and CURRENTLY about 186. At the beginning of the month I was pushing 200, but I've been trying to eat healthier and I also think the treatment I have been recieving is helping a bit also.

7

I was mostly just concerned that this started happening immediately after I started taking the Allopurinol. I've never experienced this before.

8

I've read similar things. I just find it strange that as soon as I started taking this Allopurinol everything changed so drastically. It's really doing a number on my psyche.

9

Forgot to mention that I am on 300 mg of the Allopurinol.

10

Worrying that they gave you 300 mg as it is recommended that you start at 100 move up to 200 then 300 every couple of weeks. This reduces the chances of severe reactions; particularly skin problems. While 300 mg is the most common therapeutic dose, there is a big variation around the norm, and you need blood tests to see how it's going on that dose.

NB if you have any Chinese or SE Asian blood it is dangerous to use it at all.

11

As I'm sure you know, you are overweight. This is bad for gout and testosterone - fat absorbs the stuff. If you get down the gym and lift weights (not anaerobic exercise), that will help your weight, your gout and will increase testosterone.

12

There's research that stay at home dads with little kids have lowered testosterone (there's good reasons for it in evolutionary terms - you don't want angry dads). I'm afraid you need to get away from the chikd sometime and do some exercise.

How old is the child?

Were you doing a physical job before?

13

Yeah, I know I'm overweight, unfortunately. My daughter is a little over one year old. Before, I was doing all different kinds of work, some physical, some not. 

My doctor wanted to see me back in about 2 months to see how my body was taking to the treatments. I just don't think I have the patience or mind power to wait 2 months to get back to my normal sex drive. I mean literally the day before I started taking the Allopurinol I was fine, one day later and I was totally unable to function at all.

I can live with any other minor side effects, but not being able to function like I was just a WEEK AGO is really driving me nuts!

14

My advice - cut the 300mg into 3 and see how you are on 100 mg. Give it a couple of weeks and see how it goes. Maybe get some viagra in the meantime?

What do others think please?

15

Forgot to say - increased weight, decreased exercise and looking after a small child will trash your testosterone levels... and yours are low (mine are higher and I'm double your age). However, lose weight, stop looking after a little child (s/he will grow) push some weights... you're under 45 - you'll get back to your old virile self!

16

Guter Rat zum Allopurinol.

Fragen Sie auf jeden Fall, ob Sie in der Zwischenzeit Viagra verwenden können. Das würde nicht schaden.

17

My doctor actually asked me several times if I wanted it but I feel like at my age (28) I shouldn't need it, nor do I want to become reliant on it.

The more I am reading up on high uric acid the more I am getting concerned about possible kidney issues, but I would assume that my doctor would have noticed something else in my blood work if there was a serious issue?

This whole thing has just got me going nuts...

18

Wenn etwas anderes vorgefallen wäre, wäre es in Ihren Blutwerten aufgefallen. Da jedoch Ihr Harnsäurespiegel frühzeitig erkannt wurde, können Sie jetzt mit der Vorbeugung anderer möglicher Probleme beginnen.

Was das Viagra betrifft, warum es nicht verwenden, bis das Androderm wirkt, und sobald die Gelüste zurückkehren, können Sie aufhören. Es ist nur vorübergehend und nicht süchtig machend, sodass Sie nicht abhängig davon werden.

19

My hope is that it was caught "early" and is not something that has been going on for years. I'm a bit of a worry wart when it comes to my health because I have a family history of many health issues.

I don't really have an objection to taking Viagra per se, it's just that I don't understand how I could go from fine to unable to function in less than a week. It just seems strange to me.

I am really hoping this will just get better with time.

20

a) try the viagra as a stop-gap;

b) kidney and heart problems are issues with long-term hypereucemia... in your case don't worry - you're not old enough to have this issue long-term - problems set in after 10, 15 years or more. Also, with treatment (eg allopurinol), the excess urate in your organs and tissues, including your kidneys, will get flushed out. While its natural to worry about your kidneys - are you "worried well" or do you have cause for concern - pain or blood in your urine? At your age I'd be amazed. Indeed, if you were a car, you're still on under 20,000 miles, and however poorly driven or maintained, the car runs okay.

All this worrying though, is not good for erectile function.

My advice - and others please chip in - you have a long term illness along with 2% of the male population. As soon as you get your head around that it's a syndrome that can be easily managed with a bit of change in lifestyle and a pharmaceutical - you'll be okay.

One last tip - for gout and kidneys - drink a couple of liters of water a day, on top of tea / coffee whatever and your kidneys and joints will love you for it. Conversely give up sugary drinks and juices and beer. Drink water!