Your best bet is to see a board-certified urologist with expertise in hypogonadism, or a fertility expert who is experienced in treating male patients. If your bioavailable testosterone level is low, we can discuss options. Hypogonadism – reduced testicular function – generally occurs when the total testosterone is less than 300 ng/dL. There are safer, more cost-effective options to restore youthful energy – and potentially reverse fertility loss from previous testosterone products. Safe, successful low-T treatments start with personalized conversations. More often, symptoms can be linked to sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, anxiety, or depression. But we're beginning to see more men in their 20s with low-T at the UT Southwestern male urology clinic. There is no set timeline, but if you take testosterone long enough then your body also basically forgets how to produce its own as well, becoming dependent on this external source of ample hormones. Some of it just reaffirms the fact that testosterone may not be as key to libido as many of us believe it is. "In cases where men who have low T don’t have improved low libido symptoms from testosterone treatments, it means the problem is not testosterone," stresses Bajic. If your body produces exceptionally little testosterone, you'll definitely have issues with your sex drive, which will improve once you start taking T. So it's often far harder to treat sex drive issues than banner ads for testosterone treatments often seem to suggest. If, say, you believe sex outside of marriage is a dire sin and you’ll be damned to hell if you pursue it, your raging hormones may not matter all that much. "Dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin all play a role in libido, too," explains Justin Houman, M.D., a urologist in Los Angeles who specializes in men’s sexual and reproductive health. Testosterone levels are too carefully controlled by the brain for that to occur. But having high cholesterol doesn't mean your testosterone will be high. Testosterone is synthesized in the body from cholesterol. If you thought testosterone was only important in men, you'd be mistaken. There may be other important functions of this hormone that have not yet been discovered. Testosterone may also help maintain normal mood. Those low levels cause decreased testosterone and sperm production. These signals from your brain normally control how much testosterone your testicles make and release. Sexual symptoms of low testosterone are the most specific. Creative geometric female pattern in cubism style. Abstract woman face collage in modern vector art design. From sinus infections and high blood pressure to preventive screening, we’re here for you. Cleveland Clinic’s primary care providers offer lifelong medical care. Sex is a natural — and often important — part of your health and well-being. Several treatment options are available. Testosterone is a natural hormone produced primarily in the testicles, and it helps men maintain everything from bone density and body hair to sex drive and sperm production. Around age 30, a man's testosterone levels may slowly begin to decline. An estimated 1 in 50 men have low-T and experience symptoms such as lessened energy, decreased libido (sex drive), erectile dysfunction, lack of concentration, or trouble sleeping. Tinkering with your testosterone levels without direction from a qualified specialist can cause other health issues, such as testicular atrophy, infertility, and an increased risk of prostate cancer. If you go through this checklist and still find yourself struggling with clinically low T levels and a low libido, that’s when you would finally consider testosterone treatments, the experts we consulted explained. But we know that even simple tweaks to any of them can have major positive effects on libido directly, or on conditions that indirectly affect our sex drives. For adult females, testosterone enhances libido. Synthetic testosterone is the main drug of masculinizing hormone therapy. Your adrenal glands also produce the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which your body transforms into testosterone and estrogen. Women with high testosterone may reduce their testosterone levels naturally by incorporating certain foods and herbs into their diets. In women, testosterone plays a role in reproduction, growth, and general health. …but because their body is prioritizing survival over reproduction. This is why so many women feel like their desire disappears during stressful seasons of life. We all know stress impacts our health. Your body responds to challenge. …it may not be enough to stimulate testosterone production. Now, this does not mean you need to become a bodybuilder or live at the gym.