How can andropause affect a man?

Many men confuse andropause -- an age-related medical condition that a doctor diagnoses when a man's testosterone falls below a certain level and if he experiences symptoms -- with erectile dysfunction (ED), because they often occur around the same time. These men often turn to an ED medication, such as Viagra, to improve their erectile ability, which works for a time in most cases. However, as men get older, the gap between desire and arousal widens and many men become deeply disappointed when Viagra doesn't give them the desire to have sex. That's because Viagra doesn't boost testosterone levels.

Andropause can also trigger mood swings, depression, and irritability, as well as raise a man's risk for osteoporosis and heart disease. Keep in mind, however, that andropause doesn't affect all men.

Andropause is considered the male equivalent of female menopause. In andropause, men will start to experience a wide variety of symptoms. The symptoms are divided into 4 categories; psychological, sexual, physical and metabolic. Because the list of symptoms is very extensive, you don’t need to have every symptom to be diagnosed. The most common symptoms of Andropause are:  fatigue, increase muscle soreness, loss of muscle strength and tone, decrease stamina, decrease sex drive, loss of morning erections, decrease ability to obtain and maintain erections, loss of creativity, loss of self esteem, a feeling of hopelessness, depression and more.

The cause of Andropause is due to declining levels testosterone production by the testicles. As these levels decrease the above symptoms will start to manifest. One may have a few or multiple. Some of the symptoms of Andropause will overlap with other medical conditions. Thus, you may want to seek a medical evaluation rather than self diagnose.