My doctor prescribed Andro-Gel, am I cheating running in the local fun run?

A coworker of mine was recently diagnosed with low T. He too was advised to take that stuff. Coincidentally, at the same time, my mom's issue of Consumer REports arrived at the same time. It had a feature on the profliferation of Low T advertisements which have skyrocketed in the last 2 years. Besides the cost (up to $600 a month) it mentioned a number of risks involved with taking the drug(s): besides the man-boobs, you have an increased risk of prostate cancer, lowered sperm count/higher risk of infertility, other health risks, and all for a fairly low increase in testosterone.

I would instead recommend the following: increased physical activity, lower your weight, lower stress levels if possible, lift weights (especially heavy squats - these increase testosterone levels twice as much as the bench- and dead lifts, and try taking the following: DHEA, ensure enough Zinc, ARginine and een Acetyl L-Cartinine.

If your local fun run is not USATF sanctioned, then you are not violating any banned substance rule. If your local race is a USATF-sanctioned event, then yes, you are violating the drug rules. As to the advice of the last poster, DHEA also is a banned substance, and I haven't checked, but I don't think you can get a TUE (therapeutic use exception) for it.

Yes and what's more, you're cheating in life. You will be sporting muscles, body hair and an all-around general vitality which really amounts to just a pharmaceutical-induced facade. You should be ashamed to call yourself a man.

Pics (post-Androgel) ?

I think in a few more years, we're going to hear lots of cases of prostate cancer and BPH (enlarged prostate) as a result of widespread use of AndroGel. You realize that it inhibits your body's ability to naturally produce testosterone, right? Any excess AndroGel your body can't immediately use gets converted to estrogen, increased levels of which have been linked to cancer... not just man boobs.

I'm quite a bit older than you and can't use AndroGel because it's on the banned substance list. What I do instead is two to three brutally intense workouts each week: either weights, hill sprints, or intense intervals.

I think older (50+) athletes need to rethink traditional training. Training is no longer about VO2max and running efficiency. It's also about boosting T-levels and hGH levels. As such, the hard days need to be brutal... brutal.

How hard should they be?

Every so often when I finish a set of weights, some total stranger comes over and says, "Are you okay?"

Can the O.P. simply apply for a therapeutic use exemption? Doesn't the doctor's prescription essentially assure its approval?

My brother-in-law is a doc. The drug reps for the low-T companies are super aggressive with docs. He thinks that they are trying to get the drugs to be so common (like statins) that any subsequent revelations about cancer risk and other side effects will not get the drugs pulled because so many will have positive views of the benefits. It reminds him of Phen-fen. The industry was hyper aggressive with the drug because it potentially had a massive market. But with Phen-fen, the side effect (mitral valve prolapse and eventual failure) was too frequent and too serious to keep the drug on the market.

The biggest problem with the low-T thing is that docs are just doing a blood test and prescribing drugs without first taking a less aggressive approach (lifestyle changes, less booze, strength training, ruling out depression, thyroid issues, etc.). And there are too many docs who are prescribing it as a lifestyle drug without a positive low-T blood test. The fact of the matter is that low-T is an inevitable part of aging and is not a medical condition. Hypogonadism is a real medical condition that should be treated. But avoiding the natural decline of aging is not worth getting prostate cancer or some of the other serious side effects of replacement therapy.

Goucher Needles wrote:

Can the O.P. simply apply for a therapeutic use exemption? Doesn't the doctor's prescription essentially assure its approval?

"Assure" its approval? I believe you have misused the word. I believe you meant, instead, to "ensure" its approval.

Assure means to promise.

Ensure means to guarantee.

Insure means to provide or obtain insurance.

No. Legitimate prescription for a legitimate medical condition.

Old Goat wrote:

I'm pushing 50, have always had a T-level around 650 and at the result of my last physical my T-level was now barely half that. My doctor has prescribed me andro-gel to bring my levels back.

I find this interesting because Testosterone levels are not part of the normal blood work ups. Your Doctor would have needed to specifically call out for it and charged you extra for it. Also, Testosterone levels normally begin declining in men over the age of 40.

I really like this post. Thanks.

Cindy a climate scientist wrote:

"Assure" its approval? I believe you have misused the word. I believe you meant, instead, to "ensure" its approval.

Assure means to promise.

Ensure means to guarantee.

Insure means to provide or obtain insurance.

Are you sure? Can you ensure your assurance is surely correct?

Cindy a climate scientist wrote:

Goucher Needles wrote:

Can the O.P. simply apply for a therapeutic use exemption? Doesn't the doctor's prescription essentially assure its approval?

"Assure" its approval? I believe you have misused the word. I believe you meant, instead, to "ensure" its approval.

Assure means to promise.

Ensure means to guarantee.

Insure means to provide or obtain insurance.

Dicksure. What you say when I ask, "Can I stick this in your mouth?"

Smarta wrote:

Cindy a climate scientist wrote:

"Assure" its approval? I believe you have misused the word. I believe you meant, instead, to "ensure" its approval.

Assure means to promise.

Ensure means to guarantee.

Insure means to provide or obtain insurance.

Dicksure. What you say when I ask, "Can I stick this in your mouth?"

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

I was writing fast...ahead of my brain...the word choice, of course, is ensure.

My question stands. Can Alberto Salazar have a Nike team doctor prescribe Andro-Gel for Galen Rupp and thus qualify him for a USATF therapeutic use exemption?

No.

Nobody cares what your old butt takes for a fun run.

* wrote:

Nobody cares what your old butt takes for a fun run.

my old butt enjoys the Armadildo

fisky wrote:

I think older (50+) athletes need to rethink traditional training. Training is no longer about VO2max and running efficiency. It's also about boosting T-levels and hGH levels. As such, the hard days need to be brutal... brutal.

How hard should they be?

Every so often when I finish a set of weights, some total stranger comes over and says, "Are you okay?"

Well, that's a bit reassuring - if all of this is true to fact.

I am, mid 60's still running, but a small amount of weekly mileage not really enough to see me through a decent 5 mile race, however, I make the last few min. of run quite hard - maybe not brutally hard but HR on finishing is 153 maybe 92% of max.

Yes, you are cheating and an idiot. When you have a heart attack or a stroke for taking testosterone for "Low T" when it is really normal you can thank your inpatient self and your doctor for prescribing something that wasn't necessary or at best only fashionable.

Why don't you just cut the run short and brag about your time. Maybe I will shave the upcoming marathon down by 10 miles so I can match my 10 year old PR...

Low T is overdiagnosed by people who cant describe Hypogandism accurately with most of you having very normal levels, but not "athlete levels." Next stop thyroid medicine....GH will help you cheat even more.