CHARLOTTE, N.C. - At 6'5”, Mooresville resident Brian Stoup is the picture of male masculinity. He's a former college athlete and now, at 35, a husband and dad. He says, "I knew what it felt to feel good and your body to feel at its peak."
When Brian was only 29, he noticed a change. He felt tired, depressed and moody. So he went to his family doctor and got his testosterone levels checked. The "normal" range is anywhere between 300 and one thousand nanograms of testosterone per deciliter. Brian's levels were only in the high 100s. "Which kinda blew my socks off that I was so low with testosterone considering my size,” he says.
Dr. Manish Patel of Piedmont Urology Associates is Brian's urologist. He says treating low testosterone levels is easy. You can use a daily topical gel, get a weekly injection or get pellets injected into the glutteal area, a procedure that takes 5 minutes and can last for up to 6 months. Dr. Patel says, "We've had several men go right back to the golf course!"
Patel says spouses can be very helpful in diagnosing low testosterone levels because they're often the first to notice a change in their partner. "The irritability and moodiness starts to affect the relationship and they start to build up walls and barriers,” he says.
More men in the Charlotte area, like Brian, are taking control. He says now, he feels better emotionally, mentally and physically. "Life is too short. If you can get it fixed, get it fixed, because it is an easy fix when it comes down to it,” says Brian.
Brian's testosterone levels are now in the 800s. Doctors still don't know exactly what causes low testosterone but say it does get more likely as you get older.
