‘I’m a doctor, but I still missed my own low testosterone diagnosis’
A doctor who struggled for years with crushing fatigue and relentless brain fog has told how he overlooked his own diagnosis of low testosterone.
After he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and later viral meningitis, Dr Maxim Draper went from being active and ambitious to feeling like a shadow of himself.
The 39-year-old GP from Newcastle, who now specializes in male hormones, was suffering from a “constant fatigue” that left him feeling “defeated”, which was slowly turning into “very bad anxiety and brain fog”.
But as a father of three, he attributed his constant tiredness to “burnout” due to the stress of illness and young children, but never considered it might be a hormonal issue.
“I never fully recovered until I started testosterone therapy,” he said Independent.
Draper first noticed a lump in 2016, when she was 29 years old. “When the postman came, the dog ran across the bed. I remember it very clearly and he stepped on my groin area and I noticed a lump there,” he recalled.
He went to the GP and an ultrasound scan revealed he had testicular cancer. He did not need chemotherapy, but his left testicle was removed.
About a year and a half later, he had a stiff neck, a headache, and a fever and ended up in the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with vital meningitis (a serious infection of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord).
However, after the flu-like symptoms and headaches subsided, the feeling of fatigue still persisted, which turned into anxiety and depression. He suffered from mental health for more than two years and was even prescribed antidepressants.
But he didn’t realize his problem was hormonal until the nurse suggested his testosterone levels be tested because he was feeling tired. In 2021, he saw a private endocrinologist who put him on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
Testosterone, the male sex hormone, not only affects libido, but also mental health, bone and muscle mass, fat storage, as well as red blood cell production.
Although testosterone deficiency affects men of all ages, the hormone naturally begins to decline in men after the age of 40.
It can significantly impact quality of life and overall health, but symptoms are often vague and misdiagnosed as depression or dismissed as natural aging.
According to Orchid Cancer, a charity that raises awareness of testicular, penis and prostate cancer, symptoms include weight gain, breast enlargement, sweating, mood swings, low mood, lack of motivation and energy, lack of early morning erections and erectile dysfunction.
Dr Draper, who has since written the book Testosterone Decoded“The transformation from testosterone replacement therapy was life-saving. My energy returned, my mind cleared and I started to feel like myself again,” he said.
“What surprised me most was this: by then I was and still am a doctor, a qualified GP for a number of years and yet I had almost no real understanding of how critical testosterone is to a man’s health.”
But it’s not uncommon for men to struggle with symptoms before seeking a diagnosis. A study of 2,000 men with the condition by Imperial College London and Manual, a private testosterone provider, found that 24 percent of men with low testosterone levels waited five years before seeking medical help, while 85 percent waited a year.
Draper doesn’t know exactly what causes his deficiency, but he suggests it may be triggered by the loss of one of his testicles due to cancer.
During research shows About 5 percent of testicular cancer patients have low testosterone before cancer treatment, surgery, and chemotherapy reduce hormone production.
Robert Cornes, a nurse at Orchid Cancer, said: Independent: “Normally, if the remaining testicle is healthy after surgery, testosterone should not be affected, but subsequent chemotherapy may reduce production and this may take some time to recover.”
A. Research by researchers in Norway It also suggests that testosterone levels may decline as men age following cancer treatment, affecting up to 40 percent of men over the age of 60.
The NHS urges men experiencing these symptoms to contact a GP, who may order a blood test to measure testosterone levels.
