Low T and High Triglycerides

by Brent Finnigan
(Rainier WA)

I have ALL the symptoms of low testosterone with labs showing 350ng/dl down from 364ng/dl in Feb. My doc does not want me to use Androderm even at a low dose 3 month trial because my triglycerides are high. Despite diet and vigorous exercise I can not get the level down.

Doesn't a deficiency cause elevated cholesterol? Hypertension? High blood glucose? I have all three along with migraines from the hypertension. I am 45 y/o and no bad habits and a very good diet.

So I am in a "catch 22" now and feel completely beat down. Should I look for a new doc that is a bit more up to date on low T? I really don't want to go on statins and how much more diet and exercise is going to cause bone and muscle loss?

Thanks

Hi Brent,

Here's a recent study.

Atherosclerosis. 2008 Apr;197(2):688-93. Epub 2007 Jun 22.

Endogenous Testosterone and Serum Lipids in Middle Aged Men. Mäkinen JI, Perheentupa A, Irjala K, Pöllänen P, Mäkinen J, Huhtaniemi I, Raitakari OT.

Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Turku, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland. juumak@utu.fi

BACKGROUND: The role of decreasing testosterone levels influencing lipid metabolism in aging men is not well established. METHODS: We studied 1619 40 to 69-year old men with andropausal symptoms, who underwent measurements of serum testosterone, triglycerides, total-, and HDL-cholesterol. RESULTS: Testosterone (mean 15.25 nmol/l+/-5.43 S.D., range 3.6-45.0 nmol/l) correlated directly with HDL-cholesterol (r=0.24, p<0.0001) and inversely with total cholesterol (r=-0.06, p<0.03), triglycerides (r=-0.30, p<0.0001) and body mass index (r=-0.34, p<0.0001), but not with LDL-cholesterol (r=0.05, p=0.09). In multivariate analyses adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the significant determinants for serum triglycerides were testosterone (beta=-0.03, p<0.0001), age (beta=-0.01, p<0.0001), body mass index (beta=0.039, p<0.0001) and cardiovascular diseases (beta=0.09, p<0.04). The multivariate correlates of HDL-cholesterol included testosterone (beta=0.007, p<0.0001), body mass index (beta=-0.02, p<0.0001) and alcohol consumption (beta=0.02, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in aging men low testosterone levels are associated with a potentially atherogenic lipid profile including high triglycerides and low HDL-cholesterol.

As shown by the study, low male hormones can cause high triglycerides and poor cholesterol profiles. Bringing yourself to the top of the range should fix the problem.

Low testosterone can also cause insulin insensitivity which may be responsible for your high blood sugar.

You may want to check for high estrogen as well since it's possible it may be causing your high blood pressure along with the migraines. If your estrogen is high it can be reduced with a medication called Arimidex or Aromasin.

Reducing estrogen can also increase androgen levels. This may be the only thing you need. Sometimes an anti-estrogen alone is fine or in some cases an anti-estrogen plus test, depending how high it brings your levels up.

Hope that helps,

Brian Hildebrandt