I think I've found the link between what works for Demografx (hormone treatment) and what seems to be working for others (trying to boost dopamine while reducing stress - norepinephrine).
Orgasms are associated with a norepinephrine spike. Dopamine spikes too and then appears to be quickly brought down by prolactin.
So why might testosterone help with catecholamine imbalance? Because that's one of the key roles of testosterone in the body.
- Testosterone increases dopamine levels.
- It increases Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels (see reports of DHEA-S and the apparently safer 7-keto DHEA reductions in thyroid disease)
http://www.biomed.cas.cz/physiolres/pdf/57%20Suppl%201/57_S119.pdf- Testosterone appears to calm the brain and reduces dopamine to norepinephrine conversion.
- Also, when TSH levels are too low, the body produces norepinephrine to compensate. This is supposed to be a short term measure as elevated nor* is a stress state which elevates cortisol and is unhealthy. Increasing testosterone will reduce the requirement to do this, having a double calming effect on norepinephrine production.
- An estradiol to testosterone imbalance can lead to poor concentration and quick temper / frustration.
- Testosterone in an anti-inflammatory which helps reduce inflammatory cytokines. These effectively create the appearance of allergic reactions to things that we wouldn't otherwise be allergic to. Where I'm going with this is that it's a chicken & egg thing to decide between a semen allergy (or allergy to anything else) in someone with a hormonal synthesis problem.
See
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15240608Let's say the allergic reaction occurred in the gut and was affecting nutrient absorption which reduced thyroid function and testosterone synthesis. Then the allergic reaction may be at fault. Let's say there's a hormonal imbalance and the person gets acne, skin inflammations and other allergic reactions that are the result of out of control cytokine production. Then it's the hormonal imbalance that's at fault. There's a degree of undecidability here and treating the allergy or treating the hormonal imbalance may both reduce symptoms.
I'm thinking of this paper
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20722061?dopt=AbstractTestosterone treatment initially makes someone suffering from hypogonadism (I guess that's the label that was applied to Demo) feel very perky as they get a dopamine rush from increased dopamine in a brain whose dopamine receptors have unregulated to cope with less dopamine. After a while this reduces but in a case of genuine hypogonadism (or similar hormone production issue) then TRT should continue to show benefits. In cases where an issue doesn't exist then TRT reduces internal testosterone synthesis. This is a known problem for body builders who have used this stuff as their testicular hormonal production is squashed.
So this is pretty interesting in my opinion. There are examples of people with pheochromocytoma that wasn't noticed because of TRT (it compensated for it) and people with hormonal synthesis problems that were masked by the consumption of MAO inhibitors (alpha & beta-blockers)
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_oxidase_inhibitor for more information about MAO inhibitors.
Incidentally, Quercetin which is a compound in Ginkgo appears to be a mild MAO-A but stronger MAO-B inhibitor. i.e. this may improve dopamine levels and dopamine to norepinephrine balance.
POIS could have more than one root cause and multiple treatments may improve the cognitive symptoms or allergic symptoms or both.
Note, this is not encouragement to take anything. I'm just pulling information together & trying to figure out the commonality between what people are saying is helping them and what isn't.