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Testosterone Replacement and OSA

Posted by Tom on August 17, 2001 at 13:35:51:

I'm diagnosed with OSA (RDI of 61 and CPAP pressure of 15cmH2O I believe). I've also discovered that I may very well be hypogonadic -- IE, I produce far too little testosterone for a man my age (31).

Some research indicates that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is not a good mix with OSA since it seems to decrease upper airway patency during sleep. HRT is pretty much my primary option for treatment of my low-T.

So now I'm in a horrible double-bind. I can sleep so-so, but I am stuck with a lack of testosterone (which is crippling for me, causing heart disease, depression, lack of libido, lack of motivation, bone loss, feminization, and more).

There's a web page at http://www.naples.net/~nfn03605/testslee.htm where the author hypothesizes that patients with adequate DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone, another key hormone) may fair reasonably well with both OSA and HRT. My DHEA is actually high -- about 700 compared to 500 (pg/ml, I think) for normal. So I'm hoping to be one of the lucky ones.

Yes, I'm getting a referral to an endocrinologist, who will hopefully know much more about this than I (you never know, these days).

But I was wondering if anyone else on here has had experience with low-T and OSA together (possibly with HRT too)? I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks in advance guys!

-- Tom

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