Androgel

OR eon,

I want to encourage you to use extreme caution about applying AndroGel to your scrotum. Here’s my story:

I am a 47 year-old diabetic. I am on a prescription testosterone cream supplementation that is made for me at a compounding pharmacy. It’s active ingredient is testosterone, but it uses a different base (Vaseline and other stuff, I don’t exactly know what) than AndroGel.

My doctor is conservative and will not give me a high enough dosage to get my testosterone (total) level where I think it ought to be. He thinks supplementing me to 300 ng/DL is sufficient, whereas I’d like to be closer to 450 ng/DL. I do not have any high risk factors for prostate troubles, so I feel 450 ng/DL should be safe.

In order to get my levels up higher (I was having my levels tested every three months at a place other than my doctor’s office) I was applying the cream directly to my scrotum, since absorption is substantially better through scrotal skin than through skin anywhere else on the body. By doing this I was able to get my testosterone level up to about 480.

Because I am a diabetic, I have a history of getting yeast infections in my scrotal/groin/penis area (for those of you who do not know, this is like the yeast infection that a woman would get, and it is not like jock itch). I would usually get them once every year, and I could usually clear them up using something like monistat. Sometimes I would need to get a prescription for a couple of Diflucan tablets to get it cleared up.

Applying the testosterone cream directly to my scrotum worked well for me for about a year. I had a few minor yeast infections during that time, but I was able to clear them up easily. Then about a year ago I started to develop a problem. I developed a yeast infection that I could not get cleared up. I did not tell my doctor that I had been applying the testosterone creme directly to my scrotum, but I did stop applying it there.

This was 10 times worse than any yeast infection I had ever had. The doctor tried Diflucan several times, Sporanox, Ketoconazole, as well as my using every type of over the counter yeast cream on the market. The doctor also prescribed Nystatin topical powder, and I ordered some bulk Nystatin powder (for oral usage, without sweetener) from Canada (I don’t have health insurance). In addition I tried many different probiotic supplements. I lurked on some of the yeast forums, and I even wrote into one of those online sites where for $20.00 a doctor will answer your question. I even went so far as to get an HIV test, even though I am a heterosexual male in a monogamous relationship of three years and even though I got an HIV test at the beginning of the relationship. I was negative on the test as I had expected, but I had been concerned because it is my understanding that individuals who are HIV positive are highly susceptible to treatment-resistant yeast infections.

During this time my foreskin would get cracks (which would sometimes bleed) in it when I retracted it, and my skin over my whole penis/scrotum area would peel. The rash actually spread quite a bit down my thighs, and up onto the bottom of my belly. It was very hard to bring this under control, and when I did bring it under control if I missed the medication for even a day or two it would come back full force.

After about three or four months of this it was finally brought under control, but not cured. Even then, if I would forget to use the medicine, the yeast infection would start coming back quickly. At this point my doctor did a little more research and tried me on something else called Loprox. This is a prescription cream that has both anti-fungal and antibiotic properties. Loprox has been working well for me. I have been using it ever since then and I am still using it now. I have been able to taper down to only using the Loprox every few days, but I’ve tried going without it for a week or so and the yeast infection will start coming back, although at a reasonable pace, not the very rapid pace of last summer.

I’m thinking that by the end of this year I may be able to discontinue using the Loprox altogether.

So what caused all this and how. In my mind the most likely culprit was applying the testosterone cream directly to my scrotum. I do know that some types of steroids can cause skin thinning. I do not know if testosterone can. Perhaps luvdadus will know. I also know that some (or maybe all) steroids can suppress your immune system (in the region of application) and can reduce healing. I know that long-term use of even something as mild as hydrocortisone .5% can really mess up your skin.

Ultimately I do not know for sure the cause of this problem, but my leading hypothesis is the fact that I am a diabetic and that I was applying the testosterone cream directly to my scrotum.

Now OR eon I don’t know that the same thing could happen to you, but I do know that HIV+ individuals are at much greater risk for yeast infections and that you are applying testosterone directly to your scrotum. I urge you to discontinue this unless and until you can research it and be confident that you won’t have this type of problem. The immune system of a diabetic, even though not as strong as that of a person with a normal immune system, is much stronger than that of someone who is HIV+. I feel that if you were to develop this type of yeast infection that it would be a very bad experience for you.

And as a separate point, it is my personal opinion that application of testosterone to one’s scrotum or penis will not help PE at all. And I did not apply it there with any expectation whatsoever that it would enhance my PE.

Itsme,

Thank you for your very cautionary post.

Interestingly, even though I’m HIV+, I’ve been refractory to infections. Many HIV+ individuals, particularly in early days of AIDS, developed thrush (oral candidacies) and/or Pneumocystis carinni pneumonia. I have never had either. But I did have a big one…HIV encephalopathy. I went for four months without an erection or an orgasm. Feb ’99 I began testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), injections.

This led me to the NewsGroup – Alt.Support Impotence where I read posts by men improving their nocturnal erections (NEs) and piss hardons (PHs) by pumping their dick….so I got out my pumping gear and resumed pumping and restored my NEs and PHs.

Some men using T gels put on their dick and nuts.
Eugene Shippen, M.D. author of The Testosterone Syndrome, Discusses in Chapter 13, “Treatment Plan for Male Menopause” various T delivery systems.
P 197 under Gels and Creams ….”…Men who are using this form of testosterone to improve sexual function may wish to use the cream (not the gel—-it will sting) on the head or shaft of the penis or on the scrotum. This delivers testosterone in a more concentrated form into the genital area. In addition, because there are tremendous concentrations of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme down there, much of this testosterone will be converted to dihydro-testosterone (DHT), a form of this enzyme that cannot be converted by aromatase into estrogen.”

This was my main motivation….to slow conversion of testosterone > estrogen, which can be an issue for some men on TRT.

When I was injecting 100 mg Depo T/wk, I had T levels measured twice

Blood collected 8th day after last injection of 100 mg Depo-Testosterone
on…

June 4th ‘01

…Testosterone

… …Total … … . . 989 (241 - 827)
… . . Free… … …42.0 (6.6 - 18.1)

July 9th ‘01

… . ..Total … … … 774
… . . Free… … … .38.8

I like my Total T to be high ~800 – 1,000…but as above values show, my free T was way tooooo high.

Aug ’01 I began 10 G/dy AndroGel and also 1 mg/dy Arimidex for estrogen/estradiol management. Both have worked well.
There was a short period where my Es appeared to be elevating so that’s when I began applying ~2.5 G/dy AndroGel to my nuts.

Sept 12th ‘02

Serum T 831
% FWBT 46.9
FWBT 389.7
Estradiol 56.0
Estrogen 55.0

T/E2 ratio 831/56 = 14.8

Next blood work showed some change in E values

Dec 11th ‘02

Serum T 489
%FWBT 34
FWBT 166.2
Estradiol 41
Estrogen 57

T/E2 489/41 = 11.92

The lab work on Dec 11th reflected values after I cut AndroGel dose back to 7.5 G/dy, and applying ~2.5 G AndroGel/dy to my nuts. But I discontinued that practice.
My NEs and PHs were adversely affected so I went back to 10 G/dy

Mar 1st ‘03

Serum T 922
%FWBT 35.4
FWBT 326
Estradiol 41
Estrogen 75

The last lab values, Mar 1st, allow me optimal functioning and sexual functioning.

Just my experiences….

OR eon

Guys;

This section was split off from another thread in another forum because the subject, although important, is a large digression from the subjecdt of the original.

>So what caused all this and how. In my mind the most likely culprit was applying the testosterone cream directly to my scrotum.<

Could be.

Several years ago I had a nasty bout similar to what you describe. My blood sugar was normal, tested negative for herpes, and presumably HIV negative. Otherwise healthy guys can get a horrible, persistent, recurring case of balanitis. I’m proof. Damn, it was awful!

I’m still not sure what caused it to finally clear up. I threw everything I could think of at it to no avail: anti-fungal cream, UV light, soaking in a bleach solution, oral and topical antibiotics, etc. The oozing sores were so bad I had to keep a bandage wrapped around my dick during the worst times.

So, believe me when I say I empathize. Dick sores aren’t fun.

I suspect the moisture from the cream is more of a problem than its ingredients. Since you are diabetic, be extra careful to get all drops of urine off your dick before tucking it away after urinating. Maybe try wearing boxers instead of briefs if you aren’t already. After showering I’d dry my dick and balls thoroughly using a fan.

I wish I could offer better advice.

You might want to do a search on “Colloidal Silver”.

An old wifes remedy ,says to dampen the area with apple cider vinegar

This changes the skin surface from a neutral or slightly acid to a alkali

QD

Did a search on it and came up with this

http://www.quac kwatch.org/01Qu … s/silverad.html