Hey Vince, thanks for taking the time to reply and offer your support. I appreciate it. At the risk of seeming ungrateful (I'm not) I'm about to make a bunch of excuses for my bad habits so I ask in advance for your patience and forgiveness.
Stress can be a libido killer and if you drink more than a couple of cups of coffee a day it's not good for your adrenal glands. My naturopath told me to cut it way down and my adrenals came back to normal.
Tell me more. Although my stress levels aren't nearly as bad as when this problem began, I do have a stressful job. I typically drink 2-3 cups of coffee and/or tea a day (sometimes more, sometimes less). I've tried t cut back but the problem is that a) I really like coffee and tea and b) I don't much care for other beverages.
If you smoke, you should quit. When I quit, my libido when through the roof.
I quit years ago.
If you can bring yourself to exercise, it would be the best thing you could do...
Yeah, I know. I'm not gonna do it. Many, many times over the years I've tried to get in the habit of exercising. I've never lasted more than a couple of weeks. I just can't seem to summon the energy/motivation/willpower/self-discipline--whatever it takes. At this point I've pretty much given up on trying.
The hardest thing about exercise is thinking you can't or don't have time.
Yeah but, see, I really don't have the time. I wake up at 6:40. I hit the "snooze" button until about 7:30. I get up, shower, dress, shave, and leave for work. I'm 5-15 min. late every day. I eat breakfast at work. I eat out for lunch almost every day, because I don't have time to make lunch in the morning (and I wouldn't know what to make anyway--I'm terribly uncreative about that sort of thing). Not only is eating out for lunch terrible for my wallet, it's terrible for my waistline (restaurant portions are too big, and it's not usually the healthiest food, anyway).
I usually work until 6 or 6:30. By then I'm hungry and tired. I suppose I could work out then, but that sounds awful. At that point, all I want to do is go home. Sometimes I have to go to the grocery store or run other errands first.
So I get home anywhere between 6:30 and 8:00. I may relax a bit (possibly by visiting lpsg) before making dinner. I may have a drink (beer, wine, scotch, martini) before and/or with dinner. Dinner is often not until 8:00, sometimes not until 9 or 10 (again, not good for my weight).
If I watch TV, I'm likely to fall asleep on the couch, wake up at 2:00 a.m., get up, and go to bed. If I do something mentally active (e.g., surfing the Internet), I'm up well past midnight, often until 2:00 a.m.
In either case, I don't go to bed properly until 2:00 a.m. So when my alarm clock goes off in the morning, I've had less than 5 hours of sleep, even though I may have had a "nap" on the couch before going to bed.
Then the vicious cycle begins again.
I know I need to go to bed earlier, get up early, eat healthier, and exercise. I don't know how to do it.
Once you start and keep at it for a month, it becomes routine and even addictive.
Everyone says that. I've never been able to stick with it long enough to find out if it's true.
Going for a short run in the morning energizes my whole day and I sleep more soundly.
When I'm driving to work in the morning I always see people out running or walking their dogs. I always wonder what those people do for a living.
It's well known that even moderate exercise boosts the endocrine system. I'm surprised (or maybe not) that your doc hasn't put you on a program.
I've had 4 doctors in the past 8 years, not because I choose to change doctors but because they keep leaving the area. Every doctor I've had has asked me if I exercise and I say no. They've all suggested that exercise would be really beneficial for me, but they've never pushed the issue. I think they can tell from my attitude that I'm not going to do it.
Those Androgel paks really work don't they? I tried one of my brother's and I was unbelievably horny and tense for a few hours.
What did you do that for? And why is your brother taking Androgel? Maybe feeling "unbelievably horny" is the effect Androgel has on someone who doesn't really need it. In my case, I felt the effects relatively slowly, after taking it for a couple of weeks. I feel that my libido is approaching "normal" (for me). If I started feeling excessively horny I'd probably wonder if I should reduce my dose.