Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Colitis

Colitis, or ulcerative colitis, is a disease affecting the intestines that can be quite debilitating. Related to Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), one of the most devastating effects of this disease is that you are unable to gain sufficient nutrition from the food you eat. The bowel becomes inflamed and develops sores (ulcers), and diarrhea is a frequent symptom during a flare-up.

Testosterone for Young Patients

• Consider testosterone replacement therapy for yourself or your child who suffers from ulcerative colitis. In parts of the world where children do not get enough food on a regular basis, puberty comes on at a later age. Malnutrition can postpone puberty, so children who suffer with a disease like colitis may be slow to develop. Testosterone is one of the hormones that helps your secondary sexual organs grow and mature, and for males it continues to work on musculature, hair growth and other masculine traits. Testosterone operates in female puberty as well, but to a lesser degree.

  Ask your doctor if some of the medications you are taking could be lowering your testosterone levels. Even if your symptoms are in remission and you are digesting your food well, you may still need to supplement. Bioidentical testosterone therapy can help to bring on normal puberty for young patients whose development has been delayed. According to a study done by O. G. Azooz and colleagues at the Department of Adult and Pediatric Gastroenterology in London, colitic rats were given testosterone supplementation. The researchers determined that supplementing colitis patients with testosterone will help their sex organs develop normally in spite of their disease. This treatment does not appear to treat the colitis itself, however, or to increase the appetite or absorption rate of nutrients.

Testosterone for Energy

• If you were diagnosed with colitis, Crohn’s disease or IBS later in life, and delayed puberty is not a concern for you, testosterone may still be something to discuss with your doctor. Steroids are often prescribed when you experience a flare-up of symptoms to help calm the inflammation that occurs in the bowels. Whether the steroid is cortisone or testosterone, chronic use of these can cause your body to lower its own production. Once you are no longer taking steroids, you may experience extreme fatigue that is exacerbated by the disease itself.

  Talk over the pros and cons of testosterone replacement therapy with your doctor. Some side effects you may experience include irritability, hirsutism (hair overgrowth), acne and tender gums. If you are a female whose doctor prescribes testosterone therapy, you do not need to be concerned about growing “body builder” muscles. The doses are too low for that.