Clomid for Men: Does it Help?
Boost Testosterone Another Way.
Clomid, also known as clomiphene citrate, is an oral medication used to treat female infertility. Doctors may also prescribe clomiphene citrate treatment off-label for male infertility issues. Off-label means that the Food and Drug Administration has not approved the drug for this particular use. This post though will reveal exactly how effective Clomid is for male infertility after all.
Off-label drugs are meant to treat a condition other than your own. As a result, when men undergo Clomid treatment, there is really no agreement as to the proper dosage or how long a male should take Clomid. In such cases, the doctor’s order is the only order. However, a doctor will only prescribe something off-label, Clomid for men, if the benefits are worth the risks.
How Does Clomid Work?
Usually, doctors will prescribe Clomid off- label for male infertility if a man has low testosterone. A doctor would prescribe Clomid for men by analyzing an individual’s semen analysis. The shape, movement, as well as count of the sperm, are all taken into account.
If a man has low testosterone and erectile dysfunction, wouldn’t it make sense to just increase their testosterone? However, more testosterone levels could actually reduce their sperm count. Similarly, a woman suffering from low estrogen, which causes a lack of signaling to the ovary, therefore, halts the release of the egg.
Hormonal imbalance generally occurs as we get older. However, it is possible for certain drugs to improve fertility. When the hormone estrogen engages with the pituitary gland it causes less luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone to be produced. As a result, less testosterone is produced, which in effect, causes less sperm to be produced. Clomid helps male infertility and erectile dysfunction by blocking estrogen from interacting with the pituitary gland. As a result, Clomid successfully raises a man’s testosterone levels thus, increasing the man’s sperm count.
What is Low Testosterone?
Clomid kind of tricks your brain into thinking that your body has very low testosterone levels. Thus, Clomid for men starts ramping up the production of testosterone levels.
While also being the cause of many frustrating evenings, low testosterone is underproduction or a lack of production of testosterone levels in both men and women. Male infertility can be caused by many factors, including diabetes, infections, obesity, severe emotional stress, the aging process, or even an illness or surgery.
What is the Treatment Process of Clomid? Before that testosterone assembly line in your testicle begins chugging away, it must await an order from the brain to do so. If testosterone levels are high, your brain will not see the need to send any such message. For whatever reason, if the brain’s sensors are not working properly, it may register high testosterone levels when there actually isn’t. Taking Clomid helps male infertility by tricking the brain into ordering mass production of testosterone.
Exactly how much Clomid will raise testosterone levels could depend on how Clomid is administered. How to take Clomid is up to your doctor’s discretion. Usually, the drug needs to be taken for three to four months, before the male infertility issues are rectified. The drug comes in 50mg tablets and is usually administered once a day, or half every other day.
The results of taking Clomid to treat male infertility can be impressive. Considering how low a man’s testosterone levels are, Clomid can increase it by 100% or even by 200%. One study, published in the International Journal of Impotence Research, concluded that Clomid “can successfully stimulate the hypothalamus to cause increased testicular testosterone production”.
What are the side effects of this medication?
Clomid is considered a safe medication. However, side effects are associated with almost every drug. When taking Clomid, the most common side effects are blurry vision and mood changes. Other Clomid side effects can include:
Headache
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Flushing
Just because Clomid is not approved for low testosterone by the FDA, does not mean that it is not effective for male infertility.
Judging by the number of scientific studies that validate Clomid’s effects as well as the many doctors who prescribe Clomid for male infertility, clomiphene citrate treatment is worth a shot. Do the risks outweigh the rewards? Your doctor will make the ultimate decision whether or not your testosterone levels could be increased with Clomid.
Some of the side effects are more serious than others, such as shortness of breath, seizures, stroke, or chest pain. Side effects of Clomid as well as other fertility drugs should be well researched before consuming the drug.
For women, Clomid causes the release of multiple eggs. As a result, one side effect of Clomid, which may or may not be desired, is an increase in the probability of having twins or triplets or even quadruplets!
Conclusion
Clomid has been around for more than 50 years. The efficacy of the drug has been proven for women. Numerous studies and effective results have persuaded countless fertility specialists that Clomid also increases a man’s testosterone levels. As a result, Clomid is a common treatment to cure male infertility.
The success rate of Clomid is impressive. In one study conducted with men having little to no sperm count in their semen, Clomid helped 64.3% of the participants produce sperm.
The sexual function of a man doesn’t have to vanish just because we get older. There are plenty of solutions to male infertility issues.