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Is It Safe To Buy TRT Online?

| By: Dr Robert Stevens

The internet has opened a world of information at your fingertips, what was once immobile on your desktop computer is now with you on your phone everywhere you go.  Just ask Siri.

There is no doubt this had a positive impact on sharing knowledge and information that was otherwise not freely available.  Kids of today don’t need books, they just need their tablet, which with the tap on a screen opens this information super-highway.  Is this not incredible?  I’m still a bit old school and like the ownership and physicality of an actual book.  I’m coming around to the modern technological world but it going take time.  I even paid for my meat at my local butchers with my phone last week!  Get me!

It reminds me of the Monty Python ‘Four Yorkshireman’ sketch “When I was a lad…”.

When your child asks you a question, you can no longer get away with making something up.  Not that I would every do that <cough cough>.  You need to be right, otherwise you’ll get the response “Actually dad, Wikipedia says…”.  The illusion that you are the oracle, the man who knows everything, is being debunked at a younger and younger age these days.  Thanks internet!

It’s a brave new world out there.  The problem is, with this abundance of information comes a responsibility.  I’m just not sure who’s responsibility it is, since the passage and exchange of information appears to be so free and infinite.  How can it be effectively policed and regulated?

As with everything, there are pros and cons, rights and wrongs, truths and untruths, facts and conjecture.  The information that is there is pretty much unregulated.  You need to know what to search for, how to interpret the information and whether to trust it.

There’s no need to go out and physically rob someone nowadays, all you need to do is apply the criminal mind to the internet.  Cyber-crime is huge!  Seemingly legitimate sites are bogus, there are even mirror sites that will fool you into believing they are the official site.  It’s a faceless, less risky crime that is becoming more and more of a problem.  Everything is done over the internet, from shopping through to banking & investing.

So…the obvious answer to the question ‘Is It Safe to Buy TRT online?’ is NO.  There are some sites that are legitimate, where you can go through the whole process without needing a face to face consultation, examination or blood tests and end up with a testosterone prescription.  How that can be considered safe in anyone’s books, I can’t comprehend.

Here at the Men’s Health Clinic I have your safety and best interests at the forefront.  I also have mine.  I am a GMC registered doctor and the clinic is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  It is in both your best interests and mine to have medication that will affect your health prescribed in a controlled, safe and effective manner.  You need to be confident that a medical professional is looking after your wellbeing, allowing you to make fully informed decisions about your care.

 

Case study

Jon Doe is a 49-year-old man, well-educated and is health conscious.  He contacted the Men’s Health Clinic earlier this year enquiring about TRT.  He admitted to buying and using testosterone bought over the internet and had been self-medicating for several months.  He had done his research, he had been following a well-recognised TRT regime that he had sourced online, and had procured the Testosterone Cypionate from a professional looking website.  He continued to use the same brand, same strength testosterone, purchased from the same website.

He had stuck to the regime yet had experienced both positive and negative symptoms whilst taking this medication.  Despite keeping to this regime, his blood tests revealed marked differences in his testosterone levels and he was at a loss as to why.

His testosterone prior to taking testosterone was 15.6.  His blood test results whilst self-medicating were as follows:-

  • 16.12.15   –   >52
  • 28.02.16   –   24.8

You could argue “Great, a high testosterone.  Yes, there are dramatic differences in the results but it’s high, don’t we want it high?”  The body doesn’t like dramatic physiological changes since hormones affect the whole body, balance Is needed for optimal health.  Anabolic steroids are taken in ‘cycles’, normally a number of weeks.  They are not taken for protracted periods or long term.  They have both positive and negative effects because a grossly elevated hormonal level disrupts this balance.

We performed a comprehensive blood test package and found his testosterone level to be unrecordable, it came back at >52.  Fortunately for him, all his other parameters – including Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) & Haematocrit (HCT) – were within their respective normal ranges.

There are no guidelines for treating such cases and he did not fulfil the British Society for Sexual Medicine criteria for diagnosing and treating Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome.  We discussed his options and came to the joint conclusion that he would benefit from one of the TRT regimes we use at The Men’s Health Clinic, with medication sourced from a UK pharmacy and regular monitoring to ensure safe and effective prescribing of TRT.  I am pleased to report he is feeling much better now, not only from a symptom perspective, but also because he has the confidence and trust in our clinic to look after his best interests.

 

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of getting a medical professional to look after a medical issue.  After all, if you had a problem with your car, you would ask a mechanic and if you had a problem with your job, you’d ask your employer.  Your health should be important to you.  Here at the Men’s Health Clinic we specialise in managing Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome.  We want to help you be YOU again.

 

Dr Robert Stevens MBCB MRCGP Dip.FIPT