Your diagnosis

You have been diagnosed with testosterone deficiency (TD) because you are showing some symptoms, and results of blood tests have shown that you have low levels of testosterone.

What does a diagnosis mean for me?

A diagnosis of TD may come as a relief perhaps, because a diagnosis can answer a lot of difficult questions, or can explain why you haven’t been feeling like yourself.

Symptoms of TD can directly affect your quality of life, relationships and overall health; but many symptoms will improve with regular treatment.

How testosterone deficiency (TD) is diagnosed

When the possibility of TD is raised, a GP might make a referral to a specialist in urology, endocrinology or sexual medicine, or to another GP who specialises in andrology or Men’s health.

Testosterone levels are checked by a simple blood test. When required, the blood test is repeated, usually after a couple of weeks, to confirm a diagnosis of TD. Testosterone levels can fluctuate over time, so the second test is performed to help confirm, or rule out, a diagnosis.

The blood test conducted checks for:

• Total testosterone (TT), also called serum testosterone

Your doctor may have decided to also measure or calculate Free Testosterone (FT).

If you have received a copy of your test results, you may see the values of your blood test(s) in addition to the reference ranges used by the testing laboratory. If results were borderline, your doctor may have requested further blood tests.

It’s important that these blood tests are done in the morning as testosterone levels change throughout the day.