Pain Pills and Hormone Deficiencies? Yes Sir!!!

I recently looked at the top 10 list of medications prescribed in America.  It's sad but true that  pain medications take the lead in our society in terms of use and abuse but did you know that they are also linked to hormone imbalance?  Surgeries, accidents, and diseases sometimes require prescription pain medications to be added to a patients regimen, but long term chronic use can bring on hormone deficiencies and especially for men. 

Loss of muscle strength, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, and worsened pain can be brought on by the long term use of pain medications.  The medical literature is saturated with evidence of this, but often it's not the first thought as to why men might be struggling with these issues.  One of the things that I review when I go to work on a patients hormone imbalance issues is the list of medications that they are currently taking for other conditions.  I wrote another BLOG article on "statins" for cholesterol.  They are known to cause hormone deficiencies but so are pain pills like Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and so on.  Over time, these medications cause suppression of the endocrine system and in men inhibit Testosterone production.  Often this little fact goes unrecognized by primary care doctors and clinicians. Interestingly, another problem with long term use is hyperalgesia which simply means aggravated sensitivity to pain. 

Tolerance can also develop from long term use of narcotic pain killers which means that patients have to use higher doses to get the pain control effect.  Memory and cognitive function also take a huge hit when patients take narcotics for a long period of time.  I don't know about you, but I need all the brain power that I can get.   Immune function can also be affected by long term use and that simply goes back to that suppressive effect to the immune system.  Long term use of pain medications is simply not good for a person. 

So why do pain pills affect hormone production?

Low Testosterone is brought on by inhibition of LH (Luteinizing Hormone) which is produced by the pituitary gland and instrumental in Testosterone production.  Pain medications also suppress the endocrine system and the adrenal hormone system.  So, in essence, a person is taking one thing that is causing a ripple effect in bringing about other problems.

Symptoms of Low T:
Fatigue, depression, hot flashes, night sweats, decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction, poor mood, weight gain, and so on are often expressed by men who later test and discover they have Testosterone deficiency.  Many guys also have diminishing bone density, anemia, and loss of muscle mass. 

So what do you do if you have chronic unresolved pain?
Get your Testosterone checked!  Administration of both topical and injectable Testosterone have been studied and have been found to be effective for men with low Testosterone on pain pills.  Vitamin and mineral deficiencies should also be considered as well as doing a review of the adrenal hormones.  I do understand that this is only a band-aid treatment of sorts, but it can certainly get things going in the direction to obtain the goal of reduced narcotic use and hopefully elimination if possible. 

If you are a man suffering from any of these symptoms and you are using pain medications to make it through the days, please give me a call and I can walk you through the simple process of testing and treatment.  I've always had a balance of about 85% women in our patient pool, but these days, the guys are tipping the scales and those percentages because they are looking for answers to their decreased quality of life as well.  I love it!!

Please don't hesitate to call me.

To your good health,
Dr. Sonja