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Effects of Long-Term Opioid Abuse on Male Testosterone

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ShroomySatori

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Aug 24, 2015
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Hey, I think this is a really important topic although it can be quite embarrassing. First time making a thread by the way. I can't find enough information on this, even though I'm pretty sure it is extremely common. I am specifically talking about the effect of long term opioid or opiate abuse on male testosterone levels.

I had a girlfriend I was really attracted to and just stopped fucking her when I was a junkie. It ruined the relationship. I was being satisfied through other means. This didn't happen at first but after a number of years I really started to notice it. I am experiencing muscle wasting and I used to be 215 pounds (although, I injured my spine and can't lift weights anymore). However, lately in withdrawal I have been extremely gaunt looking, almost skeletal in appearance.

Okay but the sex. On opioids I was just numb down there, I wouldn't really get pleasure out of it but I could last forever if I ever could catch some interest, which had become increasingly rare. It is so emasculating when you are in your late 20's and find yourself not interested in women anymore, only oxycodone and heroin. I recall that when women would flirt quite obviously with me, I would return with chat, little anxiety, but simply no feelings of sexuality for them. Normally I would be all over that.

When I quit, the real trouble starts. First off, I become very sexually frustrated when I realize what I've been missing out on. In withdrawal I can really tell that my hormones are all over the place. I feel like a 16 year old boy in puberty again I will get so horny. I become hypersensitive down there, even to light touch. I mean... when your sexuality wakes up after several years it's just extremely uncomfortable. I can't last for shit now, which is just as frustrating really. Also, that is not how I feel all the time. It constantly fluctuates, from being way too horny and not lasting, to feeling pretty much asexual. I was considering seeking out gym rats and starting intramuscular testosterone injections. I heard this is a horrible idea during early withdrawal because your body will just stop producing testosterone long term though. I heard to wait at least 3 months before talking to a doctor about TRT (testosterone replacement therapy). I think that since I'm still relatively young, I should be alright.

One thing I will point out. I kind of refer to it as magic. Whenever I get past the acute withdrawal phase, I find that women can almost sense it. It becomes way easier to meet people for some reason, and it happens like everywhere. I don't really understand it but I swear that people can sense each other's hormones or something. Or maybe it is just that I have that light back in my eyes, I'm not sure. It's really weird though and almost feels like there is a spiritual component to it, because it seems like I will meet people I like so randomly.

Getting off opioids is tough enough without this shit. It is one of my primary motivations to quit, since I know I'll never be able to have a normal relationship again until I've been clean for a while. I've heard that to recover it is best to just find the release however means necessary. That's the advice I got... the more you practice the faster you will get back to your normal drive. I think it's good advice even if that's not my normal approach. Also, I make sure that my diet is extremely clean because that will definitely speed up the recovery process of building back testosterone levels to normal.

If this is happening to you, it is best to stop right away. I am pretty sure it only gets worse and takes longer to recover, like the rest of the withdrawal symptoms.
 
Thank you for starting this thread, first and foremost!

It's dear to my heart, because in your story..I would be the gf and it absolutely affects things.

My brother abused opiods for a very long time, we have discussed this sane effect due to my current relationship. He did tell me that if I stick it out through my bf getting clean it will be like being back in high school. He assured me that if/when he quits and his through his withdrawing that there will be an increased sexual activity, he did say, as you've mentioned, that things may finish quickly at first but that he would regain his stamina. I don't have any hard research to provide, just human experience from someone I trust.

Have you thought of cialisis in the meantime, to help rebuild the stamina/desire?

On my side of things.... it's very hurtful, at times even though I KNOW he isn't cheating and is interested in me...I still start to question my own self worth. Everyone wants to feel wanted/desired by the person they love. I miss that feeling of intimacy. And his "part" literally doesn't work. If i please myself in front of him, he starts to get extremely excited and semi hard, but it's never enough to complete the act. The same goes when he manually stimulates me. Problem is, he refuses to blame the opiods because he denies having an issue with them and would rather say that he has E.D. That's frustrating because I know where we were at sexually a few months before he started the pills and heroin.

I'm not normally insecure, but the lack of intimacy starts to make me question my abilities to turn him on or please him. Even though, deep down... I know I excite him because I see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. Then i start to question, maybe he's just getting it somewhere else. (I truly don't believe this, but the mind will play tricks on you). Of course if I mention being in a sexless relationship or "hey it's been over a month, why do you get to get high everyday but I can't get laid once a month?" Then it's suddenly MY fault for putting pressure him.

I get so mad inside when I see him protect the opiod and blame everything else. It makes me feel like he's literally having an affair with a synthetic drug. Really! He spends his money there, he invests free time there, his thoughts are elsewhere when we are together, because he's thinking of his high or scoring or something related to it, and it's taken our intimacy.
 
Thing about my gf was she could not handle my chronic pain condition. She gave me my first dilaudid stash from her dying grandma so that we could go on vacation without my pain holding us back. I had already tried heroin at the time and decided that I didn't like it. The dillies made me realize that I just had the dose wrong, and in fact it was my favourite drug of all time. She completely blames herself, and ended up relapsing on cocaine after 5 years clean, probably because of the guilt trip. She bugged me to get her fishscale while promising me a large number of dilaudid for the favour. It was horrible. I don't think she really cared about me at all. This was pretty recent and I was battling the withdrawal as I still am, and she tempts me with hard drugs as she has this sudden desire to use coke again. That was the last of last straws for me.

Just had to get that out because I'm fucking pissed that she never supported me getting clean. She just said shit like, well you're so addicted it doesn't matter anymore, there is no hope. At least you care about him!!! It was way easier for me to get clean once she was out of the picture.

I'd really like to see hard research on the testosterone impact. I know a lot of doctors are getting into testosterone replacement therapy. I haven't really been able to find anything on the subject.

My desire for sex is already coming back. I've been tapering for two months and I'm down to a quite low dose of oxy now. I don't know about cialisis... maybe... totally worth looking into. I honestly don't know anything about it. I think I need to try the cute girl at the health food store : p ... but like I'm going to have to explain the situation so it's not embarrassing when I don't last. You should definitely try to make him comfortable if he can't last or whatev at first, if it even comes to that. Cause let me tell you it can be damn embarrassing.

It sounds like it's for sure the opiates, and you should realize that it has nothing to do with yourself. It doesn't matter how attractive she is... if he is heavy into something like oxy's or heroin, that is going to be his relationship. You are absolutely right that he is having an affair with a synthetic drug. That's the best way I've ever heard it described, in fact. Isn't that fucked up? It sickens me that's how I behaved when I had a woman in my life and chose a chemical instead. It is still cheating in my opinion because he cares more about the drugs than your intimacy. Fuck I'd way rather admit to being an addict instead of having E.D. And if he had that, wouldn't he be seeing a doc or something.

It sounds like your self esteem is going to be significantly damaged if things don't change soon enough. Your self esteem is already being affected, that really sucks and you don't deserve it. Why not give yourself a time slot to work things out. I mean, you can't hold off forever right. That just sounds like shit, and I know that it is from my experience. I am surprised that you are not having some kind of affair really (I don't mean that in a bad way, we just have physical needs and yours are not being taken care of by him). She was absolutely cheating on me, looking back there were a million red flags that I was too high to see. If he stays in denial for much longer, honestly screw that. At least if he was trying to get clean or even just admitting it... but that's not how the addiction really works at first.

I feel really sorry for you. You should not feel sexually frustrated while in a relationship. Of course I've acted the same way and I feel shitty about it, but it is good to remember that she never really cared much about me to begin with. I mean... offering a recovering addict bf dilaudid, that I always sniff and have trouble not injecting, is just plain selfish in my opinion. I couldn't say no, either. Ended up relapsing to the point that I nearly died, and stuck my first needle in my arm. She got her relapse, I suppose that is karma for you. I don't know what she was thinking, coke use is a huge turnoff for me because it makes trust very difficult when people are using drugs that make you hornier and more self confident and social. It was just fucked, I'll never get in another relationship until I have a lot of clean time, and with a woman who doesn't use hard drugs.

In recovery I think clean eating is really important to get testosterone levels back to normal. Sleep too. And lots and lots of fun practice. I kind of had to force myself to masturbate for a while just to get used to myself again. I really need to get researching how to naturally raise my testosterone levels. Kind of like people who abuse Mdma and research foods and supplements to get serotonin back up and running, you know? I really don't know much about the best types of foods to eat and stuff like that. But I heard going on a steroid right away is just horrible for the body. I heard that if you do that coming straight out of an opioid habit, that your body won't be able to produce its own testosterone in the future. Oh, and exercise would absolutely speed up the process. Especially with larger muscles like the legs.

Hope things work out for you but sounds like he needs to confront his habit asap if he wants to keep you around. And hey, you are doing the best that you can do so never blame yourself for anything. You could be getting revenge on him, but from your writing it sounds like you are very clearly in love with him and want to make this work. You are very clearly ready to support him getting clean and that's awesome, I have no idea why he wouldn't take advantage of such great support. It's just... you know the drugs have to go if it has gotten to the point that you can't get laid for a month. That is torture.
 
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Hey Shroomy,

100% ur gf NEVER should have put you in that place knowing you had an issue. I agree, she did not care about you in the genuine sense or would have done her best to cope with you through cleaning up and staying clean, rather than offering you hardcore drugs which would only justify using your drug of choice in your mind. Glad you got away from that and when you can accomplish more progress with sobriety alone than you could with your partners help, there's most definitely an issue.

This upset me: you're so addicted there's no hope and it doesn't matter!???? I'd likely slap someone for a comment like that in front of me. You can't take away someone's small grain of hope and crush it like that. More than anything am addict needs to know things will improve, fences can be mended, some one cares, and YOU matter. So so glad you are out of that, it sounded very selfish on her end of things.

I like the idea of the health food store chic? you could always say, 'it's been a very long time, so bear with me if I finish too soon" until you get to know someone better, cuz there are definitely some judgmental cruel bastards running around. Myself, I've always been gentle with my bf about it and reassured him or tried to about his confidence. I just get angry when he denies the real issue and YES!!! - I say the same thing, " you would rather think something is physically and medically wrong with you and blame E.D. than recognize the true root of the problem?" But you are correct, I truly love him and already made the decision to see him through this, including the sexual thing. My moral code just doesn't allow me to cheat. Beyond betraying my bf, I feel that I would be betraying my own heart and my love for him. (I blame my mother lol - good job mom!)

I'm going to look into some research on the matter - it could be helpful to us both. Hopefully someone with hard facts will chime in soon.
 
Hi Broken (hope you get fixed up soon=D)

While I was first getting clean, she started ignoring all my attempts at contacting her. She went on vacations to places like Germany to visit friends and party without even telling me she was going. I had also just been fired from a job due to the drug abuse, I am learning to speak German and totally would have gone with my money saved up. I was at the worst of nightmare withdrawals, my lowest of lows, and she would not even give me a phone call from abroad, send pics, messages, anything. She always used to keep in touch with me, like all the time throughout the day. It was absolutely miserable and caused me to relapse a bunch of times sniffing ungodly amounts of dilaudid along with fucking xanax as I was unable to even think about what she was up to without freaking out. It was the worst experience of my whole entire life and that is when I was first getting clean, when I had already quit heroin and started tapering off 120mg oxy.

And then she started being really nice to me, as soon as she sensed that I would be gone from her life. She just wanted me back so bad... it was fucked. I can't understand that...

I'm glad you wrote me this, I really am, because it only solidifies in my mind that she is obviously not right at all for me. I am still a little confused because she tries to be so nice to me now. I can't fall for her tricks, she is a bitch at heart. I'm really not making any of this up either, sadly. She was just an absolute bitch, there is no nice way of putting it.

Also, she was previously a cocaine addict. You think she would understand... she went through hell. Never around me, but she recently relapsed and I am damn happy about that because I'd like to see her ruin her life. She has a great job as an accountant and I would like to see her blow all her money on white and lose her job. It's just hard because she acts all nice now like everything's okay after what she put me through, and I honestly just know deep down that I can never forgive her.

I like the idea of the health food store chic too. She was really damn sexy, and it was the first time I have seen her there. I was very turned on by her and we talked about a bunch of health stuff. She could totally tell I was hitting on her because I made it obvious. Usually it is an older married woman and she caught me off guard. She is probably in college and was probably curious about my eccentric behaviour. I bet she wants to know why I was acting so frantic and then came back all relaxed. That's how I felt anyway... she told me to have a great night after I apologized for trippin her out. I would probably just explain the testosterone issue to her. I simply can't cheat either due to guilt, I never have in my life, (at least my parents did one thing right haha) but it's weird because I was constantly accused of doing so. Possibly because of this very issue with opioid abuse. She is the type to get revenge though, not support. She can't handle any sort of criticism whatsoever, and had a father who was having sex with people around her age in their 20's... like a sugar daddy or whatever... so that's probably where her hatred of men comes from. Her dad was never around, leaving home for weeks at a time she would say, and treated her mom really poorly.

I've been making youtube videos to document my withdrawal process. If you would like to see, just PM me and I'll link you up. So you can see what it's like to recover if you don't already know. My next one I'm making is going to be on this very issue, but I want to do some hard research first. Before even looking at opioid abuse, I need to understand what testosterone actually is scientifically. So I am going to look into that soon. That would be the first step right? Like wtf are hormones even... I'm a physicist not a biologist. I can't say I know anything about them really.

Thanks again for helping me realize what a bad person she was to me.
 
I'm such the newb, to forums in general. The only other forum I've ever used was for World of Warcraft raiding organization since I was the main tank, or a priest as my alternate toon. If you're not familiar with the game, then all meaning of what I just typed will be lost.

The point is...I don't know how to message privately..but I am interested in the videos, it will probably shed light for me if he really is tapering or quitting . We had a conversation today and he says he's 3 days clean and the day he used was only 2 percs that whole day. I fave seen alot of different actions/signs lately... but I was feeling like maybe he was trading one thing for another.
 
Hi, you just have to look under notifications in the top right corner of your screen now, then inbox, I PM'd you the link.

They are very typical withdrawal symptoms I am experiencing. Well it's really great that you had a conversation about it. That makes me feel a lot of hope for you two, even if he is trading it for something else, the point is you got him to talk about it a bit and acknowledge that he's using. Good on ya.

Something tells me that if he was able to hold a conversation with you he's not really clean... check out my videos. He's probably going to appear an absolute wreck for at least a week. You will definitely notice the hardcore withdrawals and it doesn't sound like he is experiencing them to me. Is he flopping around like a fish out of water? Full body muscle aches? Crying spells? Panic attacks? Zero sleep? Taking time off work? Depression to the extent that he is bedridden? Maybe he's just telling you what you want to hear... just a thought. When somebody is hiding their use it's tough to know. Or perhaps he is getting a lucky break and hasn't used long enough to experience that nightmare. Maybe you should try to catch him in the act or something. I mean, the withdrawal is an extreme nightmare... the changes should be extremely negative at first. I just saw you mention track marks and that means his addiction is probably even worse than mine. I am an absolute wreck of a nut case in those withdrawal videos so check it out. At some point, if he is using, he will run out and be forced into that and then there really is no hiding anything anymore.
 
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Alright, so if you are a guy with this issue, I know of one supplement that can help: gelatinized maca root powder. Make sure it is gelatinized as otherwise it can cause nausea if I'm not mistaken. It is known to make men even more horny, so it certainly would help with this problem. Maybe not by directly increasing testosterone, but it turns me into a lil horndog regardless of my present state of health.
Ladies, you might just want to sneak it into your bf's smoothie as well. It doesn't taste very good but I've used it in the past (before I abused opiates) and it did this to me, so I'm pretty sure it's going to help me with this predicament.

Still haven't gotten around to researching testosterone yet.
 
Oh thanks for that, it should be an interesting read.

Yeah... health food stores carry it, so would a vitamin shop. It's from South America and it definitely makes me more horny when I consume a tablespoon of it every day.

Sorry if something bad happened.
 
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