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Comment by 0xcde4c3db | Hacker News Reader

> Intriguing why someone would try to analyze a biological compound through a cultural / political / sociological lens without at least giving some reference to actual scientific research.

I don't think it's all that strange, given the situation. Testosterone appears to be a cultural and even economic phenomenon irrespective of its actual effects. There's a whole franchise chain of doctor's offices branded as "Low T Centers", which I don't think I've seen for any other biological compound. It's not a big stretch to say that people interested in that kind of thing are predominantly more interested in an experience than they are in a molecule. It's not entirely unlike "pot culture" or "drinking culture", etc..

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That to some degree is driven by how taboo TRT (fuelled by steroid craze of the `80s) was. In effect there were seriously hundreds of men forced to live for example on Clomid because testosterone was a no-no (compared to TRT Clomid is like using propofol because you can't sleep)

Clomid works for some but not all.

http://www.ergo-log.com/clomid-testosterone.html

http://www.ergo-log.com/clomidendur.html

The main point of Clomid are quite usual psychological side-effects, including such fun stuff as suicidal thoughts.

Where have you seen that in the literature?

Honestly, I have to dig through. The thing is those things are often underreported. I worked with a TRT clinic for a while, people on Clomid for fertility reasons were miserable (as in "kill me now") so that's my bias.

The TRT clinic I went to was a clear scam. When he realized my T was too high he tried to sell me on growth hormone peptides for $300 a month and B12 injections. Lots of pseudoscience. Also, he was a chiropractor. Not surprising since chiropractors aren't real doctors.

Yeah, a lot of TRT clinics are scam, especially if they employ chiropractors or naturopaths - DO STAY AWAY. Fact that those professions are allowed to give medical advice in some countries/states is actually an emerging problem because the school giving out certificates to these people have a much lower quality of education which can be fatal. People with "degrees" from schools such as Bastyr are know to advocate against vaccination and other sane science while peddling "natural" solutions.

Here's the best compilation of data (not mine, but by a man I incredibly respect for his insights in neuropsychopharmacology) https://www.quora.com/Can-clomiphene-citrate-trigger-depress...

My understanding was that they are mainly interested in body-building.

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