Orange County Testosterone replacement Done Right

In men, testosterone is typically administered as a weekly injection in the muscle of the butt, thigh, or arm. Injections result in excellent testosterone blood levels and symptom resolution, and this is the way more than 90% of men get their testosterone. We will teach you how to do injections at home, or you can come to the office for your injections. Testosterone can also be administered in topical form, but absorption and symptom resolution is more variable.

You may feel a change within the first week, but it can take 3-6 months to feel the full effects of testosterone replacement. Often the first changes men feel are an increase in libido and improvements in mood.

If you are a candidate for testosterone therapy, we can administer your first injection on the same day as your consultation. Medication is then shipped directly to your home at no cost to you and typically arrives in 8-14 days.

No. There is no evidence that testosterone replacement therapy increases the risk for either prostate cancer or cardiovascular disease.

Side effects can occur if testosterone levels become too high. Possible side effects include elevated hematocrit, acne, oily skin, male pattern hair loss, nipple pain, and aggression. Testosterone also reduces sperm count and fertility, and can cause testicular shrinkage. If men want fertility within 6-12 months, testosterone shouldn’t be started, and enclomiphene or clomiphene should be considered instead.

Our goal is to resolve your symptoms of low testosterone to get you feeling like your younger self again, without causing side effects. Generally this means getting your testosterone level into the top third of the normal range.

We strongly believe so. We believe bioidentical hormones, which are molecularly identical to and function exactly like your body’s natural hormones, are preferable to synthetic hormones, which are altered from the natural hormones your body makes. The problem with synthetic hormones is they function differently, sometimes very differently, than your body’s natural hormones. The reason pharmaceutical companies make synthetic hormones, of course, is so they can obtain patent protection to guard their ability to make profits. They can’t patent substances naturally made in the body, and therefore can’t make money from them.

FDA approved medications are medications, in specific formulations and dosages, that have been proven to be safe and effective for a specific medical problem. Compounded medications are made from the same active ingredients (e.g. estradiol, testosterone cypionate, semaglutide, etc.), but are compounded (mixed) with other ingredients to create a product suitable or more beneficial for individual patients. For example, testosterone cypionate is often compounded with DHEA, a precursor compound for testosterone. Estradiol is often compounded into creams and other topical formulations.

We use only large, US-licensed compounding pharmacies that buy their pharmaceuticals from FDA registered manufacturing facilities, and provide certificates of analysis to prove the integrity of the pharmaceuticals they use.

Because pharmaceutical companies, which sell their products to traditional pharmacies, generally don’t make bioidentical hormone products. Why? Because they can’t patent them (because they are naturally occurring in the body), and therefore can’t make money from them. The niche that compounding pharmacies have is that they provide medication tailored for individual patients. They buy the pharmaceutical grade medication from drug manufacturers, like pharmaceutical companies do, and then prepare a compounded product suitable for individual patients. An example is estrogen cream. They buy pharmaceutical grade bioidentical estrogen, and then compound (mix with other ingredients) it into a cream for individual patient use.

No, MD Total Wellness does not accept insurance for medical services and treatments. We accept all major credit/debit cards as well as payments from HSA or FSA accounts. Our transparent pricing includes all medications, your follow-up office visits, unlimited messaging with providers, and in-office testosterone testing.

No. This is not our area of expertise, however, upon request, we can refer patients to a trusted, local provider who specializes in gender-affirming hormone therapy.