What people say about testosterone therapy, and what we think

The guidelines agree on the core: treat men who have symptoms and a low level confirmed by repeat morning blood tests, and not men whose level is normal. Beyond that, opinion splits. Some well-known doctors and podcasters push testosterone further than the trials go, and many of them sell testing, supplements or clinic services. Serious news coverage is sceptical of the boom, not of treatment for confirmed deficiency. This page sets out each side with dates, credentials and financial interests, then gives this site’s own view.

How to read this page

Three questions are worth asking of anyone who talks about testosterone, including this site:

What is their actual training? A urologist or endocrinologist, a family physician, a scientist who is not a clinician, and a content creator are different kinds of source.
Do they earn money from testosterone? From a clinic, a lab testing company, a supplement brand, a drug maker or a paid course. A financial interest does not make someone wrong, but it should travel with what they say.
Does what they say match the trials? Most of the evidence comes from men with confirmed low testosterone. Claims about men with normal levels, or about longer life, sit outside it.

Nobody named on this page endorses this site or any provider, and nobody was asked to. The descriptions are paraphrased from the dated source linked beside each one, with short quotations only where the wording matters.

What the guidelines say

Guidelines are written by committees that weigh the whole body of evidence, which makes them slower than podcasts and more cautious. These are the documents that matter most in Canada, with their dates.

Guidelines and regulators on who should be treated, most Canadian first.
Body and document	Date	What it says	Worth knowing
Health Canada, Information Update	15 July 2014	Testosterone should not be used for non-specific symptoms unless laboratory tests have confirmed a low level and other possible causes have been excluded.	Health Canada has issued nothing further on testosterone since.
Canadian product monograph, oral testosterone undecanoate	Authorized 12 December 2025	Deficiency must be shown by clinical features and confirmed by two separate validated morning blood tests. Safety and efficacy for age-related hypogonadism are not established.	No numeric threshold is printed.
Canadian Urological Association guideline (Grober and colleagues)	2021	The evidence-based questions and answers Canadian urologists work from.	Its authors include Mohit Khera and Abraham Morgentaler, whose financial interests are listed below.
Canadian Pharmacists Journal practice guideline (Beahm and colleagues)	October 2021	A low testosterone level on its own, without supporting signs and symptoms, is not a reason to treat.	The paper states it was not funded and its authors declare no conflicts. It was written before TRAVERSE.
Endocrine Society guideline (Bhasin and colleagues)	2018	Symptoms plus consistently low morning fasting total testosterone, confirmed on repeat testing, with an evaluation of the cause.	No single cut-off in the text used here.
European Association of Urology guideline	2026 edition, updated March 2026	A strong recommendation for a threshold of 12 nmol/L, measured fasting between 07:00 and 10:00 and confirmed on two occasions.	The clearest threshold among the documents listed here.
United States Food and Drug Administration, class labelling change	28 February 2025	Removed the boxed warning language on cardiovascular risk and added the TRAVERSE results to all testosterone labels.	Canada has not made an equivalent change.

Where they agree

Symptoms alone are not a diagnosis. A low level has to be confirmed with repeat morning blood tests.
Men whose testosterone is normal should not be treated.
The cause should be looked for, and reversible causes such as weight, sleep apnea and some medications come first.
Treatment needs monitoring, above all hematocrit, and it suppresses fertility.

Where they differ

The number. The European guideline gives 12 nmol/L. Canadian labels print no number and leave it to the laboratory range and the clinician. The detail is in the guide on how low testosterone is diagnosed in Canada.
Older men. The Canadian monograph says safety and efficacy for age-related decline are not established. The US regulator relaxed its cardiovascular warning in 2025 after TRAVERSE. Canada has not changed its labelling.
Independence. The pharmacist guideline declares no funding and no conflicts. The urology guideline includes authors with consulting ties to testosterone makers.

What it costs, beyond the headline fee

The fee that shows up first in an ad or a search result is rarely the whole bill. A low consult or membership fee may not include the medication, and some services add a subscription, programme or renewal fee every month or every few months. What matters is the total for a year: medication, every recurring fee, and whatever a service does not publish.

The table puts the services that publish enough to estimate a year side by side, lowest estimate first.

Editorial estimates by this site for an ongoing year, ordered by the lower end of each range. Actual costs depend on treatment and coverage; optional supplies are left out for every provider. Calculated on 28 September 2026 from published prices.
Provider	Estimate for a year	What is counted	Not counted in the estimate
UPGUYS	$636 to $1,236	Medication, plus the $11.99 dispensing fee per prescription, three fills a year. No membership fee is stated. Assessment, requisitions, consultations, follow-ups and standard shipping: $0, as published.	Injection supplies (no price stated). Any uninsured lab charges.*
Jack Health	$872 to $1,880	Medication and four $110 renewals a year, described as including biomarker re-testing. Shipping: $0, as published.	Unconfirmed requisition, dispensing, supply and membership charges. A $40 visit fee if the prescription goes to an outside pharmacy.
Essential Clinic	$1,312 to $1,460	Injection medication and the $49 annual consult fee, which covers the assessment, requisitions and follow-ups. Shipping: $0, as published.	Unconfirmed dispensing and supply charges. Any uninsured lab charges.*
Science & Humans	$1,520 to $1,880	Four $200 programme payments and one vial of medication a month, filled at the provider's pharmacy.	Interim consultations at $100 each, the $25 dispensing fee if an outside pharmacy is used, and unconfirmed lab, shipping and supply costs.
Enhanced Men's Clinic	$2,300 to $2,860	Twelve $170 subscription payments, medication and the published blood testing allowance. The published prices conflict and need clarification.†	Optional supplies: $50 a year if needed. Unconfirmed dispensing and shipping charges.

* For UPGUYS and Essential Clinic, the provider states that lab tests are generally covered by provincial plans. In some cases, the lab may charge for certain uninsured tests.
† The upper estimate for Enhanced Men’s Clinic leaves out the optional $50 supply charge. Its conflicting subscription and bundle prices, and the lab allowance that applies to an ongoing year, still need confirmation.

Too little published to estimate a year: Gambit, Gameday Men's Health, MHC, Phoenix, Sovereign Male. The arithmetic, assumptions and published prices behind each figure are on the cost page and in estimates.csv.

Two things the table cannot show. Products and doses differ, so the figures are not like for like. And each figure is a subtotal: lab tests, supplies and anything else a service does not publish are left out and named in the last column. Ask any service for its full yearly cost in writing before you start.

What doctors, researchers and podcasters say

The people below were chosen because they shape what Canadians hear about testosterone, not because the site agrees with them. Each entry keeps the credential, a dated source, what they say and their financial interests together. Links were rechecked on 24 September 2026.

Researchers and clinicians

Peter J. Snyder, MD

Endocrinologist, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Led the Testosterone Trials and the fracture substudy of the TRAVERSE trial.

What they say: Lists better libido and sexual function, a small gain in energy, and higher red blood count, bone density and strength, and adds that "these benefits apply only to men who have low testosterone, unequivocally." Source: NPR, 10 August 2026
Financial interests: None stated in the report. The TRAVERSE trial he worked on was funded by AbbVie, a testosterone maker.

Steven Woloshin, MD

Professor of medicine, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

What they say: The most critical voice in recent coverage. On widening access to testosterone: "I think it is too soon." He disputes claims that it lengthens life. Source: NPR, 10 August 2026
Financial interests: No financial tie to a testosterone maker found.

Jamin Brahmbhatt, MD

Urologist, Orlando Health.

What they say: Supports treatment for men who need it and criticizes clinics that prescribe without proper testing and follow-up: "Not every guy needs to be on it." Source: NPR, 21 July 2026
Financial interests: None stated in the report.

Mohit Khera, MD

Professor of urology, Baylor College of Medicine. Co-author of the TRAVERSE trial and of the 2021 Canadian Urological Association guideline.

What they say: Among the most guideline-faithful of the well-known names. He says a man with a normal level should not be treated even when he has symptoms, and warns that a rise in hematocrit is most common with injections and that testosterone therapy can cause infertility. Source: BackTable Urology, episode 124, 4 October 2023
Financial interests: The American Urological Association’s 2024 disclosure list shows current consulting or advisory roles with Coloplast, Endo, Halozyme, Marius Pharmaceuticals and Tolmar, and stock options in Sprout Pharmaceuticals and Vault Health, a men’s health telehealth company. Marius and Tolmar sell oral testosterone products. Source: AUA 2024 Annual Meeting, instructional course faculty disclosures, 2024 annual meeting

Abraham Morgentaler, MD

Urologist, Harvard Medical School. Founder of Men’s Health Boston and co-author of the 2021 Canadian Urological Association guideline.

What they say: The most quoted clinician in favour of testosterone therapy. His central argument is that treatment does not raise prostate cancer risk in men with low testosterone. In a 2026 lecture he acknowledged that prospective trials are still needed. Source: STAT, "The doctor who overturned medicine’s fear of testosterone", 23 December 2025
Financial interests: Founded Men’s Health Boston, a clinic that provides testosterone therapy. The American Urological Association’s 2023 disclosure list shows past consulting for Acerus and Marius Pharmaceuticals and lecturing for Besins Healthcare, all testosterone makers, with end dates in 2021 and 2022. Source: AUA 2023 society meeting disclosures, 2023 annual meeting

Canadian voices

Larry Goldenberg, MD, and Ryan Flannigan, MD

Urologists, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia. Goldenberg founded the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation and the Vancouver Prostate Centre.

What they say: The foundation page they reviewed is careful and conditional. It says therapy is usually lifelong, is likely to stop sperm production, can cause acne, oily skin and hair loss, and thickens the blood when levels go too high. Source: Canadian Men’s Health Foundation, "Low Testosterone In Men", 15 September 2023
Financial interests: The foundation is a non-profit. No tie to a testosterone maker found. Flannigan also practises at a private fertility clinic.

Canadian mainstream coverage is listed under what the news coverage says. Very few Canadian clinicians speak about testosterone publicly outside professional settings.

Podcasters and content creators

Peter Attia, MD

Physician and host of The Drive podcast. Not board certified in endocrinology or urology.

What they say: His review of TRAVERSE lists benefits in men with low testosterone: body composition, muscle and strength, bone density, sexual desire and function, mood and quality of life. He is more conservative than most in this group and describes treating only when there are symptoms. Source: peterattiamd.com, review of the TRAVERSE trial, 25 October 2023
Financial interests: Founder of Early Medical, a paid medical practice. Source: peterattiamd.com, About, no date shown
Against the evidence: The benefits he lists come from trials in men with confirmed low testosterone. Thresholds looser than the guidelines widen who would be treated beyond the men those trials studied.

Andrew Huberman, PhD

Professor of neurobiology, Stanford School of Medicine. Not a physician.

What they say: Draws a useful line between treating men below the reference range and raising levels in men already within it. In this January 2026 episode he said he is on low-dose TRT, started at 45, and that others should wait if they do it at all. Source: Huberman Lab, episode with Dorian Yates, 19 January 2026
Financial interests: Paid scientific advisor to AG1, Eight Sleep, Function Health, Momentous, Reveri and WHOOP, as his own disclaimer page states. Momentous sells a hormone support supplement bundle. Source: Huberman Lab, disclaimer page, no date shown
Against the evidence: Supplements discussed on the show for raising testosterone, such as fadogia agrestis, have essentially no human safety or efficacy data.

Rena Malik, MD

Board-certified urologist with a large YouTube and podcast audience.

What they say: Her January 2026 solo episode is critical of the TRT market, with chapters on expert bias, abuse versus therapeutic use, online prescribing and adulterated supplements. Source: Rena Malik podcast, solo episode on testosterone, 23 January 2026
Financial interests: Listed as having no relevant financial relationships in the American Urological Association’s 2023 disclosure list. She sells her own courses, a membership and a book. Source: AUA 2023 society meeting disclosures, 2023 annual meeting
Against the evidence: Guests on her channel sometimes make stronger claims than she does. Those claims are the guest’s, not hers.

Barbell Medicine (Jordan Feigenbaum, MD, and Austin Baraki, MD)

Two physicians who run a coaching and education business.

What they say: A single low result is not a diagnosis, many first low results are normal on repeat testing, and reversible causes such as untreated sleep apnea and excess abdominal fat come first. They accept the benefits in properly diagnosed men and say plainly that raising testosterone within the normal range will not deliver what marketing promises. Source: Barbell Medicine, "Low Testosterone in Men", 5 June 2026
Financial interests: They sell a testosterone course and book. Their commercial interest points away from prescribing, not toward it.

Layne Norton, PhD

PhD in nutritional sciences and a coach. Not a physician.

What they say: A critic of testosterone marketing. Says differences within the normal range do not predict muscle gain and that testosterone boosting supplements do not work. He does not dispute that diagnosed hypogonadism can be treated. Source: Men’s Health, "Why Is Everyone Suddenly Taking Testosterone?", 26 August 2026
Financial interests: Owns a supplement company that sells no hormone products.

Gabrielle Lyon, DO

Board-certified family physician. Not a urologist or endocrinologist.

What they say: Presents testosterone within her "muscle-centric medicine" framing. Chapters of her episodes include "Low Testosterone is a Predictor of Heart Disease" and ask whether TRT protects the heart. Source: The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show, "TRT Risks & Rewards", 21 October 2025
Financial interests: Founded Strong Medical, a paid concierge practice whose services include hormone optimization. Source: Strong Medical, no date shown
Against the evidence: TRAVERSE was a safety trial and showed no cardiovascular benefit. Its fracture substudy found more fractures on testosterone, not fewer.

Mark Hyman, MD

Physician practising functional medicine.

What they say: Presents testosterone as a broad health marker and points to a decline in men’s average testosterone over recent decades. Source: The Doctor’s Farmacy, episode 928, "Testosterone 101", 29 July 2024
Financial interests: Chief medical officer of Function Health, a direct-to-consumer lab testing membership that includes hormone panels. Source: Function Health, About, no date shown
Against the evidence: The population decline is contested, and it does not show that any one man needs treatment. A lab testing business gains when more men test their hormones.

Rhonda Patrick, PhD

PhD in biomedical science. Not a physician.

What they say: Her testosterone content is almost entirely interviews, so claims on her channel belong to the guest. Her own summary of this September 2025 episode calls testosterone a cornerstone of health that influences mood, cognition, bone density, libido and even longevity. Source: FoundMyFitness, episode 106 with Derek of More Plates More Dates, 9 September 2025
Financial interests: No tie to testosterone or hormone products found.
Against the evidence: Longer life is not an outcome any testosterone trial has shown. The guest in that episode holds no medical credential and co-founded Marek Health, a lab testing company.

Named because they drive the conversation, not cited as sources

Joe Rogan has said on air that he takes testosterone replacement, as quoted by WBUR’s On Point on 19 February 2025. He has no health credential. Derek, the host of More Plates More Dates, has no medical credential and co-founded Marek Health, a lab testing company, and a supplement brand. Both reach very large audiences and both are part of why men ask about testosterone. Neither is a source for a clinical claim on this site.

Where the public conversation goes beyond the evidence

These claims come up often. Here is what the trials show.

Common claims checked against the trial evidence.
The claim	What the evidence shows
Testosterone helps you live longer.	No trial has shown that testosterone therapy lengthens life. See what testosterone therapy does.
It protects the heart.	TRAVERSE, in 5,246 men with confirmed low testosterone and heart risk, found major cardiac events in 7 percent on testosterone and 7.3 percent on placebo, per the current US label. That is a safety result, not a benefit. Atrial fibrillation, pulmonary embolism and acute kidney injury were more common on testosterone. See the TRAVERSE trial.
It builds bone, so it prevents fractures.	Bone density rises on treatment, but the TRAVERSE fracture substudy found clinical fractures in 3.50 percent of men on testosterone and 2.46 percent on placebo. See the TRAVERSE trial.
Raising a normal level improves energy, muscle and sex drive.	The trials enrolled men with confirmed low levels. A pooled analysis of 17 trials (Isidori 2005) found no effect on sexual function in men whose testosterone was already normal. See how low testosterone is diagnosed.
Supplements can raise your testosterone.	Experts interviewed by CBC’s White Coat, Black Art on 28 September 2025 said testosterone supplements will not boost hormone levels. Herbal products promoted online, such as fadogia agrestis, have essentially no human safety or efficacy data.
Men’s testosterone is falling, so most men need it.	Population trends are contested, and they say nothing about whether one man needs treatment. Diagnosis rests on that man’s symptoms and repeat blood tests.

What patients say

This site does not publish individual patient testimonials. One person’s account cannot show what a treatment does, and testimonials about a prescription drug are a form of promotion. What follows comes from studies that looked at many patients at once.

What men talk about online. Urologists at UCLA analysed 199,335 posts in Reddit’s r/Testosterone forum from December 2015 to May 2019, and 6,659 tweets (Osadchiy, Journal of Medical Internet Research, 7 October 2020). The main themes were symptoms, seeing a doctor, lab results, the medications, heart risk, and insults. More than a quarter of the Reddit posts mentioned a doctor. The authors describe men who feel discouraged by their doctors turning to social media instead.
How long men stay on treatment, in Ontario. A study of 4,797 Ontario men aged 66 and over who started testosterone between 2009 and 2012 found that only 38.7 percent met the public plan’s criteria before starting. Median time to stopping was 383 days for oral capsules, 319 days for gels, 283 days for injections and 160 days for patches. Many stopped within a year (Martins, Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 2016).
Why men stop. In a Korean study of 640 men over 40 followed for more than ten years, 75.9 percent were still on treatment after one year. The reasons for stopping, most common first, were inconvenience, cost, worry about side effects, not feeling a benefit, and symptoms improving (Kang, World Journal of Men’s Health, 2021).
What matters to men using it. Interviews with 58 American men on testosterone found eight things that shaped their view of treatment: ease of use, effect on libido, the product itself, physical effects, psychological effects, side effects, the overall treatment experience, and preference. Most of them preferred a gel to an injection or a patch (Szeinbach, Patient Preference and Adherence, 2012).
Public reviews of Canadian services. The review scores on the providers page are platform displays with dates. They reflect the service experience reviewers chose to write about, not whether treatment worked for them medically, and some companies invite their customers to review.

Across these studies, a pattern shows. Many men look for answers online when they feel unheard, a large share stop within the first year, and cost, inconvenience and side effects are the usual reasons. That is worth knowing before starting a treatment that is usually meant to be long term.

What the news coverage says

The weight of serious coverage since TRAVERSE is sceptical of the testosterone boom, of treating men with normal levels and of online clinics that skip testing. It is not sceptical of treating confirmed deficiency. Newest first:

Men’s Health, Why Is Everyone Suddenly Taking Testosterone? Inside the Hormone’s Cultural Rebrand, 26 August 2026.
NPR, What’s behind the push to get more men on testosterone, 21 July 2026.
The New York Times Magazine, The Testosterone Moment Is Here. And Men May Never Look the Same., 12 May 2026.
The Guardian, “They’ve invented a spurious pseudo-disease”: why are so many men being told they have low testosterone?, 10 May 2026.
The Atlantic, T-Maxxing Has Gone Too Far, 30 January 2026.
STAT, Why men are flocking to dubious online clinics for testosterone therapy, 21 November 2025.
The Guardian, Social media misinformation driving men to seek unneeded NHS testosterone therapy, doctors say, 8 November 2025.
CBC, White Coat, Black Art, Testosterone supplements won’t boost hormone levels, experts caution, 28 September 2025.
CBC, The Dose, What might testosterone replacement therapy mean for me?, 26 September 2025.
CBC News, Testosterone therapy’s all over the online “manosphere”, but doctor warns it’s not for every guy, 11 March 2025.
WBUR On Point, The truth about testosterone therapy, 19 February 2025.
The New York Times, Testosterone Therapy Does Not Raise Heart Risk in a Group of Men, 16 June 2023.
The Globe and Mail, Can testosterone-replacement therapy help me feel like my old (younger) self again?, 10 December 2022.

One caution. Some newspaper websites, including The Globe and Mail’s markets pages, republish paid press releases from testosterone clinics under their own web address. Those are advertising, not journalism, and they are not listed here.

Our view

This section is the site’s own opinion. It is kept apart from the facts above so it can be read, and disagreed with, as opinion.

For men with confirmed low testosterone and symptoms, treatment is established medicine. The trials show real gains in sexual function, bone density and red blood count, and reassurance on major heart events. They also show costs: a rise in hematocrit that has to be watched, more atrial fibrillation, pulmonary embolism and fractures in TRAVERSE, and suppressed fertility.

The public conversation has run ahead of the evidence. Longer life, heart protection, and more energy or muscle for men whose levels are already normal are not trial results. Several of the loudest voices sell testing, supplements or clinic services. That does not make them wrong, but it is worth knowing before taking their advice.

How care is delivered matters more than whether it is online or in person. These are the questions we would ask of any service, including every provider on this site:

Does it confirm a low result with repeat morning blood tests before treating?
Does it look for a cause, such as sleep apnea, weight, medications or a pituitary problem?
Does it talk about fertility before starting, if children are still a possibility?
Does it check hematocrit and other blood work on a schedule, and act on the results?
Does it name the licensed pharmacy that dispenses the prescription?
Does it tell you the total for a year, medication and every recurring fee included, before you sign up, and not only the headline fee?
Is it easy to stop, and does it explain what stopping involves?

What each provider publishes on these points is in the providers table.

If your level is normal, testosterone is not the answer to how you feel. A service that treats a normal level is working outside every guideline on this page.

If your level is low, the next conversation is about why, and about fertility, before it is about which product.

Common questions

Should I take testosterone if my level is normal?

No guideline supports it. Every guideline on this page limits treatment to men with symptoms and a low level confirmed by repeat morning blood tests, and a pooled analysis of 17 trials found no sexual function benefit in men whose testosterone was already normal.

Is testosterone therapy safe for the heart?

In TRAVERSE, 5,246 men with confirmed low testosterone and heart risk had major cardiac events at about the same rate on testosterone as on placebo. That is a safety result, not a benefit. Atrial fibrillation, pulmonary embolism and fractures were more common on testosterone, and hematocrit has to be monitored.

What does testosterone therapy cost per year in Canada?

It depends on the service and on what it charges beyond the headline fee. For the services that publish enough to estimate a year, this site's estimated yearly subtotals, lowest first, are: UPGUYS $636 to $1,236; Jack Health $872 to $1,880; Essential Clinic $1,312 to $1,460; Science & Humans $1,520 to $1,880; Enhanced Men's Clinic $2,300 to $2,860. Lab tests and any fees a service does not publish are extra. Gambit, Gameday Men's Health, MHC, Phoenix and Sovereign Male publish too little to estimate. Figures calculated 28 September 2026.

Do the doctors and podcasters on this page endorse this site?

No. Nobody named on this page endorses this site or any provider, and nobody was asked to. Each is described from their own dated public statements and disclosures.

Published by: TRTCanada.ca.
Published: 24 September 2026
Last reviewed: 24 September 2026
Next check: 24 December 2026

Sources

Testosterone therapy in men with hypogonadism, clinical practice guideline (Bhasin 2018), Endocrine Society, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 103(5):1715-1744. Source date 1 May 2018. Checked 24 September 2026.
Canadian Urological Association guideline on testosterone deficiency in men, Canadian Urological Association Journal. Source date 1 October 2021. Checked 24 September 2026.
Practice guideline for pharmacists: the management of late-onset hypogonadism (Beahm 2021), Canadian Pharmacists Journal. Source date 11 October 2021. Checked 24 September 2026.
EAU guidelines on sexual and reproductive health, male hypogonadism, European Association of Urology. 2026 edition, limited update March 2026. Checked 24 September 2026.
Low testosterone on social media: natural language processing of patients’ perceptions (Osadchiy 2020), Journal of Medical Internet Research 22(10):e21383. Source date 7 October 2020. Checked 24 September 2026.
The appropriateness and persistence of testosterone replacement therapy in Ontario (Martins 2016), Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 26(2):119-126. Source date 16 August 2016. Checked 24 September 2026.
Compliance with testosterone replacement therapy: a 10-year observational study in Korea (Kang 2021), World Journal of Men’s Health 40(4):686-692. Source date 25 January 2021. Checked 24 September 2026.
Development of a men’s Preference for Testosterone Replacement Therapy instrument (Szeinbach 2012), Patient Preference and Adherence 6:631-641. Source date 31 August 2012. Checked 24 September 2026.