The Best Testosterone In Town! Dr. Dustin Fontenot Explains Hormone Replacement Therapy and the Armor Men’s Wellness Plan
Speaker 1:
Welcome back to the Armour men’s health hour with dr. Mystery and Donna Lee.
Speaker 2:
Men’s health tower. This is Donna Lee and dr. Mystery, but he’s not here. So I brought in our special guest. Who’s also one of our incredible providers. You’ve heard him in previous segments, but I’ve brought him back to this is Dustin Fonteneau. Welcome. Thank you. Glad to be here. I’m Dustin Fonteneau has been with our group for how long? Five years now, five years. He is our guru. When it comes to male wellness and hormones, he is incredible. And I want to bring up your last name. We have patients calling you Dustin continent. Uh, what are the other names that they call you to know all over the place? When you come here? Does Dustin Fanta know that’s a good, um, Louisiana name, right? That’s right. That’s right. And I remember I asked you once, if your wife doesn’t call you Dustin Fanta. No, but she calls your Dustin Fanta.
Speaker 2:
Yes. And he said, no, no. Anyway, back to Dustin, Dustin, who used to be with a men’s wellness group before he joined us. But I thought it’d be a really good idea for our new patients, especially your new patients to talk about what testosterone is. We have tons of patients that are being referred by their friends because they see you and they feel so much better starting testosterone. What does that mean? Like what should a brand new patient expect? Uh, you know, maybe mid forties never been on testosterone or you tried testosterone before at another clinic and didn’t get the right values. What does that look like coming in as a new patient to see Dustin,
Speaker 3:
That’s a great question. And the whole kind of low testosterone thing is sort of a buzzword now. Right? I mean, everybody hears it in their radio and call it high testosterone. Right. And it’s kind of inundated with advertisements and things like that. So yeah, we get a lot of guys that referred by their friends after coming in and want to know kind of what it’s all about. You know, the most important thing that I think we do that’s different than most others is we try to take more of a holistic approach with the patient as they come in. It’s not just about what’s your testosterone level. Oh, it’s low, you know, here’s some medication for you. It’s more about sort of understanding your, your overall lifestyle, where your habits are like with your exercise habits or like, what are your diets like what your sleep habits are like, uh, and then kind of trying to address some underlying issues with that.
Speaker 3:
So you guys come in, uh, obviously we do a set of lab panel and what labs we draw is really based on kind of what I gleaned from their visit to look for other underlying health conditions and things like that that might be at play here. And then once we get the basic information back that we need, we kind of come back, sit together, make a plan. And usually I like to prioritize what I find out, uh, for the issues that need to be addressed. For example, if it’s weight loss, if it’s sleep, if it’s just getting somebody moving, because they’re sedentary, if there’s blood sugar issues like that and psychological issues, all sorts of stuff. Yeah. And so, you know, many times having low testosterone is the least of their worries, right? I mean, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve got a guys in for low testosterone after we run them through our program, we find out that they’re either prediabetic or diabetic or high blood pressure, you know, all kinds of sorts of things.
Speaker 3:
And so we kind of like to strategize and come up with a game plan that will address all of their issues. Because again, what I think we do differently where other places fail is having somebody come in and just treating their testosterone and then sending them on their way. It’s really just doing them a disservice. I mean, they’re not going to feel any better. Yeah. Their testosterone look better on a piece of paper, but that’s not going to really equate to real life results. And so, yeah. And so it really has to be taken as a, as a holistic approach in treating these guys, uh, and not just not just treating the number
Speaker 2:
And how long before patients start, let’s say you start them on injections. Do they feel different or better?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I’d say the vast majority of patients sometime within the first three to four weeks of initiating treatment, some of that has to do with the treatment has to get dialed in. So when we, no matter which method you choose of testosterone replacement therapy, there’s always going to be some adjustments going on. It’s a little bit of trial and error in the beginning of getting all your hormones in line. Like the things I mentioned earlier, getting those things fixed too. You know, if you have blood sugar issues or sleep issues, getting those addressed as well, but generally speaking, most guys within the first, I would say three to four weeks, we’ll start appreciating a benefit.
Speaker 2:
Their mind must be psychological because I get my shot every other Friday. And I feel amazing like immediately. So that’s obviously in my head, but I do have an incredible dream that night, every time. Yeah.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. That’s pretty common actually. Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So if I feel I’m like in charge of the world that night, when I get that shot.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. You have vivid dreams happen when your testosterone level gets elevated.
Speaker 2:
Oh, okay. Good to know. I was just excited that it happened to me. Um, and it’s not very, it’s not really well known, but we have an, a plan called the Arman’s wellness plan, like our concierge type program for patients that might not have insurance or who even do have insurance. And they want more of a concierge approach or a more high touch approach. Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So that plan is really designed for, uh, yeah. Guys without insurance or, uh, even, uh, guys that live out of the local area, but within the state of Texas, because, uh, you have to be in Texas due to licensing issues, but it allows a easy way to budget for your treatment. Healthcare obviously is expensive when you don’t have insurance paying cash. Right. Um, and you can kind of get nickeled and dimed with lab work fees and office, visit fees and prescriptions and all that kind of stuff. So we set up a program where we could just offer a, a one monthly flat rate fee covers, uh, all your medication, all your office visits, lab work, you know, whatever it takes to get you where you need to be. Uh, we charge $150 a month, which I think is very reasonable for all those services.
Speaker 2:
That’s too cheap. We need to raise that person because I know some other clubs in town. We won’t, I was kidding. Yeah. But other places in town that have those high or low T club kind of fees, they’re paying a lot. Yeah.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. They are. And really all they’re getting is just the privilege of coming in once a week to get a shot. Right. Kind of missing out on, they have to come in and we don’t, you know, we, we, we can teach you how to do your own injections. You can come in and get injections. We do pellet therapy, we do cream therapy. So whichever way you want to do it, uh, we can facilitate it. Okay.
Speaker 2:
I wanted to talk about that too quickly. We had a patient send in a question and said, um, he was getting testosterone with his topical. So he said he was giving him some emotional issues and he didn’t really care for how he felt. And then, uh, tell us more about the other options like injections. And I know there’s a nails nasal option. Are there any weird side effects that piece, some people might experience with one versus the other?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Like with a lot of other medications, some methods may work better for one individual and not for the other, the topicals, you know, common side effects we see with those are usually skin reactions. Like guys will get, uh, like redness irritation at the site of the application. Where do they apply it typically? Um, their balls. No, I’m just kidding.
Speaker 2:
That makes sense.
Speaker 3:
Most guys think that, uh, no, it’s usually chest shoulders back. I mean, I mean, just kind of the broad Skinner, usually something that’s covered by clothing thighs, but yeah. Injections are another option. Like I said, we do them at home or you can come in the office and get them done, but it’s really just a, everybody’s different. Like what, what, what one method might be work really well for? You may not be the best for the other guy. Right.
Speaker 2:
Because some people cannot give themselves an injection. They just refuse. They come in and they’re in and out and it’s really quite cool.
Speaker 3:
So it’s nice that we have options.
Speaker 2:
What about pellets? I know a lot of patients really prefer the pellets. Tell, tell us about the pellet, how long it takes to insert the pellet. How big is the incision? What’s the benefit of for a pellet?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, the pellets are great. I mean the two main benefits of the pellets is convenience and consistency. So they will keep your level nice and steady. Whereas the other applications could you do kind of get a fluctuations in your testosterone levels. Um, and the, uh, simplicity of it, we bring you in, it takes about 15 minutes to make a little tiny incision, put the pellets in, um, and they last for about six months and keep your level nice and steady. There’s no stitches. We just put a bandaid on it, heals in a few days and you’re good to go. So it’s a really nice option for people that just want to get in and out simplest thing. We see twice a year, get it done and, uh, move on.
Speaker 2:
Why wouldn’t people want to do that. So it’s kind of amazing now.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. I mean, it’s a little pricier option than the other methods. So for most men, once they’ve established that being on the testosterone treatment is something that they want to do longterm. They generally are seeking, okay, this is something I want to do. So what’s the easiest way for me to do this. What’s the most convenient way for me to do this. Um, I also see injection fatigue a lot, guys just get tired of doing injections, you know, turn into kind of a pin cushion, 52 shots a year. So, uh, yeah. So then they just kinda wanna, you know, try something easier and, um, uh, and again that the consistency where it kind of, you, you lose those sort of fluctuations, right. And your level, um, is, is a big plus.
Speaker 2:
And for the guys that are listening to this, we also treat women. Yeah. Dustin does a lot of pellets for women. Yeah. And yeah, they are the same. Is it every three months
Speaker 3:
They do every three to four months. Uh, great results though, with women. Yeah. Maybe I should switch. Yeah. I like my injection dreams.
Speaker 2:
So if you’re a patient of ours, Kevin, and you might meet with Dustin, um, chances are, you’re going to hear this podcast before you meet with Dustin. If it were one of our patients or new patients, but tell your wife about it. She probably needs some hormones too.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. It’s nice. If you have both partners on the same page, right. I never thought about that. If that’s true.
Speaker 2:
That helps the marriage. Yeah. So anyway, if you want to get in touch with us or make an appointment to see Dustin, our number is (512) 238-0762. Our website, where you can also see Dustin and his handsome face is farmer men’s health.com. You can send us questions to Armour men’s health@gmail.com. And you can also search for this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks so much, Dustin. I appreciate it. Absolutely
Speaker 1:
Armor men’s health power. We’ll be right back. If you have questions for dr. Mystery, email him at Armour men’s health, ed gmail.com.