By Dr. Kevin Luksus

After acute illness, injuries and follow-up visits for chronic health conditions, here are the three of the top complaints men have when visiting their primary care provider.

Irritability

Among behavioral complaints, this is the most common. Frequently, it is a spouse or co-worker who has prompted the patient to seek medical attention. Irritability is the most common way men present with depression.

Other symptoms associated with depression may include fatigue, sleep problems, change in appetite or weight, low motivation and loss of enjoyment of formerly pleasurable activities.

Fatigue

The most common causes of fatigue in both men and women are lifestyle related, including inadequate sleep, excessive stress, unhealthy diets and lack of exercise.

When men present with fatigue, I often find other health issues, however, likely because men will avoid seeing a practitioner until the fatigue is severe. The causes of fatigue are numerous, making establishing a diagnosis challenging.

Obstructive sleep apnea and depression are two of the most common serious reasons for fatigue. Men, on the other hand, tend to expect a diagnosis of testosterone deficiency, which is actually unlikely to be the sole reason.

Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) has had plenty of media exposure recently, and men are being more direct about bringing up the issue during medical encounters. Nevertheless, it's still embarrassing for guys to come in with this as their sole complaint, so it often gets mentioned as an, "Oh, one more thing, Doc..." during a visit for another reason. If ED has become an issue and it's too awkward to tell the female receptionist that's why you want to be seen, just give them a reason like "health concern" or "medical consult," rather than avoid the encounter.