A man who was diagnosed with a rare syndrome has shared how he knew something was wrong with his body.
During conception, we are all delegated our own set of chromosome DNA compositions which determines whether we will be biologically a man or a woman.
However, some people will experience differences and depletions in their makeup, which can cause things like Down syndrome, Jacob’s syndrome, or Edwards syndrome.
Others will be born with just one chromosome, while others (like some of the above) will have three.
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For Seamus, he only realized his additional chromosome when it came down to something sexual, leading him to be diagnosed with a condition that impacts one in every 500 to 1,000 men in the world.
Seamus spoke with ABC to describe the moment he found out.
“So I was born with an extra chromosome. I went to the doctor and I was feeling tired and I was wondering: ‘What's going on? Why do I feel like this?’ Maybe you're depressed, maybe you’re overworked.”
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However, he never could have imagined the truth.
At 31, Seamus was told he was born with an extra X chromosome, which meant he had 47, XXY or Klinefelter syndrome.
The 34-year-old explained that his condition means that he has low testosterone, the male hormone which runs his reproductive health, mood, energy, and libido.
Describing it as presenting in males as challenges such as learning difficulties and being tired’, he noted that despite misconceptions, 47, XXY does not make a man more ‘feminine’.
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However, symptoms of the condition can be easy to sweep under the rug until a certain point in life.
Seamus explained: “Most people don't get diagnosed until their late twenties or early thirties, when they're trying to have a kid, for example.”
This is because Seamus, and men like him, can’t produce sperm and they struggle sexually.
Speaking on how he knew he was different, he said: “I knew I had physical differences when I was 23, when I was sexually active and meeting other people and I knew I looked different.”
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He said other men would ask him why his testes are smaller than what’s considered normal size.
Describing them as ‘kind of like a grape size’, he said this is why 47,XXY sufferers can’t have kids.
Sharing how a big problem with the extra chromosome is erectile dysfunction, Seamus shared he felt ‘less of a man’ when he couldn’t ‘get it up’.
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After three years of having this dysfunction, he said he felt ‘ashamed, embarrassed’ and his ‘energy levels would be down’.
He’d be so tired, and always hungry, and left without answers as to why he felt this way. But after a meeting with an endocrinologist, he was given the answer within ten minutes.
The diagnoses felt like he’d suffered a close death, and the news that he wouldn’t be able to have children was a blow to him. But he had people around him to pull him out of his rut.
“Thank God to my mum, she was trying to get me out of that hole that I was in,” he said. “She comes from a medical background and so she said, look you can go on testosterone, there's a chance you can have kids.”
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After the hopeful news, he said he managed to find a specialist in his condition. From there, he was told he could be treated via testosterone injections every 12 weeks.
Now, he wants other men to have their ‘crown jewels’ checked by a medical professional so they can get the help they need quicker.
Topics: Health, Sex and Relationships
Britt Jones