"There's always denial, we don't want to get old," Phillips said. "When you have a good quality of life, you want to preserve it."
A talk with his doctor revealed the real problem was andropause, commonly known as male menopause.
/*Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine*/ says it affects half of all men over age 50, or about 25 million men.
"The men's symptoms, a lot of the times with andropause, it's more of an insidious onset," said hormone expert Dr. Benita Swartout of BodyLogicMD.
In fact, male testosterone levels fade slowly, 1 percent per year after age 40.
That drop in testosterone can mean a maddening lack of sleep and energy, and can translate into a decrease in sex drive and muscle mass.
"There is a little bit of a reluctance if, for no other reason than just embarrassment or shyness, to speak of it," Swartout said.
Swartout said hormone replacement is one solution to boost testosterone.
But doctors at /*Johns Hopkins University*/ said that can also boost red blood cell production in some men.
And there are other side effects.
Any man with a history of prostate cancer can't get the treatment because the added testosterone could actually trigger cancer growth.
Fertility can also be a problem, because a man's body may stop producing testosterone when he's getting it from an outside source, and that change can be permanent.
But for some men going through "man-o-pause," testosterone therapy can make a big impact.
Joel said hormone replacement worked for him.
"There's a total difference," Phillips said. "I feel more like the man I used to be, when I was 25 to 40 (years old)."
Now, the only grind in his morning is that cup of coffee, just the way he likes it.
