Testosterone replacement clinic open in Fairlawn

by Sheldon Ocker

If you’re feeling sluggish, your energy is low and it takes an effort to lift an object heavier than a can of soup, Theresa Ziebro might have the solution.

She has run Gameday Men’s Health Clinic in Fairlawn since August, in a small office building on Miller Road, just south of West Market Street.

Gameday Men’s Health is a national franchise that began in San Diego. According to Ziebro, the company has 200 locations in the U.S. and is preparing to expand to Canada. Ziebro, a Brecksville native, is co-owner of the Fairlawn franchise with her brother who lives in Cincinnati.

“A lot of what we do is testosterone replacement therapy,” she said. “Essentially, men run on testosterone; women run on, you know, puppy tails, fairy dust and whatever else.”

Estrogen might be part of her future business plans, but for now, Gameday focuses on helping men feel like men.

“As men grow older, they naturally lose testosterone,” Ziebro said.

There also are unnatural reasons associated with culture and lifestyle choices.

“A lot of foods as constructed have phytoestrogens,” she said. “They mimic estrogen in a man’s body. That’s not good. A man should not have too much estrogen. Also, women on birth control excrete estrogen into the water supply. Not all of it is removed. So younger men are losing testosterone faster.”

Many men become less active as they get older, which is another contributing factor to testosterone loss.

“We live a very sedentary lifestyle,” Ziebro said. “You build testosterone by calling on your body to build it for you.”

Or by calling Gameday Men’s Health Clinic. Ziebro is assisted by a nurse practitioner and a clinician on site, and treatment procedures are overseen by a physician.

“We have a lab on site, so the first thing a gentleman does when he comes in is get his blood drawn,” she said. “We find the testosterone number and his prostate-specific antigen [level].”

The clinician recommends a plan if testosterone is low. Usually, that means the client receives testosterone injections over a specified time period. Some men self-inject at home, others opt to do it at the clinic.

Restoring testosterone isn’t just for men who want to build muscle in the gym.

“It helps them if they want to do that,” Ziebro said, “but they might just want to have an elevated mood and a better libido.”

The clinic also has at least two kinds of treatments for erectile dysfunction, including vitamin therapy and peptides, “which are an up-and-coming therapeutic for health, not just for men,” she said. “For example, Ozempic is considered a peptide.”

Ziebro recounted the story of a client who “felt depressed, sluggish and purposeless. He just didn’t feel in the pink,” she said.

After receiving testosterone injections for four to five weeks, “There was like a shine in his life,” Ziebro said.

Her client list spans virtually every adult age group, which surprised Ziebro.

“I thought before we opened that it would be like men 50-70,” she said. ”It’s not. It’s from the 20s all the way up through the 70s.” ∞

Main photo: Business owner Theresa Ziebro has operated the clinic since August. Photo by Sheldon Ocker.