New Registering Members - forum guidelines

[tola57]

Hi New to FT, Hope I'm in right place.
I'm from UK retired 68yrs had ED for around 10yrs. over this time I've had all the treatments you have all mentioned.from tablets to injections, which I'm on at moment.
In terms of penile implants I'm at the start via the NHS. I'm currently waiting for my first appointment to see Urologist but not until April 2026 which seems like a lifetime away.
Can I ask if any Brits are waiting like me how long they waited, my appointment is at James Cooke Hospital Middlesbrough Cleveland
Pleased there's this forum to help and support
Tola

[Martin6469]

Welcome Tola - but post your comments in the "Implants" topic and you'll get more replies.

[OlemanMike]

72 yr old male. Had coloplast titan implanted 3 months ago after exhausting all other ED treatments. Recovery was more difficult than I had expected but thanks to this forum I better understand i am right about in the middle of other's experiences. Restarted sexual activity after 8 weeks. Too much pain and swelling before. Main surprise is the residual stiffness and size when deflated... gone from a grower to a shower! But not always comfortable in clothing. Getting better at deflating and sex, both intercourse and masterbation. Pain gone, but some numbness that I hope improves with time. Had to learn erection problem solved doesn't mean immediate arousal. We are getting better.

[LGXDownunder]

72 yr old male. Had coloplast titan implanted 3 months ago after exhausting all other ED treatments. Recovery was more difficult than I had expected but thanks to this forum I better understand i am right about in the middle of other's experiences. Restarted sexual activity after 8 weeks. Too much pain and swelling before. Main surprise is the residual stiffness and size when deflated... gone from a grower to a shower! But not always comfortable in clothing. Getting better at deflating and sex, both intercourse and masterbation. Pain gone, but some numbness that I hope improves with time. Had to learn erection problem solved doesn't mean immediate arousal. We are getting better.

Welcome to the bionic brotherhood OlemanMike . We are similar in age and I had my implant done nearly 11 months ago.
Yes your recovery sounds typical of many and somewhat similar to mine. I also started back having sex at 8 weeks but found it quite painful for the first 3 or 4 weeks. Now it's great and I look forward to it every time. Also have residual engorgement after deflation, which I actually don't mind.
I have an AMS LGX but I think all the implants tend to retain a "base level" of saline. Try squeezing it after deflation. Sometimes that helps reduce the size/angle if concealment is a concern. But I love my new "shower" flaccid and don't usually bother. I also still have some residual numbness at the base of my shaft underneath. Mine has improved over time and hasn't been a problem for sensation/orgasm as the most sensitive parts were not affected.
Arousal also took time for me due to the initial discomfort, but I'm now as horny as ever . Patience I think is the key as we all heal at different rates.

p.s. It would be worth posting in the Implants forum as you will get more replies there, and it helps other guys to know about your journey. I think this topic is only related to signing up.

Also if you fill out your signature block it helps know about your situation. See mine as an example.

[OlemanMike]

Thank you LGXdownunder for the feedback and encouragement. A rough road initially but definitely getting better!

[Benjamin]

Hi everyone. I’m new here and decided to post because I’m dealing with something that’s hard to talk about openly. I often have very frequent urges to urinate and sometimes small bladder leaks. On the outside my life looks normal — work, social life, dating — but in the background I’m constantly thinking about where the nearest restroom is.

It has started to affect normal situations like meeting people or going out. I sometimes catch myself choosing places only if I know there’s a bathroom nearby, or worrying that I might need to go again very soon. It makes it difficult to relax and enjoy the moment.

I’ve tried different things — adjusting fluid intake, exercises, pelvic floor training, reading advice online. Some things help a bit, but the issue keeps coming back.

I’m curious if anyone here has experienced something similar — frequent urges, feeling like the bladder fills quickly, or occasional leaks. If anything actually helped you, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.

[LGXDownunder]

Hi everyone. I’m new here and decided to post because I’m dealing with something that’s hard to talk about openly. I often have very frequent urges to urinate and sometimes small bladder leaks. On the outside my life looks normal — work, social life, dating — but in the background I’m constantly thinking about where the nearest restroom is.

It has started to affect normal situations like meeting people or going out. I sometimes catch myself choosing places only if I know there’s a bathroom nearby, or worrying that I might need to go again very soon. It makes it difficult to relax and enjoy the moment.

I’ve tried different things — adjusting fluid intake, exercises, pelvic floor training, reading advice online. Some things help a bit, but the issue keeps coming back.

I’m curious if anyone here has experienced something similar — frequent urges, feeling like the bladder fills quickly, or occasional leaks. If anything actually helped you, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.

Hi Benjamin,
Welcome to the forum. The urge incontinence that you describe is a common urological problem but the causes can vary.
Yes I can attest that it can have an enormous negative effect on your quality of life.

I had significant urinary continence issues after having a prostatectomy in 2022, including that one. In my case it was a combination of nerve and other trauma from the (nerve sparing) procedure, plus what was eventually diagnosed as a "stiff bladder". The bladder only partially fills before a lack of elasticity triggers a strong and immediate urge to take a piss. And yes it can also trigger leakage. I tried every conservative solution known to man as well. Ultimately I had a procedure to inject Botox into the wall of the bladder at various points, which relaxes it and relieves the urge. That worked and I've been pretty much 100% continent since. It isn't meant to be a permanent solution but so far mine is still OK after more than 18 months.

To get to the point of having that done I went through a series of other assessments and treatments with a urologist specializing in male incontinence. I'll list them below:
1 After initial consult kept a daily bladder diary for 2 weeks to measure leakage and revisited uro.
I had to wear pads daily for this and measure their unused dry weight vs weight after 24 hours.
Bought a very sensitive small scientific scale for this, which is accurate to multiple decimal places.
2 Prescribed medication for overactive bladder. That didn't work for me, but it often does and may be worth trying.
3 Underwent urodynamics testing, which measures how full your bladder gets before you have to pee. Stiff bladder diagnosed.
4 Bladder Botox procedure performed under general anaesthetic (injected via cystoscopy through urethra).
5 Kept a further daily bladder diary before the post op follow up consult with uro.

Mine was considered a particularly difficult case and initially I still had issues post op. But the Botox has a progressive effect, and a few months later I was basically dry and without the sudden urges.

My thoughts are to find a urologist who focuses on treating male continence problems. It may well be that simply taking meds for overactive bladder could fix it. But can you please tell us more about yourself and fill out the signature block in your profile, including age, as it makes a difference as to what any of us might suggest. This is an ED site and you don't mention whether you also have ED? I'm assuming you do otherwise you wouldn't be here. And there can sometimes be an overlap with symptoms especially if you have, or had, prostate cancer and any treatment for it.

[Benjamin]

Thank you for the reply and for sharing your experience.

Yes, you are right — I actually found this forum because of erection problems. The bladder issue is something that has been bothering me a lot recently, but the erection problems started earlier and were one of the reasons I began searching for information and ended up here.

For the last year or so I’ve noticed that my erections are much less reliable than they used to be. Sometimes everything works normally, but other times it’s difficult to maintain an erection long enough during intimacy. What makes it even more frustrating is that the problem seems inconsistent — some days everything feels normal and other days it doesn’t.

Because of this unpredictability I started worrying more about sexual situations, which probably makes things even worse. It creates a kind of cycle where the anxiety about performance seems to interfere with the erection itself.

I have tried a few things on my own — improving sleep, exercising more regularly, reducing caffeine, and reading about pelvic floor exercises. Some of these things seem to help a little, but I still feel like I haven’t really found a clear solution yet.

I haven’t had prostate cancer or prostate surgery, but I’m starting to wonder if the bladder symptoms and erection problems might somehow be related, or if stress and pelvic floor tension could be contributing to both.

I will add my age to my profile as you suggested. And if anyone here has experienced both urinary urgency and erection difficulties together, I would really appreciate hearing about your experience or anything that helped you manage it.

Thank you again for the welcome and for the detailed explanation.