UK based 38 yo Male

[Way out west]

Hi All,
I thought I would come on here and introduce myself. I'm a very active and generally pretty healthy 38-year-old UK based male, but have had erection problems pretty much since I was in my late teens. Back then, I could generally rely on getting decent erections, but as I entered my mid-20s, I resorted to taking various generic forms of viagra to give me a confidence boost in the bedroom. This meant that generally, sex was a planned event, rather than completely spontaneous.

During my 20s, I did use quite a bit of porn and only in my 30s did I start using it a bit less. I've completely given it up, as I'm sure that it's not good for me in the slightest.

I was in an 11-year long relationship, which sadly ended earlier this year, but in the last 2 years of that relationship, there was no intimacy. I did start to use arginine regularly, and funnily enough, had some out of date stuff, that seemed to work amazingly well at helping with erections, but once that ran out, that was the end of it and I've not found any supplements to work that well since (and I've tried most!).

Fast forward, I'm now back in a relationship, but am trialling various ED meds (generic Cialis and Viagra), with quite mixed results, which seem to differ from brand to brand, which is pretty frustrating.

I have had a couple of testosterone tests done recently, one came back showing quite low levels, the more comprehensive test came back showing good levels of everything that was tested. I'm going to get one last test done later this month, which should confirm whether one of the previous tests was an anomoly. Must admit that I'm at a bit of a loss with it all, as I'm not sure what to do next.

My nocturnal erections (which I do get) and to an extent, my erections with ed meds don't feel as strong as they could do.

My questions are:

1) I've been testing my nitric oxide levels, using saliva strips, and unless I take something, they come back showing fairly low levels. Could this make a big difference? I'm eating all the stuff I should be, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference, as well as arginine and citrulline supplements.
2) Could I have a venous leak and how can I tell?
3) Could stress levels have much of an impact? I've got a cortisol home-test kit, that I'll use tomorrow.
4) Could my pelvic floor muscles be particularly weak, as I sometimes feel that my weak erections can be made slightly firmer by clenching those muscles? If the muscle was generally much stronger, could it give stronger erections?

[Dirk Winston]

Your situation sounds fairly similar to mine in many ways. What is arginine I have never heard of it. I would be curious to hear the responses to your questions as your ED seems to resemble mine in many ways.

Dirk

[Way out west]

Hi Dirk,
L-arginine is also the immediate precursor of nitric oxide -- an important molecule for dilating the blood vessels and improving blood flow. ... Because nitric oxide is essential for developing an erection, L-arginine is viewed as a potential non-pharmaceutical treatment for ED. Citrulline is supposedly another (and potentially better option.

[Dirk Winston]

Ahh yes the L makes all the difference. I did try both of those, you can buy them at the vitamin section or the health food store. Had mixed results at best but was also trying other supplements Ashwiganda to name a few, as I said mixed results from these and I felt they were not the complete answer for me. I did some research on them at the time on line and from some of what I found the levels necessary to make a noticeable difference for ED were so high that it created nausea and vomiting in the test subjects but this was information I found on line so who knows how reliable it was.

Dirk

[Way out west]

I sometimes wonder whether the quality of these supplements is quite low, but there seems to not be any real way of telling.

[544kenmatt]

The quality and potency of these products have little or no regulation in the US. Look for products that have been certified by the USP. Even prescription drugs are mostly manufactured overseas and are subject to less than stringent oversight. One recent example is the Zantac/ranitidine recall. Not sure that the UK has in place to ensure quality.

[Way out west]

Thanks, yep, I'm not sure whether there is a similar certification in the UK.