Advice on ED and possible cause

[RagnaR]

Hi,

New joiner here, first time poster. I'm posting here to see if any of you might have some insight or advice for me regarding my ed situation. Apologies for the long post.

I'm in my early 30s, been suffering from ed ever since I can remember. Although, it got worse over the years I'd say. That's why I have not been very active sexually.

At the beginning it was the usual it is all in your head from the GPs. I did some bloods, I think everything looked normal except my testosterone was around 300ng/dl at 11 am, second test at 8 am came back 360 ng/dl , which I thought was fairly low due to my age and the fact that I am in shape, work out, and eat healthy. But doctors/urologists said it was in the normal range.

I've seen 3 urologists so far. The first did a quick physical check/look, said all looks good, off you go. The second, the same, mentioned if cialis is "somewhat" working, why bother. I mentioned I want to find out the reason, he refered me to another urologist who he said is the only one he is aware of that does an injection test in the country.

That urologist said "the blood is not being kept inside the penis", I mentioned can we do a test to verify that, he said he doesn't recommend it, it would cost 1000 EUR, it is not accurate, and there is nothing to do afterwards anyways.

It really made me feel angry and helpless that I can't even get a proper diagnosis to verify what essentially is a venous leak.

I want to share my symptoms and see if you guys can give me some insight, or if you have experienced the same kind of issues, and if some of these issues are related to ED

- Cialis 10mg help me get an erection (maybe 70-80%), but I still can't maintain it without constant stimulation, goes away faster standing up. other days it has little effect, it varies.
- curvuture to the left, both erect and non erect, i'd say maybe 20-30 degrees.
- Morning wood is not common, weak, disappears when I stand up. But I notice sometimes when I wake up at night that I have it too.
- Easier to get an erection when I first wake up first thing in the morning, unless I've already had morning wood.
- There was an instance where I was able to get and somewhat maintain 70% erection without even using Cialis a few months ago. I noticed that day I had a strong morning wood, and had high libido (uncommon). The next day though, failed.
- I don't know if this is related, I've seen a urologist about this a few years ago, but came back with nothing. I have somewhat of a weak urine flow, and lots of dribble, meaning after I'm done for about 1-2 minutes, every few seconds a drop comes out, which is annoying to wait for. I've tried kegels / reverse kegels, didn't notice an improvement.
- No anxiety, depression, or stress issues. I lead an average life.

I guess what is weighing on me is that I don't know what is the cause of this, is it testosterone, is it a venous leak, is it some muscle issue, or is it something else? is there anything I can do, or might help.

When I first started masturbating, I used to press near the tip when I am about to ejaculat to prevent the semen from coming out and making a mess. Extremely stupid I know! but I was a 13 year old kid who did not know any better. Did that cause this? did I ruin my sexual life forever due to being a kid who did not know any better?

[antelope]

I am certainly not a physician of any kind, so my observations are based solely on my own experience and on the information I have absorbed during ten years of being on Frank Talk. First of all, I do not think that squeezing the tip of your penis to stifle your ejaculations did any damage. I would say that you missed on a good bit of the pleasure of the male climax, however. I would not recommend that going forward. You could probably do some online research and discover if there are any data on specific issue.

Secondly, my T-level was @ 350 at age 60. I got into a fitness regimen, lose 60 pounds, and my Testosterone rose to over 700. For yours to be 300 at your age with no apparent disease or weight problems seems really off.

Finally, your symptoms sound like you may have a venous leak. I know that access to medical treatment is different in the UK, so I don't know how "shopping doctors" works, but I'd recommend that you find a urologist who is interested is solving this. My mantra during my ED journey was "this is not an acceptable outcome". Fortunately, my medical team agreed--internist, cardiologist, and urologist--and we found the solution. For me, it was injections. For you, it may be an implant. All the best.

[Bob1974]

I find that Viagra gives me better erections then Cialis but it has to be taken on an empty stomach. You can still lose an erection even while on these drugs if your mind isn't in the game or you're distracted by aggravating things ie... dog staring at you, wife or mother in law bitching, kids knocking on the door, awkward or uncomfortable positions. Trimix takes the distractions out of the equation for me. Using Trimix I could be distracted, in pain, hanging upside down in an awkward position screwing an ugly fat woman and still having fun with a raging boner. The erection doesn't go away until the medicine wears off. My urologist told me after my first dose of Trimix that it should work no matter what even sitting next to your own mother in church.

[ED2013]

Sounds like venous leak.

[RagnaR]

Thank you for your responses.

@antelope
All doctors i've met dismissed the fact that this level of testosterone is concerning, especially that I work our regularly and have tried all things to increase it naturally with food. I just want to know if this low level is affecting the ED situation, as I have no other low T symptoms. After pressing one urologist, he referred me to an endo ... that was 3.5 months ago and I still did not get an appointments because he only says patients in his public clinic and not private.

Even for private clinics it takes 2 months to get an appointment after a referral. After the last urologist that I was referred to by the 2nd one, who said a doppler would cost 1000 EUR and not worth it. I am thinking maybe I need to look outside of Ireland. In the UK or EU to find someone that can help me diagnose this with certainty or offer alternatives.

Any suggestions for urologists or clinics in the UK or around Europe to check (or even in Ireland)?


I really appreciate your responses.

[Larry10625]

Thank you for your responses.

@antelope
All doctors i've met dismissed the fact that this level of testosterone is concerning, especially that I work our regularly and have tried all things to increase it naturally with food. I just want to know if this low level is affecting the ED situation, as I have no other low T symptoms. After pressing one urologist, he referred me to an endo ... that was 3.5 months ago and I still did not get an appointments because he only says patients in his public clinic and not private.

Even for private clinics it takes 2 months to get an appointment after a referral. After the last urologist that I was referred to by the 2nd one, who said a doppler would cost 1000 EUR and not worth it. I am thinking maybe I need to look outside of Ireland. In the UK or EU to find someone that can help me diagnose this with certainty or offer alternatives.

Any suggestions for urologists or clinics in the UK or around Europe to check (or even in Ireland)?


I really appreciate your responses.

almost non-existent until I started taking testosterone injections.

Larry
My libido was

[cristoph126]

For yours to be 300 at your age with no apparent disease or weight problems seems really off.

Yeah, weight problems sure is a pain in the ass. I have diabetes in addition so I really have to lose it as soon as possible if I want to inject insulin less. I quit smoking and drink less now, also trying to take a walk through the neighborhood at least for an hour. But the problem with quitting smoking is an appetite increase. Portion control is not such a hard thing with appetite suppressors you know. There ain't no rest for the wicked after all.

[Hero83]

Hello
I had many similar problems and I feel as though I can relate to you in some ways. Please know that I am not a medical professional, so what I share here is just my opinion about information I have heard from others or from research articles I found.
I believe I read in one study that testosterone therapy is not beneficial unless you fall below 330? I could be wrong on that. I also think there can be risks associated with testosterone treatment, so I'd recommend looking at the pros and cons if you go that route.
I had a doppler test done in the US by an expert in the field. It ended up costing me a nice amount of money, even with insurance coverage. I thought I had a venous leak, turned out I have insufficient blood flow based on the test results. I was a bit surprised, but ultimately the doctor told me the treatments were the same regardless. It did help to find a doctor that was an expert in the field of sexual medicine. I'm currently taking daily cialis and I take pge1 injections as needed. I found that I had to lower the dose recommended for the pge1 due to the daily cialis, but it's been working well for me.
I've been doing some research on injections and I've been trying to learn about them to minimize risks of scarring and damage from things like priapism. From what I've been told, injections in the long term can lead to scarring and this can complicate an implant in the future, but beyond having been told that by a urologist, I don't know much about it. That is something I'd like to look in to more. I was told that if I got an implant now (at age 35), i'd likely be looking at 4 or 5 revisions in my lifetime. It's something I've been considering, but my insurance won't cover it so it's not really much of an option for me at this point in time.
The only advice I have for you is to keep at it until you are able to find something to your satisfaction. For me, what I am doing now is working, but I'm still constantly anxious about it or worried things will get worse. It's a hard road, at least in my opinion, and I wish you the best of luck. Please feel free to PM me any time.

[Larry10625]

Hello
I had many similar problems and I feel as though I can relate to you in some ways. Please know that I am not a medical professional, so what I share here is just my opinion about information I have heard from others or from research articles I found.
I believe I read in one study that testosterone therapy is not beneficial unless you fall below 330? I could be wrong on that. I also think there can be risks associated with testosterone treatment, so I'd recommend looking at the pros and cons if you go that route.
I had a doppler test done in the US by an expert in the field. It ended up costing me a nice amount of money, even with insurance coverage. I thought I had a venous leak, turned out I have insufficient blood flow based on the test results. I was a bit surprised, but ultimately the doctor told me the treatments were the same regardless. It did help to find a doctor that was an expert in the field of sexual medicine. I'm currently taking daily cialis and I take pge1 injections as needed. I found that I had to lower the dose recommended for the pge1 due to the daily cialis, but it's been working well for me.
I've been doing some research on injections and I've been trying to learn about them to minimize risks of scarring and damage from things like priapism. From what I've been told, injections in the long term can lead to scarring and this can complicate an implant in the future, but beyond having been told that by a urologist, I don't know much about it. That is something I'd like to look in to more. I was told that if I got an implant now (at age 35), i'd likely be looking at 4 or 5 revisions in my lifetime. It's something I've been considering, but my insurance won't cover it so it's not really much of an option for me at this point in time.
The only advice I have for you is to keep at it until you are able to find something to your satisfaction. For me, what I am doing now is working, but I'm still constantly anxious about it or worried things will get worse. It's a hard road, at least in my opinion, and I wish you the best of luck. Please feel free to PM me any time.

I don't agree with the testosterone issue. 330 might be normal but, when my level was "normal" they said that it was normal but on the low side of normal. I basically had no libido. My urologist decided to put me on testosterone therapy to see what would happen. He first prescribed the Androgel jelly. I hated it. It stunk, got all over everything and I smelled like rubbing alcohol all day and, it did NOT help. Then he prescribed the Delatestryl and, my libido came back... Boy oh boy, did my libido ever com back. I just hope my back (and the rest of me) can keep up to my libido.

Larry

[christopherNLB]

Not sure about weak urine flow but everything else sounds like a Venous leak....I have had one all my life.
Try an injection called Invicorp . It has something in it called VIP which somehow keeps the blood from escaping. It feels natural and works a treat. I don't know why I never hear of it mentioned in these forums.