Implant Questions and Concerns

[hal9202]

Hello all!

I am 75 yrs old with ED, had a stroke, tried pills, vac device, rings, Trimix and Quadmix, TRT, pretty much everything except muse (which I understand the injections trump anyway), and I am now very seriously considering an implant. I have gotten a medical clearance from my cardiologist and waiting now to hear back from Dr Eid's office to hopefully schedule a date to do this in early January. I have many questions, some of which have been partially answered in Dr Eid's videos and posts in this extremely helpful forum, and I have a Zoom talk scheduled with Dr Eid Nov 12 to hopefully help me finalize my decision. Meanwhile, I would be grateful for any more definitive answers or comments any of you can offer me to the following questions/concerns.

Currently, my sex life with my wife is extremely enjoyable while also extremely frustrating. Essentially, I can get reasonably hard if I'm lying on my back and she has her leg against me, but if I try to move into most any position to try to penetrate, it fizzles. So most of the time these days I settle on just masturbating with her. I have no problem reaching orgasm even if I'm not hard, and I find our activities very gratifying, though obviously I sorely miss being able to have a full, penetrative sex life. The very few times in the last year or so when trying to penetrate that I succeeded in getting inside, I couldn't maintain it, couldn't come inside her, and usually gave up and finished outside. Actually, that's how I brought on my stroke- trying extra hard to finish inside her- hence these days I'm reluctant to press things too far and choose to withdraw early rather than risk another stroke. And let me add- my wife has some issues of her own making penetrative sex a mixed blessing for her, so besides obviously using the implant inflated when we both feel eager for it, we also want at times to be able to have unpenetrative sex as we now enjoy. So, with the brutal understanding that if I have the implant there's no turning back and I "may not be able" to have a natural erection ever again, I have these 2 questions-

-Would an implant possibly keep me from being able to enjoy the type of unpenetrative sex I describe above (without inflating the implant)? Would I still be able to be naturally aroused (excited, though not hard) and have gratifying orgasms as I can now?

-And, using the implant, inflated, might I still have the problem of not being able to finish inside? I gather I would stay hard no matter what, but would I be able to feel the increasingly pleasurable (natural) engorgement like I've had in the past that leads, drives, one on to an exciting, full finish? What I don't fully understand is- does the implant's expansion (when inflated) replace the natural engorgement process or supplement it, work in synergy with it? Related to this question, some of the interventions I have tried- pills, rings, and injections - were initially promising but then often made things worse, more difficult than using nothing. My worry is that the implant might have a similar effect- can an implant (inflated) possibly make things worse, more difficult to enjoy penetrative sex?

And several other questions-

-I'm willing to take a small risk, but I see a number of posts related to mechanical failure of the device and surgeries needing to be redone, sometimes numerous times. How common is this? With Dr Eid? Obviously, it sounds like enough trauma having the "procedure" done, along with the concomitant recovery, even once!

-In looking at pics and videos of implant results, I see the penis looking considerably larger flaccid than I'm comfortable with, especially with the recommendation to "wear" your penis in an upward position when flaccid. I teach teenagers, and having what appears to be a hard on could be very awkward. Any suggestions/thoughts how to deal with this?

-I see a lot of statements as to the pros and cons of the AMS vs the Titan. Given all my above questions and concerns, do any of you definitively recommend one of these over the other for me?

I may have more questions later, but enough for now! I would be grateful for any comments or thoughts any of you might have on my questions and concerns above. Thank you!!

[Lost Sheep]

(edited for brevity and focus)
-In looking at pics and videos of implant results, I see the penis looking considerably larger flaccid than I'm comfortable with, especially with the recommendation to "wear" your penis in an upward position when flaccid. I teach teenagers, and having what appears to be a hard on could be very awkward. Any suggestions/thoughts how to deal with this?

-I see a lot of statements as to the pros and cons of the AMS vs the Titan. Given all my above questions and concerns, do any of you definitively recommend one of these over the other for me?

I will answer just one of your questions for right now. The easiest one, I think.

The AMS LGX will give you a larger flaccid than you have now, but the AMS CX and Coloplast Titan will give you even larger flaccid than the LGX. They should all give you the same size erect penis, regardless. if conceal ability quit, and flaccid is the criteria of choice. The titan will be the leafs concealable. The Coloplast devices are made of a different material than the AMS devices. The AMS devices’ material is a flexible cloth coated with silicone. The tighten is of a proprietary plastic, stiffer than the AMS’ cloth. The titan is also made a larger diameter than the AMS devices.

having said all that, I recommend discussing it with your surgeon, so that the size and condition of your penis will dictate which device is best for you. Then, deal with concealment later.

[HikerMan]

Hello all!

I am 75 yrs old with ED, had a stroke, tried pills, vac device, rings, Trimix and Quadmix, TRT, pretty much everything except muse (which I understand the injections trump anyway), and I am now very seriously considering an implant. I have gotten a medical clearance from my cardiologist and waiting now to hear back from Dr Eid's office to hopefully schedule a date to do this in early January. I have many questions, some of which have been partially answered in Dr Eid's videos and posts in this extremely helpful forum, and I have a Zoom talk scheduled with Dr Eid Nov 12 to hopefully help me finalize my decision. Meanwhile, I would be grateful for any more definitive answers or comments any of you can offer me to the following questions/concerns.

Currently, my sex life with my wife is extremely enjoyable while also extremely frustrating. Essentially, I can get reasonably hard if I'm lying on my back and she has her leg against me, but if I try to move into most any position to try to penetrate, it fizzles. So most of the time these days I settle on just masturbating with her. I have no problem reaching orgasm even if I'm not hard, and I find our activities very gratifying, though obviously I sorely miss being able to have a full, penetrative sex life. The very few times in the last year or so when trying to penetrate that I succeeded in getting inside, I couldn't maintain it, couldn't come inside her, and usually gave up and finished outside. Actually, that's how I brought on my stroke- trying extra hard to finish inside her- hence these days I'm reluctant to press things too far and choose to withdraw early rather than risk another stroke. And let me add- my wife has some issues of her own making penetrative sex a mixed blessing for her, so besides obviously using the implant inflated when we both feel eager for it, we also want at times to be able to have unpenetrative sex as we now enjoy. So, with the brutal understanding that if I have the implant there's no turning back and I "may not be able" to have a natural erection ever again, I have these 2 questions-

-Would an implant possibly keep me from being able to enjoy the type of unpenetrative sex I describe above (without inflating the implant)? Would I still be able to be naturally aroused (excited, though not hard) and have gratifying orgasms as I can now?

-And, using the implant, inflated, might I still have the problem of not being able to finish inside? I gather I would stay hard no matter what, but would I be able to feel the increasingly pleasurable (natural) engorgement like I've had in the past that leads, drives, one on to an exciting, full finish? What I don't fully understand is- does the implant's expansion (when inflated) replace the natural engorgement process or supplement it, work in synergy with it? Related to this question, some of the interventions I have tried- pills, rings, and injections - were initially promising but then often made things worse, more difficult than using nothing. My worry is that the implant might have a similar effect- can an implant (inflated) possibly make things worse, more difficult to enjoy penetrative sex?

And several other questions-

-I'm willing to take a small risk, but I see a number of posts related to mechanical failure of the device and surgeries needing to be redone, sometimes numerous times. How common is this? With Dr Eid? Obviously, it sounds like enough trauma having the "procedure" done, along with the concomitant recovery, even once!

-In looking at pics and videos of implant results, I see the penis looking considerably larger flaccid than I'm comfortable with, especially with the recommendation to "wear" your penis in an upward position when flaccid. I teach teenagers, and having what appears to be a hard on could be very awkward. Any suggestions/thoughts how to deal with this?

-I see a lot of statements as to the pros and cons of the AMS vs the Titan. Given all my above questions and concerns, do any of you definitively recommend one of these over the other for me?

I may have more questions later, but enough for now! I would be grateful for any comments or thoughts any of you might have on my questions and concerns above. Thank you!!

"Would an implant possibly keep me from being able to enjoy the type of unpenetrative sex I describe above (without inflating the implant)? Would I still be able to be naturally aroused (excited, though not hard) and have gratifying orgasms as I can now?"

--Yes, remember... once those cylinders are implanted they're in there permanently, which means you will have what looks like a semi-chubby at all times. This works great coming out of a cold swimming pool because you don't shrink down at all.
So, if you wanted to do a "solo project" to completion, it could be done with no inflation whatsoever. Arousal is a little different, I can still feel blood rushing down to my genitals and to some degree there IS some engorgement(10%)
Your desire and libido remain the same, and orgasm is EXACTLY as it was before. I have No complaints on this issue.
In fact, sometimes I feel my orgasms are more intense and powerful and I dont have a prostate anymore.
Go figure.

"And, using the implant, inflated, might I still have the problem of not being able to finish inside?"

..No, there should be no problem with finishing inside. It will feel the same.

"Does the implant's expansion (when inflated) replace the natural engorgement process or supplement it, work in synergy with it?"

..In my case, it supplements it

"Can an implant (inflated) possibly make things worse, more difficult to enjoy penetrative sex?"

....No, not at all. In fact, I'm better now at 57 than I was at 18.

"But I see a number of posts related to mechanical failure of the device and surgeries needing to be redone, sometimes numerous times. How common is this?"

.....My Doctor made it very clear to me the Coloplast and the AMS systems both have about a 10 year life span with regular use.

"I see the penis looking considerably larger flaccid than I'm comfortable with, especially with the recommendation to "wear" your penis in an upward position when flaccid."

....Unless your packing John Holmes size, I really don't see an issue. Are you bigger flaccid? Yes. But, Not dramatically bigger.

"I see a lot of statements as to the pros and cons of the AMS vs the Titan. Given all my above questions and concerns, do any of you definitively recommend one of these over the other for me?"

....I'm going to say something a little edgy in here, Brace for impact.
Before my implant I visited 4 different Doctors who specialize in this.
ALL of them said the same thing, Follow the money and you will find out why some High volume Doctors ONLY use one system or the other. Both systems have their positives and negatives. Its almost like choosing between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini.
It will ultimately be your call. You Tube has videos showing these Pro's and Con's.
Research carefully.

I hope this helps.
I have no regrets whatsoever and I would do this again in a split second.
There is NOTHING like confidence in the bedroom.

Keep us posted, brother.
Best wishes.

[ThailandBound]

I’ll answer the first two, based on my experience. I am 10+ months postop now. Titan. 5 1/2” erect.

1. YES! You’ll be able to enjoy mutual masturbation very comfortably and enjoyable. My girlfriend and i have sex in literally every position you can imagine, but one of our favorites is to lay side-by-side comfortably, kissing her with her head cradled under one arm, while we mutually masturbate to orgasm. No sweat my friend.

2. Orgasm whilst inside her. Well, you should be able to. Mileage varies on this one with the vast majority of guys reporting this happens for them. During my recovery i was numb on my scrotum and on the bottom 1/3 of my shaft for about 5 months with gradual and incremental improvement over time.

I had first sex penetrative sex at 10 weeks. I visited my girlfriend in Thailand for 3 weeks and we had sex daily. Sometimes twice a day. I would orgasm about 50% of the time. Why?

First. Inflating fully was somewhat uncomfortable. Pressure and soreness in the glans, especially after penetrating her for more than, say, :20-:30 minutes. It would hurt enough i’d have to stop. Other times, when very aroused especially, i could orgasm…but it took awhile. I was aware of the numbness and loss of sensation in the shaft. Fortunately i lost no sensation in the glans, so we focused attention there.

There was an initial period in the earliest days also of my mind feeling like it wasn’t quite connected to my dick like before. The act of pumping vs spontaneous erections. The awareness of the cylinders (especially flaccid). The early loss of sensation as i’ve described. It took awhile to really start feeling “natural”, which it has now. Assisting also mentally was a girlfriend 100% on board with the implant. We incorporate her actually doing the initial pumping as part of our play. But now, all is GREAT again. Be aware it’ll take some time, and this path will require faith in your body’s ability to heal (it will) and patience.

I returned to Thailand and my girl 4 times in the past year. Each time better than the last. Sensitivity fully returned at about 7 months to the point i could feel the tip of her tongue on my scrotum and lower shaft. At this point, i could orgasm almost every time. Sometimes i couldn’t cum because she keeps me pretty satisfied and i simply wasn’t all that horny.

Hope that helps. i’ll answer your other questions when i have a bit more time. The guys here are quite varied in their recovery experience so you are wise to be asking questions and getting broad perspectives.

[hal9202]

Thank you for your responses!

I tried sending a PM to one of you who requested a PM response that I'm not sure went through, seems to be stuck in my outbox (I don't want to say who in case that's why you want to only do PMs). Anyway, my follow up question is- which brand implant do you have?

Thank you, all, this is very helpful, and encouraging!!

[Old Guy]

Thank you for your responses!

I tried sending a PM to one of you who requested a PM response that I'm not sure went through, seems to be stuck in my outbox (I don't want to say who in case that's why you want to only do PMs). Anyway, my follow up question is- which brand implant do you have?

Thank you, all, this is very helpful, and encouraging!!

hal9202- I have the Titan, coming up on 4 years now. It's wonderful. You will be able to have penetrative sex any time you want with the implant since you only go soft when you deflate. Mutual masturbation is also pleasurable since you'll be able to have an erection, which can make the climax come easier. My wife and I have mutual sessions occasionally.
Yes, the flaccid Titan does leave a bulge, especially the first 6-8 months. Ask the doc which is you best choice. Snug underwear may help, some use a jockstrap or spandex type briefs.
Failures are rare, remember many of the posts here are to state issues & problems. Thousands of men are implanted who never say one word about it, much less post to the world. Some guys go through the entire process with little to no pain. Other guys have a rough time of it.
Best of luck moving forward.

[wunhunglo]

Hi,
I don’t think it is fully possible to understand my reply unless you have an implant but here goes.

1) You will not have a natural erection again. If you still have erections sufficient for intercourse you should weigh the pros and cons very carefully. That said, I have sex without pumping up the tubes fully. To be honest, if my glans and shaft didn’t engorge sex would not be enjoyable. Your penis may still engorge and since the tubes are quite rigid for the first six months, you can have sex, maybe even penetration. Remember, your penis with a Titan is always at full length.

2) The shape of your penis will not remain the same; it will become flatter and somewhat oval shaped. This can’t be avoided because the bottom cavernosa, the one with your urethra will not have a tube. And, from my experience, the more I inflate the implant, the more it presses against the bottom cavernosa and flatter my penis becomes.

3) I still take Viagra. Read that again. I still take Viagra so my shaft and glans stays engorged during sex. Pumping up the implant when you are not aroused will give you a cold, rock hard, flat penis.

Now the good news. While I no longer get the compliments about my huge girth, I fuck women until their eyes roll back in their skulls. Yes. Read that again also. I’m very athletic, and now my body can do what my mind envisions. A very lethal combination….the Sperminator if you will. As with all things in life there are no solutions, only trade offs. Learn as much as you can and make an informed decision.

Good luck

[hal9202]

Thanks for your responses.

I'm leaning towards the AMS LGX, that appears to have the smallest flaccid size, but I wonder how big and firm the erections are. I see this statement here- "They should all give you the same size erect penis, regardless." I see many pics/vids from guys with the Titan that have big (inflated) erections, but I only found one vid of a sizeable erection with an AMS. Can any of you vouch for big, strong erections with the AMS or point me to pics or vids with the AMS showing large, firm erections? Thanks!

Talking with Dr Eid tomorrow, of course I'll be discussing this with him...

[wunhunglo]

Personally, I like the huge bulge in my pants. That said, it is painful to fold up my penis when I wear a groin protector. I’m not aware of any other down sides… Btw, Eid is the nicest, most professional, most compassionate doctor I ever met. He saw me multiple times after the surgery and was always available to e-mail or talk. I really was walking around NYC on Day 3 post surgery. You are in great hands, just understand the tradeoffs.

Good luck!