Has anyone opted for an implant without FULL erectile dysfunction?
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:36 am
Dear FrankTalk members,
First of all, this is my first post but I have been reading a lot on this forum since summer 2022. I want to thank you all for you wisdom and all the good advices and feedback you have provided, this has been immensely useful.
I am 29 year old and have suffered from ED for the past 14 years. Several episodes of untreated priapism at the age of 15 have damaged my erectile tissues, leaving me unable to have sex without PDE5 pills (Cialis and/or Viagra), but without completely removing my ability to hold some kind of erection (more on that later). I very rarely have nocturnal and morning erections, and my spontaneous erections have simply vanished since I am 15 years old. Needless to say, this condition has been extremely hard for me and has deeply affected my emotional development, my self-confidence, as well as my general outlook on life. As this accident happened before I lost my virginity, my first sexual encounters have essentially been failures, which has been a source of trauma and made me miss many opportunities to get intimate with countless sexy and cool women, something that still haunts me this day (because this process continues).
Then, around the age of 20, I discovered Viagra, and a couple of years later, Cialis. I am extremely grateful that these medications exist, as I would have never been able to have any sort of penetrative sex without them. Nonetheless, although they worked great for a while (though they never were fully reliable, depending on alcohol consumption, how much I had eaten, my stress level etc.), their effect has, as experienced by many of you, declined over the years, to the point where most of my previous sexual attempts were complete failures (from a penetrative perspective let's say). Either I have built a medical resistance to them, or my organic erectile function has diminished, which makes perfect sense as we get older (though I am only 29 years old). Between August 2022 and around July 2023, I was in a relationship with a girl, with whom I shared my terrible secret (it was the first time I did so). She was very compassionate, and said that the fact that I had to take medicine to correct my ED was not an issue to her at all. I think that sex was somewhere between okay to good, as I managed to make her orgasm most of the time, even though she did not like oral sex at all, which, as you can imagine, is not ideal for someone with ED like me. However, this came at the cost of taking very large doses of Viagra and/or Cialis (usually more than the prescribed limit of 100mg (Viagra) / 20g (Cialis)), which came with nasty side effects: massive headaches, sometimes blurry vision, a general discomfort in the digestive system, acid reflux, a red and swollen face, high body temperature (girls always ask me why my body is burning lol), and lastly, stuffy nose, which made me snore like a truck and would often wake her up. Still, even with generous doses, I would often lose my erection while inside her, or while changing position.
So even though I could have "decent sex" (though my standard may be low, as I never had a normal sex life given how young I was when my problems started), the burden associated with the whole planning and the very tangible side effects of Viagra/Cialis was just too much. In the end, we broke but for reasons other than my ED (we were not very compatible, she moved to a new city for work and she clearly had attachment issues which made her reluctant to be in a serious relationship). Since then, I had two sexual encounters were I could not hold an erection sufficiently long to put a condom on (let alone penetrate).
I have thus contemplated the idea of getting an implant, which both of the urologists that I follow also agree would be a very good solution for me, at least in the medium term. I have never tried injections, and will consult my urologist in 10 days to do so under his supervision, but I already know that this will not be a long-lasting solution, and that it will not solve the damage ED has caused to my self-confidence and my ability to be a good lover. Even assuming injections work great (and would as such replace the effect pills have had for almost ten years for me), there are always the issues of:
i) the complete lack of spontaneity (having to hide in the toilets to inject yourself in the penis, having to estimate when and if you will have sex, which is much harder when you are not in a relationship like me),
ii) the risk of under-dosing (no erection) or over-dosing (priapism, I have been there and trust me, it is not fun),
iii) the fact that it last only a couple of hours, that you have to wait at least 24h to use it again if I understand, and that injections should not be used everyday?
iv) the potential damage caused by repeated injections, which according to my urologist, can make it harder to get an implant later in life.
On the other hand, I am concerned of my young age if I go for the implant route, given the number of revisions I will statistically have to go through in my life. The simple idea of having an implant which ceases to function, while I still have a residual erectile capacity which allows me to have sex (however shitty this sex is, both for me and my partner), is daunting. I think that I will see things clearer once I try the injections, but I am leaning towards an implant (Titan probably).
My questions to you are:
1) Has any of you been in my situation, of having partial ED (though quite severe), and decided to get the implant?
2) For the others, in general, what would you do?
Thank you in advance,
Hope84
First of all, this is my first post but I have been reading a lot on this forum since summer 2022. I want to thank you all for you wisdom and all the good advices and feedback you have provided, this has been immensely useful.
I am 29 year old and have suffered from ED for the past 14 years. Several episodes of untreated priapism at the age of 15 have damaged my erectile tissues, leaving me unable to have sex without PDE5 pills (Cialis and/or Viagra), but without completely removing my ability to hold some kind of erection (more on that later). I very rarely have nocturnal and morning erections, and my spontaneous erections have simply vanished since I am 15 years old. Needless to say, this condition has been extremely hard for me and has deeply affected my emotional development, my self-confidence, as well as my general outlook on life. As this accident happened before I lost my virginity, my first sexual encounters have essentially been failures, which has been a source of trauma and made me miss many opportunities to get intimate with countless sexy and cool women, something that still haunts me this day (because this process continues).
Then, around the age of 20, I discovered Viagra, and a couple of years later, Cialis. I am extremely grateful that these medications exist, as I would have never been able to have any sort of penetrative sex without them. Nonetheless, although they worked great for a while (though they never were fully reliable, depending on alcohol consumption, how much I had eaten, my stress level etc.), their effect has, as experienced by many of you, declined over the years, to the point where most of my previous sexual attempts were complete failures (from a penetrative perspective let's say). Either I have built a medical resistance to them, or my organic erectile function has diminished, which makes perfect sense as we get older (though I am only 29 years old). Between August 2022 and around July 2023, I was in a relationship with a girl, with whom I shared my terrible secret (it was the first time I did so). She was very compassionate, and said that the fact that I had to take medicine to correct my ED was not an issue to her at all. I think that sex was somewhere between okay to good, as I managed to make her orgasm most of the time, even though she did not like oral sex at all, which, as you can imagine, is not ideal for someone with ED like me. However, this came at the cost of taking very large doses of Viagra and/or Cialis (usually more than the prescribed limit of 100mg (Viagra) / 20g (Cialis)), which came with nasty side effects: massive headaches, sometimes blurry vision, a general discomfort in the digestive system, acid reflux, a red and swollen face, high body temperature (girls always ask me why my body is burning lol), and lastly, stuffy nose, which made me snore like a truck and would often wake her up. Still, even with generous doses, I would often lose my erection while inside her, or while changing position.
So even though I could have "decent sex" (though my standard may be low, as I never had a normal sex life given how young I was when my problems started), the burden associated with the whole planning and the very tangible side effects of Viagra/Cialis was just too much. In the end, we broke but for reasons other than my ED (we were not very compatible, she moved to a new city for work and she clearly had attachment issues which made her reluctant to be in a serious relationship). Since then, I had two sexual encounters were I could not hold an erection sufficiently long to put a condom on (let alone penetrate).
I have thus contemplated the idea of getting an implant, which both of the urologists that I follow also agree would be a very good solution for me, at least in the medium term. I have never tried injections, and will consult my urologist in 10 days to do so under his supervision, but I already know that this will not be a long-lasting solution, and that it will not solve the damage ED has caused to my self-confidence and my ability to be a good lover. Even assuming injections work great (and would as such replace the effect pills have had for almost ten years for me), there are always the issues of:
i) the complete lack of spontaneity (having to hide in the toilets to inject yourself in the penis, having to estimate when and if you will have sex, which is much harder when you are not in a relationship like me),
ii) the risk of under-dosing (no erection) or over-dosing (priapism, I have been there and trust me, it is not fun),
iii) the fact that it last only a couple of hours, that you have to wait at least 24h to use it again if I understand, and that injections should not be used everyday?
iv) the potential damage caused by repeated injections, which according to my urologist, can make it harder to get an implant later in life.
On the other hand, I am concerned of my young age if I go for the implant route, given the number of revisions I will statistically have to go through in my life. The simple idea of having an implant which ceases to function, while I still have a residual erectile capacity which allows me to have sex (however shitty this sex is, both for me and my partner), is daunting. I think that I will see things clearer once I try the injections, but I am leaning towards an implant (Titan probably).
My questions to you are:
1) Has any of you been in my situation, of having partial ED (though quite severe), and decided to get the implant?
2) For the others, in general, what would you do?
Thank you in advance,
Hope84