Two schools of thought - direct to implant or exhaust other options

[Nestor]

I have seen a number of posts here over the years...

People who have exhausted other options when PDE5 inhibitors do not work or have extreme side effects... (Meaning skipping injections mainly)

But I've also seen a lot of people say "I should have done the implant sooner".

I have not exhausted other options yet but don't want to be burdened by injections, especially with my travel plans in retirement and the risk of PD (apparently).

So I guess I'm looking to hear from people their thoughts... Has anyone truly regretted 'jumping' right to an implant?

(I'm speaking from the perspective that I would see one of the very top surgeons so the best implant outcome is highly likely)

I'd greatly appreciate any insight. Thanks!

[Rider1400]

After 10 plus years of PDE5 pills they got to where they practically stopped. I considered implant but thought I would try injections. Never hurts to try. I handled the actual injections with little to no problem. My biggest issue was I started with 3-4 units and it worked amazingly! Thought this will work for me. Nope within a few weeks it was ineffective. Gradually went up to 4,6,8,10 and over next 6 months was filling a syringe and talking to Dr about doubling strength. It was almost as bad as ED all over. It was around 4 months into injections I decided to go for an implant. Several months of research and then a consult and 6 weeks later implanted. It was at this point I wished I had gone straight to implant. All that being said some people get many years out of injections….. not me. Wife and I travel 3-4 times a year and it’s a misery to keep vials cool and keep up with needles besides the total inconvenience of it all. Couldn’t hurt to try injections for a short time. My Brother has been injecting for probably around 5 years and is now about to pull the plug and go for implant. It’s your decision and yours alone….

[lasthope2.0]

Has anyone truly regretted 'jumping' right to an implant?

My only regret is I didn’t try injections even once. I jumped from pills not working to implants, which reduced penile sensitivity for me. I still highly recommend the implant though and feel this is the greatest medical intervention ever.

[duke_cicero]

I'd say work on exhausting the options, but do it fast. Have an exit date for each stage so you know you've exhausted your options. And work on scheduling the implant while you're experimenting with injections, if you can — because by the time that you're certain it's time to move to the implant, it might not be that long until your surgery. And there's typically a comfortable window to cancel the surgery, which just opens up that slot for someone else.

[LetoMan]

I would say a big factor is whether you are single or not, and if not how your partner feels about it. I went straight to implant and skipped injections, but a big part of that was because I was single and didn’t want to be dating and messing around with injections. If you are married or partnered it gives you a relatively low-stress way to try injections, and if they work they work, and if they don’t you can move on to an implant.

But if you are single, I’ll be honest, there is huge upside in the confidence you get from a bionic dick.

[kbb1957]

I traveled the path through pills then tried injecting. Injections essentially did not work for me.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=24966&sd=a#p235396

Aside from the hassle of keeping the vials refrigerated and the needles and the eventual scar tissue that can develop, there is a mental benefit to having an implant. If you have had the typical experiences that ED precipitates like losing your erection during an attempt at penetrative intercourse or can’t muster up an erection at all then your self confidence takes a huge hit. Anxiety sets in such that you avoid sex. Then you feel robbed and then don’t feel like you are a real man that can have sexual intimacy with your wife. At which point depression becomes a reality.
The implant erased ALL performance anxiety.
The confidence the implant gave me is unquestionable. I can now have an erection whenever I want for as long as I want and (may sound silly) as hard as I want. Sometimes not being as hard as a railroad spike has benefits such ss during oral play time. Being able to take as long as you want during foreplay and not worry that your erection will fade is fantastic.

I too went the try everything I can before making that nerve wracking decision to allow your manhood to be cut open for the implant from which there is NO turning back. It is a FINAL decision.
In hindsight I wish I would have gone from the pills straight to the implant. But other men have different experiences and opinions.

[GoodWood]

I exhausted pills (5 years), then shots (10+ years).

I have no regrets about the choices I made. I’ve my implant and feel like I got it at the right time (for me).

It is EXCEPTIONALLY rare to hear someone have genuine regret about getting implanted. Sure, there is a common flash of buyers remorse or an immediate postop freakout. But that passes really quickly. Guys generally LOVE their implant.

The common refrain is “I wish I had done it sooner.” It’s super rare to hear anyone say they wish they had waited n or hadn’t gotten one at all. Super rare.

[AnotherOldFart]

Someone is disabled. He gets crutches. Now he can walk well. If he regrets the crutches, he may be mentally disabled. The body needed help. The mind refuses the solution. Crutches do not erase the disability. They manage it. Rejecting what works while enjoying the results is incoherent. It prefers suffering over function. Physical limits are involuntary. Rejecting a working tool is not. If the crutches let you walk and you still wish them gone, the real problem is no longer in the legs. It is in the mind that chooses brokenness over movement.

The same applies to a man with a penile implant who regains function and later regrets the device. If you lose your penis and size to repeated infections, you simply go back to being disabled. Nothing is lost.

The best thing I ever did to myself. In old age, my significant other and I are breaking the bedroom furniture like teenagers. The confidence that comes from it is indescribable. I can stay hard whenever I want, wherever I want, and for however long I want. When I meet younger women, I know I can offer them multiple orgasms. This is exactly what I think anytime a woman smiles at me, whether at a grocery cash register or my nurse or my flight attendants. The list is endless. The door has been opened. You become limitless.