Implants and male arousal

[Waynetho]

I'm hoping the arousal factor isn't gone with me. It's been 5 weeks, and I no longer have any pain from the surgery, I cycle daily as directed, but my libido has been completely zero. I had a pretty low sex drive prior to surgery, but now, it's non-existent. I really can't even feel anything in the glans, it's completely numb to touch, I can't even sense when I am peeing, at least feeling the urine at the urethra as it's coming out like I did before surgery. I had mine done penoscrotally, so the nerves shouldn't have been affected. I had my testosterone checked just prior to surgery, and I am on depo-testosterone shots weekly, so that's not the issue. Not depressed/anxious. Just zero arousal feelings at all. Kinda depressing if getting an implant finished off my sex drive forever.

I was going to say get your T checked but I see you already are on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy).

There will be numbness in the penis but it should pass in time. In my case the numbness was primarily on the ventral (bottom) side right below the glans, which is typically the most sensitive part of my dick and is really necessary for me to have a good orgasm. I'm now almost 9 months out and a week ago I had my first PIV (penis in vagina) orgasm in literally 15 years.

In addition to my numbness that is getting better every day, I'm also taking Cabergoline (0.5mg twice a week). Cabergoline is used to reduce Prolactin hormone in the body and in women it controls lactation. With men, higher than normal prolactin levels can delay or prevent orgasms. Sometimes the prolactin levels are due to a pituitary tumor but even with normal male prolactin levels, Cabergoline has been found to sometimes cause "hyper-sexuality" in men as well as shortening the time of active stroking to ejaculation.

Not sure about the hyper-sexuality but I just spent two hours with my wife (maybe 5-10 minutes PIV), pleasuring her in many ways, mostly by hand (masturbation) and mouth (cunnilingus). I guess that's what they mean by "hyper-sexuality", you think? We've had more in the past two weeks (4 times) than in the past 10 years before my implant surgery back in Oct 2019.

[544kenmatt]

I think everyone has a different experience and story. I still do get glans engorgement and morning "wood" post implant. It's not enough to penetrate but certainly enough to masturbate. Part of it is that i always have a "semi" (or my new flaccid, post implant), so it's not difficult to manually stimulate. It is a mental thing for me. If I'm not sexually stimulated, I won't get that "full" feeling. I cant speak for everyone. btw I still have my prostate , so did not have an extended period of having no erections. I did use trimix for a couple of years.

[cincinnatus1951]

Diver: I sent you a PM resonding to this.
Cicinnatus

[Diver Down]

I think everyone has a different experience and story. I still do get glans engorgement and morning "wood" post implant. It's not enough to penetrate but certainly enough to masturbate. Part of it is that i always have a "semi" (or my new flaccid, post implant), so it's not difficult to manually stimulate. It is a mental thing for me. If I'm not sexually stimulated, I won't get that "full" feeling. I cant speak for everyone. btw I still have my prostate , so did not have an extended period of having no erections. I did use trimix for a couple of years.

Kennmatt are you saying that you still get engorgement, morning wood and or sexual stimulation semi wood "full feeling" without pumping if the mental piece is working for you? I still have my prostate as well and did ICI for the last 2.5 years. The wife and I are both on HRT and with the TRT a my libido is good. So I think the mental turn on will still be there (at least I hope not sure based on Oregon's post). I just wasn't sure if I would get the same feelings, full feeling, engorgement and or sensations post implant. That said, at times without low dose PDE5 help I cant even get decent semi wood. It sounds like everyone is a little different.

[OregonStrong]

I think everyone has a different experience and story. I still do get glans engorgement and morning "wood" post implant. It's not enough to penetrate but certainly enough to masturbate. Part of it is that i always have a "semi" (or my new flaccid, post implant), so it's not difficult to manually stimulate. It is a mental thing for me. If I'm not sexually stimulated, I won't get that "full" feeling. I cant speak for everyone. btw I still have my prostate , so did not have an extended period of having no erections. I did use trimix for a couple of years.

Kennmatt are you saying that you still get engorgement, morning wood and or sexual stimulation semi wood "full feeling" without pumping if the mental piece is working for you? I still have my prostate as well and did ICI for the last 2.5 years. The wife and I are both on HRT and with the TRT a my libido is good. So I think the mental turn on will still be there (at least I hope not sure based on Oregon's post). I just wasn't sure if I would get the same feelings, full feeling, engorgement and or sensations post implant. That said, at times without low dose PDE5 help I cant even get decent semi wood. It sounds like everyone is a little different.

Don't let my situation worry you, I think it's just I have the libido of an 80 year old woman

[544kenmatt]

I think everyone has a different experience and story. I still do get glans engorgement and morning "wood" post implant. It's not enough to penetrate but certainly enough to masturbate. Part of it is that i always have a "semi" (or my new flaccid, post implant), so it's not difficult to manually stimulate. It is a mental thing for me. If I'm not sexually stimulated, I won't get that "full" feeling. I cant speak for everyone. btw I still have my prostate , so did not have an extended period of having no erections. I did use trimix for a couple of years.

Kennmatt are you saying that you still get engorgement, morning wood and or sexual stimulation semi wood "full feeling" without pumping if the mental piece is working for you? I still have my prostate as well and did ICI for the last 2.5 years. The wife and I are both on HRT and with the TRT a my libido is good. So I think the mental turn on will still be there (at least I hope not sure based on Oregon's post). I just wasn't sure if I would get the same feelings, full feeling, engorgement and or sensations post implant. That said, at times without low dose PDE5 help I cant even get decent semi wood. It sounds like everyone is a little different.

Yes. I dont have to pump at all if I want to masturbate. My understanding is that the surgeon tries to preserve the blood supply that is responsible for glans engorgement, and I think he did in my case. I get a pretty chubby but not super hard erection if I want to rub one out. In this condition, my penis feels the most natural, like my pre-implant erection.

However, it is not rigid enough for penetration. I have to pump 15 to 20 times to get a very rigid erection. At this level of pressure, I do lose sensitivity. (as I did with trimix) and find it difficult to orgasm. My partners are very happy; me..not so much. I do get a lot of satisfaction from pleasing whomever I am with, and I also love my new sexual confidence for the first time in my life.

I was regretting my decision for the first six months. I am approaching nine months now and my attitude has tipped in favor of having had it done. The pros are now outweighing the cons. It just took longer than average to get here.

Wishing you the best in your decision.
Ken

[Diver Down]

Thanks Ken that's good information

[Gt1956]

544KenMatt, for what little my opinion may be worth. It sounds to me like your emotions are fairly typical from what I've read in several old posts. Initial reaction is unsure, maybe bordering on the regret side. As healing proceeds along & you get accustomed to how the new you is. Things start to look better. Congratulations, hope that you get a long life out of it.

[Diver Down]

Good point GT and Ken I assumed that after the initial recovery say 60 days or so, just having the ability to get erect on demand IE when desired as long as required would be such a relief. When injections worked it was nice to get and erection for roughly 30 min to an hour or so, long enough to take care of business without fear of going flaccid during the act. Am I missing something aside from the fact that you will never get a natural blood filled erection again? Its that same fact (no erection, partial or barley usable erections on rare occasions) that has driven me to the point of an implant. I am sure that if feels slightly different than a blood filled erection but I am hopeful that its not much different than a natural erection only much harder Just curious why the period of unsure, regret...on the path to tipping the scales in favor of having it done?

[Lost Sheep]

(edited for focus)
I am sure that if feels slightly different than a blood filled erection but I am hopeful that its not much different than a natural erection only much harder Just curious why the period of unsure, regret...on the path to tipping the scales in favor of having it done?

In my case, for the unsure, regret part of your question: Never for a moment was there any uncertainty, once I determined that I was not getting erections by natural or chemical means any more (and I skipped injections entirely). If the implant operation failed, there was nothing to go back to, so it was full speed ahead (with all due diligence selecting a surgeon). I never had that moment of "WHAT DID I DO TO MYSELF!?!?!" so many men have reported during their (painful) recovery. Not one moment.

My erections feel physically just as they did in my fully erectile youth (the best I can remember, which is actually pretty vivid). The MENTAL feeling IS slightly different, for good and for ill. Confidence that the erection will be available on demand and will not fail mid-coitus is good. The urgency to have sex (which is mentally quite joyous) when and if I have an erection is absent. That is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, when my partner and I decide the time is right, we can. On the other hand, it is easier to put off having sex if other urgencies intervene (lawn-mowing, washing dishes, etc). That takes some of the spontaneity out of the sex even as the implant makes that spontaneity more possible. Two edges. But that is almost entirely an attitude adjustment, and attitude can be adjusted by a simple act of will.

I am much happier now. If I did not have the implant, I could have accepted never having coitus again, but that would have taken a mental adjustment far greater than the surgery and probably more painful, too. No regrets.