Following up

[Baseballfan11]

Hi all,
I first started posting here when I was 19. I am now 24 and still experiencing my same problem. As strange as it sounds I don’t recall having normal firm responsive erections past my very early teenage years. I chalked this up to maybe being the result of an odd masturbation technique in which I used my thighs to squeeze together against my penis, which worked better when I wasn’t fully hard. I did stop this technique when I was 18 or 19 and gave myself time to re-learn a normal hand technique. Even with things I am attracted to (porn or girlfriend) I don’t get erect from visuals. I have to be licking or touching and kissing (not always even effective) and I still get a mediocre erection if I’m lucky. Sex doesn’t last very long because I notice the base of my penis seems weak and not stable. In any event- here is my follow up as a sort of regular poster.
- I 100 percent believe that obsessing and fearing my condition is many times worse than the condition itself
- The physical drawback of not having decent sex (or sex at all) is less damaging to me than the image I have of myself, especially blaming myself for this problem and my bad masturbation technique.
- I am giving myself hope by envisioning my medical freedom when I turn 26 and am cut from my parents healthcare. I don’t want to re address the issue right now. I saw a few urologists under the payment of my parents back in 2017 and 2018 and they claimed it was all in my head, even with some injection test.

I promise I’m not going crazy… I yield to my girlfriend that it’s definitely a mental problem and not a physical one because somehow that seems less embarrassing to me at age 24. Thanks for reading and reaching out

[Hunchback]

Have you had any official tests done yet? You don't necessarily have to "do anything about it" right now, but at least you can see what the actual reason is, and what the possible paths are?

[Baseballfan11]

Have you had any official tests done yet? You don't necessarily have to "do anything about it" right now, but at least you can see what the actual reason is, and what the possible paths are?

I had some sort of a Doppler thing as well as hormonal tests. One doctor said my T was normal but on the low end, so they had me on a small pack of testosterone pills. Didn’t have an effect. The Doppler thing I believe was a sort of scan to measure blood flow. The doctor didn’t tell me he saw anything abnormal but I am confident I have experienced long term ED. I don’t see how anyone could derive pleasure from faking ED or convincing themselves they have it. I feel like a crazy person for having this issue. I am a healthy 24 year old with no other significant medical difficulties

[Baseballfan11]

Have you had any official tests done yet? You don't necessarily have to "do anything about it" right now, but at least you can see what the actual reason is, and what the possible paths are?

I had some sort of a Doppler thing as well as hormonal tests. One doctor said my T was normal but on the low end, so they had me on a small pack of testosterone pills. Didn’t have an effect. The Doppler thing I believe was a sort of scan to measure blood flow. The doctor didn’t tell me he saw anything abnormal but I am confident I have experienced long term ED. I don’t see how anyone could derive pleasure from faking ED or convincing themselves they have it. I feel like a crazy person for having this issue. I am a healthy 24 year old with no other significant medical difficulties

I should also include that I tried some daily cialis from a sample pack the doctor gave me. No real impact. I am thinking of getting rings from a sex shop to at least try to maintain the mediocre erections I occasionally get. I am able to penetrate then but not for very long, and I can’t really feel it. I even get scared when she’s on top because the base of my penis is so weak I legitimately feel like it’s bending and breaking

[Hunchback]

Have you had any official tests done yet? You don't necessarily have to "do anything about it" right now, but at least you can see what the actual reason is, and what the possible paths are?

I had some sort of a Doppler thing as well as hormonal tests. One doctor said my T was normal but on the low end, so they had me on a small pack of testosterone pills. Didn’t have an effect. The Doppler thing I believe was a sort of scan to measure blood flow. The doctor didn’t tell me he saw anything abnormal but I am confident I have experienced long term ED. I don’t see how anyone could derive pleasure from faking ED or convincing themselves they have it. I feel like a crazy person for having this issue. I am a healthy 24 year old with no other significant medical difficulties

I should also include that I tried some daily cialis from a sample pack the doctor gave me. No real impact. I am thinking of getting rings from a sex shop to at least try to maintain the mediocre erections I occasionally get. I am able to penetrate then but not for very long, and I can’t really feel it. I even get scared when she’s on top because the base of my penis is so weak I legitimately feel like it’s bending and breaking

The doppler scan is indeed used to measure the blood flow. It can help find vascular problems, venus leak, etc... However, afaik in order for it to "work" you have to be in an "erection" situation - either natural or medical induced - that way they can measure the in and out flow and determine if your erection problem is caused by excessive outflow (aka venus leak) or maybe the inflow is too low, which can be other vascular problems. I am not an expert, but if they did the scan on a flaccid penis, i don't see what value it would give them really.

Testosterone seems to be quite often "on the low end" from what i've seen here, i actually wonder if their charts of "normal" aren't a bit too high.

As for your general troubles - I'd suggest continuing with the doctors testing and evaluation. Ask them for an injection test (even if it's scary) - Most often it will 100% work at first (takes years for injections to lose potency). Maybe not on the very first shot because stress and other random factors can affect it, but in general the injection is a method that is 90% independent of your mental state. That way you'll more clearly understand if the origin of your problem is psychological or physical.
From there you can decide on a course of action.

If i had to guess, i'd say injections would work very well since you are young and haven't used them at all yet. This will get you ~10-15 years of good quality erections, during which time the science should come up with something new.

Finally, the "weak at the base" thing seems "normal" to me, with ED. It seems that (at least in my case) the erection gets way weaker in the "inside" part of the penis, the one that's actually in your body. This does indeed causes the whole thing to be less stable and wobble more than a normal person would...
Using cockrings is something i do every time now, it's not the most sexy thing but you get used to it.

[Baseballfan11]

I had some sort of a Doppler thing as well as hormonal tests. One doctor said my T was normal but on the low end, so they had me on a small pack of testosterone pills. Didn’t have an effect. The Doppler thing I believe was a sort of scan to measure blood flow. The doctor didn’t tell me he saw anything abnormal but I am confident I have experienced long term ED. I don’t see how anyone could derive pleasure from faking ED or convincing themselves they have it. I feel like a crazy person for having this issue. I am a healthy 24 year old with no other significant medical difficulties

I should also include that I tried some daily cialis from a sample pack the doctor gave me. No real impact. I am thinking of getting rings from a sex shop to at least try to maintain the mediocre erections I occasionally get. I am able to penetrate then but not for very long, and I can’t really feel it. I even get scared when she’s on top because the base of my penis is so weak I legitimately feel like it’s bending and breaking

The doppler scan is indeed used to measure the blood flow. It can help find vascular problems, venus leak, etc... However, afaik in order for it to "work" you have to be in an "erection" situation - either natural or medical induced - that way they can measure the in and out flow and determine if your erection problem is caused by excessive outflow (aka venus leak) or maybe the inflow is too low, which can be other vascular problems. I am not an expert, but if they did the scan on a flaccid penis, i don't see what value it would give them really.

Testosterone seems to be quite often "on the low end" from what i've seen here, i actually wonder if their charts of "normal" aren't a bit too high.

As for your general troubles - I'd suggest continuing with the doctors testing and evaluation. Ask them for an injection test (even if it's scary) - Most often it will 100% work at first (takes years for injections to lose potency). Maybe not on the very first shot because stress and other random factors can affect it, but in general the injection is a method that is 90% independent of your mental state. That way you'll more clearly understand if the origin of your problem is psychological or physical.
From there you can decide on a course of action.

If i had to guess, i'd say injections would work very well since you are young and haven't used them at all yet. This will get you ~10-15 years of good quality erections, during which time the science should come up with something new.

Finally, the "weak at the base" thing seems "normal" to me, with ED. It seems that (at least in my case) the erection gets way weaker in the "inside" part of the penis, the one that's actually in your body. This does indeed causes the whole thing to be less stable and wobble more than a normal person would...
Using cockrings is something i do every time now, it's not the most sexy thing but you get used to it.

Thanks for the reply. They did that Doppler scan after giving some sort of injection, I don’t recall what it was. Whatever they saw they deemed normal. I’m not an anti medicine conspiracy theorist… but I know exactly how my condition feels and how it is abnormal. Maybe another scan is in order but here’s the problem… what else can they do aside from that scan? It seems like a lot of these interactions with doctors are just self reports to the doctor. Not actual medical data. I guess the injections would be alright long term if they worked. I do worry that that would create scarring and interfere with spontaneity. I’ve seen guys younger than myself on here find success with the implant option. Doesn’t seem like it’s a quick snap of the fingers process though. Patience is key!

[Hunchback]

Well, actual injections that are designed to help induce erection are a nice "temporary" solution. It's even better if you are from the USA, since you get access to compounded drugs such as Trimix, that are tailor-made for your needs.
There's always the risk of scarring, but tbh i wouldn't worry too much about it, as long as you follow procedure. Just check the injections section of this forum and you'll find a lot of feedback from very long-term users.

Implants are currently the final solution, no turning back from that. Almost everyone here seems to be pretty happy with their implants, but there are also dangers and risks. And also keep in mind that implants need maintenance, which means additional surgeries down the road. And the fact that you can't undo them. That's why i am not going for that solution yet, as long as i have alternatives that even if not perfect, still work.

So my advise is - get back to your urologist, talk with them about trying ED injections and go for it. Chances are, you'll get great results and move on