Has anyone opted for an implant without FULL erectile dysfunction?

[Hope84]

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

[nats56]

Yes, that is true for me. I could sometimes achieve an erection using Viagra, and when that no longer worked, vardenafil, which also started not working after a couple of years, but it was rarely what I'd consider a full erection. I'd been considering an implant when I realized the vardenafil was going to completely stop working as well and what tipped me over to that option was that very thought. I didn't want to wait until it got to the point of the possibility of not being able to maximize the dimensions of my length.

I am still only about 2 1/2 weeks into this journey but as most people who have posted on this forum have indicated, I think I'll be okay with that concern of recouping size.

So, my humble advice to you would be; don't wait. If you're having problems now, it'll almost certainly get worse and you, especially at your age, don't want to deal with that along with everything else.

[dentestes]

Yes go for it. I got mine at 40 while I still had plenty of erectile function just not adequate for satisfying sex. Having some function is maybe even worse than complete impotence because in a sense its a constant tease. If you go to a top surgeon they'll preserve what function you have and you should have the best of both worlds.

[Franklin22]

Pretty similar situation for me. I had to have Viagra at very high doses for sex with same partner several years. We broke up and I had 3 different failed encounters. I could get a morning wood still, but couldn’t have penetrative sex. Needless to say decided on implant because my sex life was average to below average most of my life and most recent no sex life. I figured being in my low 40s I needed to maximize some of the best years of sex while I can. The quality of hotties drops off the older you get. I’ll deal with revisions when I need to. I say go for it based on your goals.

[Never_Enough]

Pretty much the exact question I was going to ask.

The cost is the only thing stopping me from doing it now.

[Hope84]

Yes, that is true for me. I could sometimes achieve an erection using Viagra, and when that no longer worked, vardenafil, which also started not working after a couple of years, but it was rarely what I'd consider a full erection. I'd been considering an implant when I realized the vardenafil was going to completely stop working as well and what tipped me over to that option was that very thought. I didn't want to wait until it got to the point of the possibility of not being able to maximize the dimensions of my length.

I am still only about 2 1/2 weeks into this journey but as most people who have posted on this forum have indicated, I think I'll be okay with that concern of recouping size.

So, my humble advice to you would be; don't wait. If you're having problems now, it'll almost certainly get worse and you, especially at your age, don't want to deal with that along with everything else.

Thank you for your response, I wish you a pain-free and good recovery. I think I will not wait further indeed, life is too short to live with ED, and pills and injections do not solve the issue at its root.

[Hope84]

Pretty similar situation for me. I had to have Viagra at very high doses for sex with same partner several years. We broke up and I had 3 different failed encounters. I could get a morning wood still, but couldn’t have penetrative sex. Needless to say decided on implant because my sex life was average to below average most of my life and most recent no sex life. I figured being in my low 40s I needed to maximize some of the best years of sex while I can. The quality of hotties drops off the older you get. I’ll deal with revisions when I need to. I say go for it based on your goals.

Thanks, your situation seems to be close to mine indeed. I will go for it, most likely with a French surgeon. What is your overall satisfaction of the implant so far?

[browny30]

I have opted for one . I have both premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. My ED is such that I can get hard but would need continuous stimulation and moment i stop. I could be turned on it will still go flacid or worse it goes limp during sex. Add premature ejaculation in to this where i can only last 30-40 secs unless i have prepared beforehand using things like Black stone/Jamaican stone. Which numbs it so then I struggle to get hard. Viagra has diminished quite abit so im at wits end.
I have been put through to sexual counseling and been told that if this doesn't help. They will reffer me for an implant.
I am desperate for one. I have struggled with ed all my life and with the help of viagra and delay I used to some sort of sex life.
Like you I had to decline sex with girls on nights out and refrained from one night stands because I had to prepare for sex beforehand.
I am just under 40 so relatively still young enough to still enjoy a sex life if I opt for an implant.

[Lost Sheep]

Yes go for it. I got mine at 40 while I still had plenty of erectile function just not adequate for satisfying sex. Having some function is maybe even worse than complete impotence because in a sense its a constant tease. If you go to a top surgeon they'll preserve what function you have and you should have the best of both worlds.

I apologize for posting a contradiction, but am compelled to apply this correction (at the risk of seeming argumentative, which is NOT my intent).

"If you go to a top surgeon, they'll preserve what function you have..."

Not true, unfortunately. The implantation of the implant tubes in a man's tunica albuginea displaces (sometimes destroys or involves the removal of) the corpus cavernosum tissue and the likely compromises the blood flow that supplies erections. In short, an implant forever renders a man incapable of natural erections for the rest of his life. There is one surgical technique (look up "tissue sparing") that attempts to preserve the cavernosum tissue, but this has limited success with retaining erectile function.

On your other point, "Having some function is maybe even worse than complete impotence because in a sense its a constant tease.", I TOTALLY agree!

When I first began to notice my E.D. it was;

For a LONG time I was plagued by the nagging anxiety of the questions, "Will I stay hard long enough to please her?" then,

"Will I stay hard enough to have an orgasm myself?",

"Will I get hard enough to even get inside her?"

and ultimately the near certainty,

"You will not even GET hard.". And that NEAR certainty was worse than a certainty.

Now that the anxiety of, "Will I stay hard?" is gone, (not to mention the anxiety in the back of HER mind, "Will HE stay hard long enough for me to have even ONE orgasm?") sex can be as carefree, spontaneous and playful as can be.

And during sex, I don't concentrate on keeping my erection. I am free to concentrate of making the most of an erection with staying power, concentrate on how it feels to her and concentrate on being the kind of considerate man IN BED as I try to be OUT OF BED that makes us (her and me) happy with each other.

[Hillywilly]

Yeah I could have sex before I got the implant for distal peyroinrs not ED.