When would you have gotten an implant?

[merrix]

Well, since I got great results (so far), and since I had some level of ED ever since my teens, I could answer this question "At 16 years old".

The point is, everyone who got great results will say they wish they did it the day their ED set in.
Nobody with good results, who got ED at 35, will say they wished they had their implant at 45 and endured 10 years of ED of course.

But - that only goes for those who got those good results.
Someone with shitty results wish they never did it at all.
That is always important to keep in mind. Some who got implanted wish they had stayed with pills, injections or vacuum pumps. It may not have been good, but they had something. A totally failed implant surgery will leave you with something much worse - nothing.

[PFracture]

Hey Merrix.... now that you mention it... what happened to Alibaba? any clue? how can a guy like him disappear all of the sudden and never come back? boggles my mind...

I say this, because of his results!

[merrix]

He's back! As of today.

[OttoHS]

My ED was the result of a radical prostatectomy. So, I am in a different class than those guys who had a more gradual onset of ED. I was implanted 20 months after surgery. I was vigilant with respect to post surgery "penile rehabilitation." Exactly twice I had a semi erection, neither of which could have penetrated anything and those two semi erections were accomplished by my taking combinations of viagra and cialis in doses in excess of the maximum recommended doses. I knew in my heart of hearts a year out from the RP surgery that my penis was showing no improvement and had my insurance allowed it, I would have explored an implant then. But the insurance plan I was in then would approve implant surgery until one was two years beyond RP surgery. My insurance plan changed when I was 18 months post surgery and I then explored implant surgery.

[cincinnatus1951]

Nocturne:
You’ve posed a tough question. I don’t know your reason for ED or how long you’ve had it, whether it is accompanied by Pyronies, etc. etc. Search on Cincinnatus and Cincinnatus 1951. Our journey is well documented there. Certainly, you need to evaluate your health and likely future health, which you did. Next, you need to discuss with your partner, how long do you plan to have sex? What is the quality of your current sex life, will it likely be significantly improved by an implant? The implant only gives a reliable erection on demand. If there are other issues, they have to be addressed separately. If 2.5mg of Cialis is currently working for you, I would not contemplate an implant. While we are really happy we went that route, nothing else was working and the hassle factor was a big turn off.
Unfortunately, a number of the issues have no quantitative answer, you have to answer those questions for yourselves. The surgery, while not minor, is pretty tolerable for a person in otherwise good health. Of course, there are risks, infection, general anaesthesia, etc. Those however, are rare.
I would recommend you find a good urologist who specializes in all forms of ED treatment. Bring your SO to the appointment and tell the doc what your issues are and have him/her explain the options, as well as advantages/disadvantages of each. Once armed with that info you are prepared to decide. The only other thing I’d offer is that if the implant is inevitable within the next few years, I would do it sooner rather than later.
If you’d like to talk further, PM me and I’ll give you a call
Cincinnatus

[RelievedofED1]

I would agree with Merrix that it is easy to regret not having an implant sooner if a great result like I feel I have had. No one could give me that guarantee so I waited until I felt it was was not tolerable anymore. Then no matter the outcome I knew I really had to do it for me. My wife was supportive of my having an implant but would have been if I had not had as well. Having your partner be ok no matter the outcome makes a huge difference if married or in a long term relationship. I have had patients with ED that got better on Viagra but came back and said spouse was happier not having sex. Not a good result. Doing implant without expectations a hard penis will fix relationship problems is important. A successful implant will fix a soft penis and make it hard.

All that said I wish I knew ahead of time how great it would be with guarantees before surgery as this has been great. Love my implant and my surgeon. No regrets.

[charlesr]

I have perfect results from my implant, but like some previous posts, I had an RP for cancer, so the ED was immediate. I waited 21 months, since NOTHING worked, but I would not have wanted to do it any sooner, as an implant is the Final Solution. So for me the timing was about right.

[alibaba]

I would have gotten one, provided it was a decent installation and knew implants existed when I no-longer had spontaneous erections and morning wood. The reasoning is the atrophy and scaring (fibrosis) that occurs when things do not work normally.

[Nocturne]

Great answers guys.

I know I do not need an implant NOW, but I am having trouble at 43 that started when I was 41, and I know that I have godawful atherosclerosis for a man my age. I also know that with my heart condition, I am unlikely to live a long life -- quite likely to die around about retirement age (whee!!!).

My wife and I have a wonderful relationship and like sex a lot. She has always had a slightly higher drive than me, but I have always been willing and able to keep up, and I preferred this situation since my last marriage ended due to my ex becoming pretty much asexual in my mid 20s and I still remember the pain of that.

Wife and I have also had an "arrangement" from the start where we could stray from time to time within certain broad parameters -- for me this has always meant while on vacation alone, and with people I will never see again. This was great years ago, now it probably adds to my anxiety over what will likely happen if I go long without a functional penis in the future.

Plus, since her gastric bypass, my wife is losing a lot of weight fast and already looks ten years younger. Soon she will look damn fine to any guy over a certain age, and more than a few under it.

So I have several things to juggle here. What I do not want is to wait long enough that I endure years of pain and frustration and my wife either gives up on me and moves on to a lover or doesn't give up on me and suffers along with me, until I finally get the implant and then die of a stroke two years later. Or develop some other cardiac nonsense that means I can't get the implant (while Life sniggers at me and flips me the bird).

[jonbaldbg]

Just about everyone I've ever read on this board says they wished they'd gotten their implants sooner. I hope I find that to be true for me too once I've healed.