When to get an implant ?

[Flannigan]

Fellow ED brothers,
I have had ED for about 7 years now. Pills were working fine up until about 6 months ago in which I could no longer take the severe body aches and pains for days afterwards. I am now using Trimix with good success but it has taken the romance out of my sex life and I feel more like a human dildo when I take it. The girlfriend is still trying to warm up to it.
So I am wondering at what point do I decide to make the leap to an implant ? I highly doubt my insurance will cover it as I have not had any cancer or other issues that would support it's need. I am just concerned that over time with my ED that I will continue to lose length and girth. I used to be a healthy 6.5" but have already lost a half inch. I feel like I am just watching my mini me atrophy and it concerns me greatly.

Have any other brothers that did not have prostate surgery or some other cause of their ED made the decision for an implant and are you glad you did ?

Thanks
Flannigan

[dg_moore]

I always advise men to get an implant when they first need one. I put mine off for years, and when I finally got it it was too late - I had a stroke that ended my sex life before I had a chance to use the implant. If I'd gotten it when I needed it my wife and I could have had several years more intimacy before everything went south. Don't put it off - nothing good happens while you're waiting.

[DrBlick]

Pills, injections, urethral suppositories, and vacuum devices are all long term medical therapies that can help manage the problem, but none of them actually provide a cure for ED. While I do have patients that use these medical treatments successfully, about 70% of my patients discontinue their chosen "conservative" therapy within a year due to the lack of spontaneity and reliability, cost and ongoing side effects just like you describe. So please know that you are not alone!

In my opinion, the single best treatment for ED is the Penile Implant. It has the highest patient satisfaction rate compared to any other treatments, and it is the only treatment that definitively cures your ED.

If you decide to start moving in this direction, I do recommend that you find a Prosthetic Urologist, someone who specializes in Men's Health and performs penile implants in high volume, for your procedure.

[qcswral]

Thanks for the "infomercial"...lol

[Smetro]

Fellow ED brothers,
I have had ED for about 7 years now. Pills were working fine up until about 6 months ago in which I could no longer take the severe body aches and pains for days afterwards. I am now using Trimix with good success but it has taken the romance out of my sex life and I feel more like a human dildo when I take it. The girlfriend is still trying to warm up to it.
So I am wondering at what point do I decide to make the leap to an implant ? I highly doubt my insurance will cover it as I have not had any cancer or other issues that would support it's need. I am just concerned that over time with my ED that I will continue to lose length and girth. I used to be a healthy 6.5" but have already lost a half inch. I feel like I am just watching my mini me atrophy and it concerns me greatly.

Have any other brothers that did not have prostate surgery or some other cause of their ED made the decision for an implant and are you glad you did ?

Thanks
Flannigan

Now is the time. If you are thinking about it then you probably know the answer. ED doesn't fix itself and the concern of atrophy and also scarring from injections made my choice easy.
Choose the right surgeon, deal with the discomfort (that is actually pretty short lived) and aim for further down the track with a beautiful cock that you control entirely.
From my perspective implants are amazing.

[Flannigan]

Thanks for the feedback mates. So now how do I convince my insurance company that I need one when I haven't had prostate surgery or cancer or anything else that would convince them that I need one ??? As much as I may want to go through with it I really can't afford to shell out $25K or more.

[cincinnatus1951]

Flannigan: My thoughts on the subject
April 1, 2017

Guys: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the “right” time to decide on an implant. A lot of discussion about pumps and injections as well as pills indicates that a lot of men get some initial positive results, but, after time, the effectiveness declines. With injections, many report scarring and penile distortion. What’s not nearly as clear is what percentage of injection and pill users continue to have erection difficulties. Human nature teaches that the satisfied folks rarely complain. There are plenty of examples of marginal effectiveness of pills and injections, what I can’t tell is how large the percentage is.
In my own case, I went for about six months with pumps and pills with marginal results. My prostate surgeon recommended injections, which I used for about a year with inconsistent results. ( I had a Robotic assisted nerve sparing prostatectomy in July, 2013.) Sometimes, very little, sometimes too long, and never knowing how long the erection would last. I did have good firmness and longitudinal stability when it worked. At my two year surgical follow up visit, the surgeon suggested we consider an implant. My initial reaction was “They are not doing that to me!!!” We continued to bumble along. If the injection did not work (rarely) or did not last long enough, we would resort to toys and tongue. We were both able to climax; but, it was certainly not as satisfying as traditional penetrative sex. We were also getting tired of the hassle with injections. We visited one urologist (sexual medicine) specialist and he recommended “combination therapy” of pills and injections. He also recommended we consider an implant, showed us the prosthesis, gave us web sites where we could watch the surgery. We also learned of FrankTalk through a prostate cancer support group.
As we learned more about the surgery, risks, aftercare, healing, etc. the thought of surgery became less scary. My wife initially discouraged it saying we can do OK with toys and tongue, is it worth the risk? We agonized and went to see another sexual medicine specialist. He did not try to sell us on an implant, however, said none of the other therapies were working for us. At that stage 21/2 years out of prostate surgery, the likelihood of spontaneous erections returning were essentially nil. After one particularly frustrating love making session, I said to the wife, “Heck with it “I’m signing up for the implant. She agreed. I had the implant in January 2016. We had a text book recovery and we both wish we had not wrung our hands for so long. The implant removes all the hassle and uncertainty of the lesser methods.
That brings me to the point of this note. I have advised a goodly number of people both in public and private posts not to consider an implant unless nothing else works. While I still believe that to be the case. For the above reasons, I would recommend seriously thinking about an implant as soon as frustration begins to build. Essentially, once pills become less effective and you have tweaked your formulation and injection dosage without satisfactory results, I have come to believe that further avoidance of an implant is not helpful. In talking with my docs, they too, believe couples get frustrated and just give up on sex. My cardiologist even offered he would like to see way more men go for implants. He says many patients report that they have just given up.
Bottom line is I do not know how to accelerate the process to an implant. We believe we waited six to nine months too long. I also recall my almost complete rejection of the first implant recommendation. For guys who are say over age 55, are frustrated and have systemic ED regardless of the cause, I would say “Go for it”.
Sorry for the long post. Just food for thought. Cincinnatus

[rahod1]

Agree...you want>>DEPENDABILITY<< above all else. Pills worked very well for 13 years...then they started to wane and I put up with diminishing results for another 4 years. I finally said FUGG IT...I'm going to try injecting. At the time I thought that was WAY too radical....painful and expensive. I was DEAD WRONG and injecting has been spectacular for me...painless...cheap. Same thing goes for implants...if you're not getting satisfactory erections and either don't want to inject or aren't seeing good results....get the implant NOW.

[Larry10625]

Fellow ED brothers,
I have had ED for about 7 years now. Pills were working fine up until about 6 months ago in which I could no longer take the severe body aches and pains for days afterwards. I am now using Trimix with good success but it has taken the romance out of my sex life and I feel more like a human dildo when I take it. The girlfriend is still trying to warm up to it.
So I am wondering at what point do I decide to make the leap to an implant ? I highly doubt my insurance will cover it as I have not had any cancer or other issues that would support it's need. I am just concerned that over time with my ED that I will continue to lose length and girth. I used to be a healthy 6.5" but have already lost a half inch. I feel like I am just watching my mini me atrophy and it concerns me greatly.

Have any other brothers that did not have prostate surgery or some other cause of their ED made the decision for an implant and are you glad you did ?

Thanks
Flannigan

Flannigan, you know that before too long, you will need the implant anyway. Start the switch now. Get the doctors office to help you, or reach out to your brothers on here. Name your insurance company and maybe someone that was successful with them can help you. Sex is suppose to be enjoyable, if it is not enjoyable for you, it's time to move on for both you and your lovely wife's sake. Sure there is some discomfort for which they give you meds. And then there is the wait before you can use it (approx. 6 weeks). But I am thinking it will be well worth it for you. Take the leap.

Larry

[Lost Sheep]

Insurance often covers medical intervention to "restore a lost function", whether it is the ability to hear, to walk or to have sex. You just have to be sure to use the right medical diagnosis and procedure codes on the insurance claim application form.

Your medical provider's office will be able to help here if they have experience with the procedures (whether it is pills, injections, suppositories, pumps or prostheses). A high level of experience and training is important for the surgeon. This also applies to the administrative staff also.