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Atrophy true or not?

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Posted 5/28/2014 9:25 PM (GMT -5)
I spoke to my surgeon today and asked him how often I need to get a erection per week to avoid atrophy. I don't know if he is sick of me calling but he said that theres no such thing. I don't know how he could have misunderstood my question. Has anyone ever heard this. Ive been wearing myself out to make sure im still getting enough blood down south while my nerves (hopefully) heal.
Posted 5/28/2014 9:40 PM (GMT -5)
Dr. Catalona told me two or three times a week, using drugs, a pump or injections. He prefers injections because of the more highly oxygenated blood. So that's what I'm doing. Also any other physical or other stimulus that would help wake your friend up.
Posted 5/28/2014 9:43 PM (GMT -5)
My surgeon, GP, and oncologist, along with respected physicians such as Mulhall and Walsh believe it is true, and that the risk for permanent damage is real.

Lets think of it this way. if it isn't real, and you "treat" it, what have you lost? OK, cost of some ED meds. If it is real, and you ignore it, you'll have long term problems, and maybe never recover.

My uro had videos of what the insides of a penis look like when they put in the implants for those who are beyond help. I don't want them peeling mine back like a clogged artery in a heart-attack cadaver.

I'm taking the cialis, using the pump, and doing the shots. Maybe a waste, but what if it isn't?
Posted 5/28/2014 9:50 PM (GMT -5)
my surgeon has a team that work with you on this issue and getting blood flowing almost immediately is critical according to them.
Posted 5/28/2014 10:08 PM (GMT -5)
"Use it or lose it" is darn straight according to my surgeon.

Tom
Posted 5/29/2014 10:26 AM (GMT -5)
Atrophy is a fact for any unused muscle tissue, to the best of my knowledge. Just ask someone who spent a month with one leg in a cast, for example.

Dr. Mulhall told me that the minimum rehab to avoid atrophy is to get erections at least twice per week, at least 6 out of 10 hardness, for at least 10 minutes in duration.

-Gedman
Posted 5/29/2014 11:24 AM (GMT -5)
John,

There have been studies that showed that young guys, potent prior to surgery, who respond to PDE5i drugs after surgery do just as well if you give them the pills and tell them to use them whenever they want as if you give them the pills and tell them to use them on a regular schedule. If pills work for you then maybe that is what me was thinking about.

But the answer to your question seems to be two or three times a week, getting a decent, fairly hard erection lasting at least ten minutes and not more than two hours.

Is your surgeon your main urologist? If you have another guy and you aren't responding to pills you could talk to your regular uro about a vacuum pump or injections.
Posted 5/29/2014 12:03 PM (GMT -5)
My husband has been on Mulhall's program for 17 months (19 months since surgery). He is hoping to overcome ED, but at this point it looks as though it might be permanent. Although he gets nocturnal erections, he cannot get a level 6 erection when awake. He doesn't really know how long he has the nocturnal erections for because he wakes up with them (not all the time) and then they go away.

He lost 25% of his nerves and he thinks he may have lost too much nerve to get usable erections back. Will he have to inject twice a week for the rest of his life to avoid atrophy? Do guys who end up with long-term ED, that they are no longer trying to overcome, have to use either a pump or injections a few times a week?

My husband does not have a pump because it is not part of Dr. Mulhall's program. I think that Dr. Mulhall prefers injections as a way to get oxygenated blood into the area.

When we saw Mulhall at 14 months after surgery he said to continue to inject. If we see him again we will, of course, ask him what to do for the future. I think my husband thought of his rehab therapy as a limited program that has an end.
Posted 5/29/2014 1:43 PM (GMT -5)
bluebird: I just sent you an email. FYI.

-Gedman
Posted 5/29/2014 1:55 PM (GMT -5)
Bluebird,

Since he's getting some sort of nocturnal erections maybe he could drop back to on-demand injections at this point -- ie. only injecting when he has intent. And if that is unacceptable, well... I've never met a man who regretted his implant.

And, something to bear in mind: the first thing they do when they fit a man for an implant is pump the guy up and measure. Your husband's pumping and injecting and stretching will not have been for naught. They will have gotten him slightly bigger cylinders.

I've more or less resigned myself to getting an implant, sooner or later, and in the meanwhile I continue my 'rehab' with undimmed enthusiasm -- um...

well, the last two years' chemical castration has probably dimmed my enthusiasm considerably, come to think of it , I should have said...

...with unwavering determination. I will not yield up a millimeter to the beast if I can help it.
Posted 5/29/2014 8:23 PM (GMT -5)
My husband is OK with on-demand injections - in fact, trimix is working well at this point. I was just wondering if he will have to continue with the injections that are just for rehab on a long-term basis if his ED does not resolve. He is not ready to give up now anyway. I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Posted 6/1/2014 12:57 AM (GMT -5)
I did notice mine slightly shorter with my first erections. With time I did regain my length.
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