ED Update - Injections

Checking back in after being gone a while -

PC news is good. (I posted a good news bad news thread about that).

I do have news on the ED front. Pills just were not cutting it so I moved to injections. The mental part of it was the only real challenge. There's just something about thinking about injecting your penis that stops you in your tracks for a moment. Once past that its been fine. I have Kaiser in California. My doctor has a three drug cocktail made up for me that works fine. It took a while to get to the right dose. large enough to work but not too much as to give an erection over 4 hours (had that happen just once - off to the ER, fortunately it subsided without medical intervention).

Happy to report that erections are good and sufficient for intercourse. Since the pills never provided an erection that firm I had not had the opportunity to experience just how well my penis nerves had survived the surgery. The news, about 50%. I am able to have an orgasm, but the sensation in my penis is much less. I am very grateful for the results that I have - I am alive, cancer free (for now and hopefully long term), and my wife and I have this part of our lives back.

Be glad to share information with anyone considering injections.

Be well and take care,

Pat

Has anyone tried the 'suppositories' that you actually insert into the hole in your penis?

My new uro (a 30-something lady) was talking about them last week. She offered to insert them for me first time and monitor to be sure I got an erection... I passed. I think she's gay, though. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

My T is 148 but she wants to hold off until I'm a year out to address it.

Regarding suppositories

My Dr. offered them as an option with the understanding that side effects may be an issue (burning and discomfort) and his patients have had limited success using them.

To be clear, the injections are cumbersome. I keep the vile refrigerated. It makes travel with sex in mind awkward if not challenging. And its a 30 minute process - get the injection ready, inject, wait for the erection to build....

But it works and I am satisfied. I think ED treatment is much like PC treatment - to each his own. No one way to do this.

about your story about trying the medication with the nurse in the room. The nurse I worked with showed me how to inject then had me do the injection. She left the room and came back in about 20 minutes to see how I was doing. It was a more firm erection than I had had with the pills, but nothing to write home about. I asked her about her job. She said she found it very rewarding to help couples recover this element of their lives. She also said she had seen it all and that nothing shocked her. Guess thats what it takes to be the ED nurse.

Pat