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← Return to ED after prostatectomy? Any first hand experiences overcoming it?
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ED after prostatectomy? Any first hand experiences overcoming it?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Dec 7 7:30am | Replies (37)Comment receiving replies
Underwent robotic nerve sparing surgery to remove prostate.
The surgery went well, the cancer is gone and I have had no problems with incontinence.
At first follow up with surgeon was given a tadalafil prescription and told to get a vacuum device and use it.
Using the device is just unpleasant. After a few minutes everything just hurts and I stop. The surgeon concurred and said if it starts to hurt stop. This has continued for months I use the thing for a few minutes a day then when the pain starts I stop. While it is clear that blood is reaching my penis it is not an erection.
On the extremely rare occasions (3 times in 9 months) when it does not cause pain it is still what I would call unpleasant and I am uncomfortable for the balance of the day.
The surgeon keeps touting the injections but my concern with them is if they make things hurt like the vacuum device how long will that last. Will it be minutes, hours or days ? The pain from the vacuum device is severe, on the pain scale it's a 9 or 10 . But with the vacuum device when I stop the pain stops, mostly. The thought of the pain occurring and not stopping is not at all a pleasant one. The surgeon can not answer the question and indeed cannot even tell me definitively how long an erection will last after an injection. She just seems to think they are the answer. I'm at this point just assuming I may be in the cohort that never recovers sexual function and have simply given up on ever having sex or orgasm again.
I thought it might be worth asking people here that have had the surgery and are using the injections a few questions.
How exactly do the injections work is it injection = erection or injection + stimulation = erection?
How painful are the injections?
How long does the erection last?
Is the erection ever just painful?
Do you even have the desire for sex or do you just not care and only do the injections for your partner?
Replies to "Underwent robotic nerve sparing surgery to remove prostate. The surgery went well, the cancer is gone..."
You go to the urologist to test out using the injections. They try to start you on a dose that will not give you an erection for a long period of time, If it does, they can reduce it in the office while doing the testing. I know one person mentioned they did have some pain using Trimix, But it was just a matter of getting the dosage right. It seems to work well for most people that have tried it.
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Happy to share my experience with you. We are all brothers in this stupid disease.
I was given a prescription for Tadalafil right after surgery, but it gave me such a was given a prescription for Tadalafil right after surgery, but it gave me such severe headaches that I had to discontinue it. I now take 25mg of sildenafil each night before bed to help encourage blood flow to the penis and stave off atrophy.
I tried a vacuum device/pump about six or eight weeks after surgery. I found it too uncomfortable and painful so I stopped and gave up on that.
I found that despite being on both first and second generation ADT drugs I was able to reach orgasm with concerted solo activity while either flaccid or semi flaccid. The orgasms were so incredibly weak to start that I almost lost hope. I went for pelvic floor therapy and learned to do powerful kegels that greatly increased the strength of orgasms and made them easier to achieve which made it worthwhile to pursue the next step in recovery: injections.
I’ve been doing injections for two months. The results are impressive. Once the dosage was dialed in I was close to where I was with rigidity and erectness a year before surgery, much better than the minimum needed for intercourse. I’m only on Bimix not trimix so I’m only good for an hour at full hardness but it stays semi erect for another hour or two. It feels natural and it’s great to see and feel like my old self.
The pain is no more than a sting that only lasts for a couple minutes until a full erection is reached.
My self image suffered without the ability to have an erection for 8 months and I’m glad to be functional again.
Good luck on your journey for a full quality of life.