Do you use Cialis or Viagra for penile rehabilitation post-RARP?
When I had my catheter removed the nurse practioner gave me two options: Viagra three times per week or Cialis daily. She said that they offer the two options because if one has bad side effects with one, they switch to the other, but that in terms of outcomes, the two were equivalent.
I chose Viagra, but after doing more research and watching some videos it seems that Cialis is more common and Viagra used as backup if Cialis is not tolerated.
What are/were your experiences with either?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.
I was put in 5mg daily Cialis. It's supposed to help with reducing scar tissue & helping nerves heal.
No idea if it is.
I was also put on 5mg of Tadalafil (Cialis) for a month prior and a year after just as an insurance policy along with L Citralline supplements. I don't think I need either but I'm going to do as the doctor ordered. I think Tadalafil is the gold standard for this and Viagra is the alternative and seems to be used more for when you want to get busy but the 5mg isn't doing it for you, and those "get busy" doses of either are like 20+mg for that.
I use both. I take a daily 5 mg Cialis (generic) and I do think it helps. However, when I tried to start having sex it wasn't enough, so my urologist told me to also take 100 Viagra (generic) on the days I try to have intercourse about 90 minutes before on an empty stomach. So about 2 times a week I'm also taking the Viagra. I also take l-citrulline daily. I tolerate both well so no issues there. I'm now 14 months after RP (aged 71 now) and in the last month I'm finally back to a comparable experience as before surgery. But it was slow going and frankly there were times I wondered if I'd ever recover. Best wishes.
Thanks to all of you. You are confirming my suspicion that the nurse practioner had really not the best information. For the past 6-7 weeks I have been taking 50mg Viagra Mon, Wed, and 100mg Fri. I guess I will move to the Cialis regime next week.
Were the L Citralline supplements recommended by your urologist or did you decide based on your own research?
Here's a great video discussing penile rehab after surgery. At 11:01 he discusses using both cialis and viagra. I'm not a medical professional and don't know what's best for you, but I thought you might want to see it:
A urologist, not "my" urologist, but the penile rehab urologist in the same office that came in and visited with me when it was all first discovered who said it's been shown to help but it certainly doesn't hurt. It's essentially grapefruit extract. It's a big pill that I don't like taking because I gag on it, but I'm enjoying zero ED so if that means I have to gag on a pill, I gag on a pill 😂
Thank you. That was one of the videos that made me question my current approach.
I take several medications for which the instructions specifically say to avoid grapefruit because it interferes with the work the medications are intended to perform. Wondering if this "grapefruit extract" would be the same?
I'm sure you know this, but be careful with anything grapefruit as it affects other meds in a big way.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/food-and-nutrition/faq-20057918