Implants + ED Drugs = POWER DRILL

In my last blog entry a year ago I wrote how penis implants are both good and bad. I think I could have continued for a little while longer with injection therapy even though its performance was beginning to decline.  My member would get larger but not quite as firm as before, and with my new girlfriend there were difficulties involving the big size but lack of hardness, so penetration was rather difficult. Thus my decision to get penis implants was sort of made for me.  I love and wanted to please her in every way possible, so I underwent the surgery in the hope that making love would be easier for us.

As I said, with implants my love wand was hard but both shorter and thinner than before. Instead of a "balloon" feeling it was more like a finger inside a glove with a little sliding of the outside, and the head did not swell like a normal erection, so I was a bit disappointed. Oddly enough, though, the hard & skinny new equipment made it much easier to achieve insertion, and we were both pleased with the result. The last time we made love I came twice, which never happens, and so did my Orgasmic Goddess, for whom it was just another really good night.

Like any man, though, I still hoped maybe there was something that would help me be all I could be, so to speak, and I eventually stumbled upon a medical study that concluded something like 70% of the men with implants tested derived greater satisfaction with the use of Sildenafil (Viagra) along with pumping up the implants. I had noticed that when I got really aroused like when I was kissing my beautiful partner, things did seem to swell a bit even before I pumped up the implants, so a little chemical boost could only help matters.

And did it ever! I had a previous prescription for Rugiet (good stuff- see past entry) which has Sildenafil, Tadalafil, and Apomorphine. I experimented with it, and within minutes my skinny willy became FAT and HARD, even harder than with the implants alone, and the head was swollen like a mushroom cap. I felt like I could poke holes in the drywall of our bedroom. The Apomorphine is a Dopamine agonist, which excited my brain and made me desperate to poke the HELL out of SOMETHING!  My very understanding Lady (who is now my wife) got into the spirit of things with almost no prompting and did her best to guide my zeppelin into the hangar.

The funny thing was that my expanded member (which by now resembled a hot dog cooked in the microwave so long that the skin was tight and seemed about to burst) made it extremely difficult to achieve penetration. I pushed and pushed, hard enough that my meat rod bent but still couldn't force entry.  I guess she is one of those "tiny giny" women whose gates of heaven are narrower than most. So our next love making session will involve only the implants.... Anyone want to buy my leftover Rugiet lozenges?

                                                                                                                                                         

My Final Solution: Penile Prosthetic Implant Surgery

 Here are the highlights, USA Today style:

1. Bottom line IMHO is if you're having success with any ED treatement, stick with it as long as it works, and only when you've tried all alternatives and nothing else is working should you seek penis implant surgery.  It is an invasive, permanent solution to ED that has some advantages but also several disadvantages.

2. Pros: You can have an erection, such as it is, whenever you want one.  You don't need to worry about how many pills/injections you have left, especially while traveling.  You don't have to worry about whether you will get an erection at the critical time, and you don't have to worry about how long you will stay hard.  

3. Cons: There is a lot of pain post-surgery, some of which can last up to a year (Don't just watch the tesimonials on YouTube like I did, look up the post-operative instructions from different medical providers, which tell you what to expect for real). The head of your penis will no longer swell when you're excited like it used to, and a certain condition, "floppy glans syndrome", while not common requires additional surgery to correct.  Although the implants get hard, the surrounding flesh is kind of loose, so the normal feeling of friction in intercourse is a little lessened. The feeling of the erection, generally, is somewhat different than what you're used to; you can also feel the pump and tubing with your hand quite readily.  The pump itself is a little difficult to operate, and for at least the first few weeks your scrotum will hurt from the compression of your fingers against the pump inside it.  The urologist said that they can make the penis somewhat larger depending on how much scar tissue is present, but since I'd had a mild case of Peyronie's Disease with some scarring there was has been some shortening, which is the chief complaint of patients who were less than completely satisfied, me included.  Last but not least, there is some risk of infection, which also happened to me.

The boring details are:

I started with a new (to me)urologist, asked him about penis implants since my Super Bi-mix injections worked but not as well as they used to. and I knew that eventually they would not work at all .  He said I was a good candidate for implants because I am taking Xarelto for A-fib, and the anti-coagulant drugs tend to cause excess bleeding in the penis when the ED injections are used.  After some more consultation we set a date that was about 6 weeks out for the surgery.

Surgery was under general anaesthesia, so I felt like crap when I awoke.  They kept me in the hospital overnight as a precaution due to my A-fib, and for that night and the next day I felt pretty good, not knowing that they had chocked my nether regions full with painkillers.  My johnson and balls were cradled in some sort of cushioned gauze pocket taped to my abdomen, and a Foley catheter had been inserted into my urethra.  By the time I was released, I had three swollen balls:  the pump and fluid reservoir felt like a third ball. The doc tried to remove the cradle, but the gorilla tape they'd used hurt so bad when he pulled on it that it brought tears to my eyes. I was later able to take it off after soaking in the shower the next day. I could barely sit down on the ride home, and though they gave me a week's worth of Tramadol I ached eontinually for a week straight.  Even though the pain began to subside on the 7th day, my balls remained swollen for quite some time afterward.  

The night before my 3-week follow-up doctor visit I developed a fever and shivered violently for almost 2 hours straight. Turns out I had a Urinary Tract Infection, for which they gave me Levaquin, a badass antibiotic with which you can have no alcohol, grapefruit, or several other things, including sunlight.  After that went away, my balls and weenie were all still very tender, so I was unable to use or practice with the device.  When I finally could do so, operating the pump by squeezing the bulb through the scrotum has made it feel bruised and a little sore.  I will say that finally, 8 weeks later,  I had sex with my girlfriend and though awkward and different-feeling, it was in the end quite satisfying.  Maybe with my continued breaking-in of the pump and toughening of my scrotum it will be even better.  We'll see.

Update: It's been seven months since the surgery and the implants are functioning quite well, although as I said there has been some shortening of the penis and it does not have the girth it once had.  I read two interesting articles among a host of dull ones about that:  One said that the use of an ED medication like Viagra or Cialis would induce some swelling of the glans and maybe improve girth somewhat until the medication wears off-- I've noticed that when I get really excited, the ridge on on the underside of my cock actually swells a bit, so the drugs  might indeed help.  I'm thining of re-ordering Rugiet, which is Viagra combined with a nother drug, Apomorphine, that really helps you get in the mood... 

Another article was a case study of a guy whose implants for some reason needed replacing.  He used a vacuum assist device (a penis pump) regularly while waiting for the replacement surgery.  Supposedly it increased the size of his corpora cavernosa enought that the urologist was able to insert a larger set of implants than before, so maybe that's something you could look forward to if things go wrong the first time. 

To sum it all up, the surgery is painful and although most of it goes away in a few days there is still some tenderness here after 7 months.  I and a lot of men find that with the implants the penis is somewhat shorter and a little thinnner than it was before the surgery. But on the other hand, sex with the implants works quite well: My girlfriend seems to genuinely enjoy it, anyway!  There is something to be said for not having that "Will it work or not?" anxiety that began with ED and continued through all the times I used medications and then with the injections, so  now I do have a certain degree of confidence that I can be hard whenever I need to be.

Rugiet: It's The Real Deal!

 So I wondered if maybe the Acoustic Wave treatment might have made the use of oral ED drugs more effective for me, since I have severe ED.  Maybe I wondered aloud and my cell phone heard me, because almost immediately Facebook showed me an ad for Rugiet, a new oral ED treatment.  It is a softgel that dissolves under your tongue, which they claim helps it take effect in as little as 15 minutes.  There are 3 different-strength formulas, the "max" of which contains (I think) 110 mg of Sildenafil (generic Viagra), 40 mg Tadalafil (generic Cialis) and 3 mg of APO, short for Apomorphine, a new one on me. 

Their literature says APO has the effect of preparing the nervous system for sexual stimulation. It is a dopamine agonist (or promoter) that affects dopamine receptors which (I think they said) send sex-related signals through the body.  It's fairly new but has been very effective in clinical trials, with the most common side effect being nausea, which goes away with continued use.  One study I looked at seems to say that it is almost as effective for men with severe ED as for mild or moderate ED....  Okay, to cut to the chase: I think I can attest to that.  There is a comment at the end of the study description that suggests that another reason the APO works is that some of the root cause of physical ED may be in certain areas of the brain.

         ( I've screwed something up in the formatting, can't seem to fix it.) I got the package in the mail and couldn't wait to try it out. I put the little soft square under my                tongue and it dissoved fairly quickly, had a vaguely minty taste which was not bad.  It took longer            than 15 minutes, but not more than 30-- conjuring up some sexual imagery in my mind, my                 mini-me self-initiated a launch sequence which hadn't happened in several years.  I went into the next room to my girlfriend and asked her to help me with something in the bedroom.  With a quizzical expression she did so, and on arrival I took her in my arms and kissed her deeply. At the end of the kiss I dropped my pajama pants and stepped back.  "HOLY CRAP!" she exclaimed, and took the angry little feller in hand and began feeling it...   In truth, it was just almost hard enough for penetration, but that was way beyond anything I'd achieved without an injection in a long time. She stared at it for some time, fascinated, squeezing it and then gently stroking it, making me moan softly.  When I did, she looked up at me with an amused expression, then pushed me back on the bed and went down on me with a vengeance.  I was surprised by the experience, but it put me in a zone where it felt so good I didn't want it to stop, so I didn't come for quite a little while, but when I finally did come it was explosive, and would have set new height and distance records for me had she not completely contained and swallowed it all except for a little dribble that ran down her chin. She stared hotly into my eyes and grinned.  

It's hard to describe the difference in feel between an oral drug-induced erection and one achieved by injection. It just feels more natural, and by extension more exciting.  I felt much like I had back in the day almost 18 years ago when Cialis enabled me to make love with my late wife 5 times in one 24- hour period.  Having had severe ED for the last 10 years or so, it was incredibly surprising.  I'm kind of hoping that with repeated use I may be able to achieve actual penetration-worthy hardness. I admit I've contemplated maybe taking two doses at once:  I don't know about the double Sildenafil and Tadalafil, but the APO study tested doses up to 6 mg, so I think I'd be good, there. Hmmm...

The bottom line is, I would bet that a man with mild or moderate ED would be blown away by how effective Rugiet can be, maybe men with severe ED, too.  But of course, it's not cheap-- the 1-time trial order was $170 for 6 doses, although the regular recurring order option i, I think, a little cheaper per dose.  Right now, though, I'd say it's freakin' WORTH IT, BABY!

 

 

     

I've Started Shock Wave Treatments for ED

 I finally decided to try my urologist's U-Wave treatment even though it is supposedly not as effective for guys with advanced/severe ED like me.  I figured for the new lower price it would be worth a try, and it's good I signed up when I did-- the price jumped from $1500 to $2000 as of January 1, 2022.  This was still much better than the Total Performance Medical price of $5500 I was quoted maybe a year ago (see  past blog post).  

The procedure is very simple: you strip below the waist, the technician applies an acoustic gel to your willy and then he goes over it with the shockwave wand. After that you put your knees up and he gels and wands the area at the base of your shaft behind the testicles, where the artery supplying your genitals is located.  You can feel the pulses, kind of prickly/tingly, but it doesn't really hurt.  My 3rd treatment was given by the actual urologist, and he used a little less gel, which meant I felt it more, like really mild pin pricks but nothing to complain about.  I had my 4th treatment yesterday from the regular tech, and he uses more gel, which means I don't feel anything.  You get 2 treatments per week for 3 weeks.  The treatment takes about 4 to 6 weeks to have its full effect, after which they have a doctor consultation to gauge its success or failure.

As I said, I just completed my 4th session, and I can tell a difference even though I'm far from cured.  I take Super Bi-mix injections to achieve erections, and the tech suggested I induce one every 48 hours and keep it hard for as long as possible while the treatments are on-going, to help the body build and open the penile blood vessels. Before I started this, my injections were kind of hit or miss as far as success was concerned, not sure why.  Since I began U-Wave, however, every erection has been rock-hard and I've managed to make it last 1.5 to 2 hours as long as I put off climaxing... WOOHOO! That much alone makes it worth the $1500 to me.

I'll update this post after the last treatment, if there's anything new to report, and again after the 4- 6 week period.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have an injection to prepare.  ;-)

UPDATE:  My member feels "fatter" than it did, and my erect length seems to have improved, although not to what it was before I had Peyronie's Disease (see previous post).  Alas, I can't see much improvement in my ED in general, still need an injection to get hard. *Sigh*

Fighting ED with Niacin? Hmmm....

So I was watching the TV series Ratched, and there was a scene where a psych hospital patient complains to the nurse that he's had an erection for 3 days, and she says "Oh, that's the Niacin we give you. It affects some guys that way." She then proceeds to jerk him off, but that has nothing to do with this post....  Curious, I googled treating ED with Niacin, and sure enough there is an NIH study that examined just that. It said that test subjects who took 500 to 1500 mg of Niacin (an OTC available dietary supplement you can get from any drugstore) for 12 weeks experienced improvement in their erections, especially those with more severe ED.  I didn't pay attention to the actual numbers quoted though, sorry.

I've been taking 1000 mg of Niacin a day for about 8 weeks so far, and there is a small improvement in my erectile ability.  I have REALLY severe ED though, so I'm probably not a good test subject. A more normal man would probably get a bigger bang from it, maybe.  Anyway, if there is any significant change after 12 weeks, I'll update this post.  Meanwhile, I'm still using injections to get the job done.  I'm on Super Bi-Mix now, and it seems to be working pretty well. 

Is Peakperformanceformen.org a Scam?

I think not, although they definitely pursue the hard sell.  My regular urologist has a low-intensity shock wave machine, and he said it would cost about $3000, so I visited Peakperformanceformen to see what their treatment is like and how much it would cost.  I had to pay $49 for the consultation (it's advertised as $99 on TV, but if you mention their website you get the cheaper price),  They ask you a bunch of relevant questions about your ED to start with, and an assistant then uses a hand-held doppler device to listen to the pulse of your femoral artery and then 2 other arteries which supposedly feed into your penis. My femoral artery had a loud, regular pulse while the other two had almost none at all. Surprise, surprise!

An actual physician came in a few minutes later and said from his review of my history and the doppler test I qualified for the treatment.  I was then ushered into the business manager's office (kinda like buying a car, eh?) and long story short, the fee was going to be $5500 plus a possible maintenance treatment in 6 months for another $900.  What the?  I suppose in my younger years I might have been desperate enough to pay that, but today, MEH, no way.  As a last ditch sales pitch, the business guy said the shockwave treatment could be used on my testicles to get them to produce more testosterone, something neither I nor my urologist had ever heard.  I have since received several follow-up voicemails from the main office of the company offering a lower fee, but I haven't called them back.

Some notes:  1) My dick doc said that for guys with severe ED, such as requires bi-mix injections rather than just oral ED drugs, the shockwave treatment seldom results in enough improvement to stop using the injections, so if I wanted to throw $3000 at it anyway, they could do that. 2) It looks like Peakperformanceformen uses a device branded Piezo Wave.  When I googled them it seems their device is primarily used for torn rotator cuff repairs and the like, but I may have been wrong. 3) I wonder that maybe because this is a relatively new treatment in the US is why it costs so much.  Perhaps like laser vision correction a few years ago, the price of the procedure may come down as it becomes more commonly available and initial demand for it subsides.  We can only hope!

Bi-Mix Rules!

Well I was using Edex, which worked okay but caused a dull ache in my penis the whole time, which was sometimes very uncomfortable.  Then my nice but generally disinterested urologist retired and I was assigned a new, much younger guy who nevertheless seemed very experienced.  He recommended Bi-Mix, which is a combination of my old friend Papaverine and Phentolamine, and is only available from a compounding pharmacy.  He recommended EmpowerRx which is located in Houston, TX and sends the stuff by mail order. It costs less than $100 for an amount that provides 7 - 12 doses depending on how much you need per dose, so its a HECK of a lot cheaper than Edex, and it works great!  Takes about 15 -20 minutes to reach peak hardness, lasts 60 - 90 minutes.  The Little Woman and I are gettin' older so she doesn't want to have more than one go-round in any one session, but I've gotten into the shower after a bout of lovemaking and within the above time-period found I was easily stimulated back to full attention, so I'm thinking you could get at least a couple of good rodgerings with each dose if you and your partner are up for it.  The only drawback is that I seem to require a bigger dose than when I started....   The Doc said that if I eventually need a really big dose then I should switch to Tri-Mix, which is the two drugs listed above plus the drug that's in Edex, so it would be back to having an aching Willy.  Woohoo!  The things we do for love....  

Bathmate: A Different Kind of Penis Pump

The Bathmate is a different animal from the others, in that it is supposedly a male enhancement device and is not really meant for intercourse.  You generally need to be in the bath or shower to use it (hence the name), so unless you're gonna do the deed there it's not practical for sex, more's the pity since it is about the most effective Vacuum Erectile Device I've tried so far.

It's a big bullet-shaped device with a domed top and an "alligator" flexible rubber-like gasket at the bottom.  You fill it with water and then push it back against your body, which forces water out a one-way valve in the dome, creating suction.  You wait a minute until the suction draws blood into the penis (and thus the suction lessens), then you push it back again to force more water out and increase the suction, repeating the cycle every so often until you can't increase the suction any more.  You're supposed to leave the device on for a maximum of 15 minutes (making for a danged long shower, sometimes) in three sessions of five minutes each.  The result was that it made my weenie about as big as it's ever been since I developed Peyronie's, and almost hard enough for penetration, despite my severe ED.  Did it increase my size? Hard to say:  as I continued to use it over several months, the graduated measurements marked on the side of the cylinder did increase by about 2.5 centimeters, but I don't know if that was a real increase or just my becoming more adept at applying the suction, thus collapsing the seal tighter and forcing the head farther into the cylinder.  My wife, however, remarked that when I use Edex to get a real, full erection,  my little man seems thicker, for some reason, so....

Still, whether or not it really increased my size and/or helped partially cure my Peyronie's disease, it gave me a great sense of fullness that lasted for quite a while when I also used a cock ring to keep it engorged after removing the pump.  If felt so good that I more often than not, um, pleasured myself, which made the shower even LONGER!  Dang....  After about 8 months of use, however, it appears the seal is failing, so I can't get the suction to work very well, even with gel lubricant as a seal, so I'll have to buy a new or different one to continue.  Hmph! (Update:  I bought another one and after a while it developed the same problem.  Cleaning the valve helped the problem some, but did not cure it. *sigh*

Follow up to previous post about penis enlargement devices...

Well, it seems that The Little Woman and I have somehow gotten into the habit of making love only on Holidays (although she is a good sport and diddles me with her magic fingers once or twice a week, and the occasional blow job. I don't get hard enough for penetration, but I do kind of enlarge enough to make oral pleasure possible, and I try to please her whenever she'll let me).  Thus, the day after Valentine's we managed to do the do with the help of Edex.  The curvature of my little monster seems to have improved a bit after 5 weeks of using the penis pump and a PTT device, but nothing dramatic, so it was tres awkward still.   We tried a number of positions, her on top, me on top, her on the bed with me standing behind her (which seems to work the best to get the motion going, although it doesn't produce enough friction to make me come), and we kept going until we were both exhausted!  We're old, y'know. After we collapsed on the bed, she very graciously finished me off by hand.... So, the jury is still out on whether VED and PTT actually work.  My stretched penile length (SPL), however, has noticeably improved, for whatever that's worth.  I was always more of a grower than a show-er, so it is nice to have some hanging meat, even if it is more or less non-functional.

UP DATE: As time went on, my love wand seemed to have straightened out quite a bit, although intercourse with The Little Woman was complicated by her post-menopausal dryness and a general lack of interest-- supposeldly up to 85% of women suffer a lack of desire after the change.  She still kept me happy orally and manually, and quite lovingly so.... Anyway, my curvature improved to near normal proportions, although my length was still somewhat reduced. :-(     ...I mentioned to my urologist's PA that the PTT device seems to have worked, and he said that there are some suspicions that the stretching exercises they recommend as part of Xiaflex treatment may be as effective as the drug itself. 

Using penis enlargement devices to treat Peyronie's disease?

It's not as silly as you might think! I read an abstract by the National Institutes of Health about several clinical studies of Penile Traction Therapy and Vacuum Erectile Devices, which concluded that they do work, to some degree. There was measurable increase in penis length for men who wore PTT devices 8 hours every day for 6 months, although in most cases the gains were quite modest, like 1 to 3 cm, although men who suffered from small penis syndrome realized more dramatic gains.  The improvement for Peyronie's disease sufferers looked really promising, with curvature improvements that ranged from 15 to 27% (the corrective surgeries available, as well as the new Xiaflex injection, offer only a little more improvement at 33%).

Supposedly, it is believed that the best results are achieved in the acute phase of Peyronie's, before the scar tissue is calcified, although some study participants had the disease for 11 months.  VEDs were less effective in both areas, although they do make it feel good to have the ole' willie filled up and (in my case) almost hard. Most of the studies used stretched penis length (SPL) as the measurement of success, although one Peyronie's study used photographs taken after medically inducing an erection, to measure curvature success.

Having read that, I ordered the "Deluxe" PTT device from X4labs.com for $89.95 with free shipping.  They have a special Peyronie's model for like $149.95, but I couldn't see much difference in that product to merit the much higher price, other than a free bottle of Vitamin E, which you can get from the drugstore for much less.  I've been wearing the thing for about a week or so, and it takes some getting used to, but isn't really painful or anything like that.  It has a tension adjustment that you can use to tighten or loosen up things once you put it on, but early on you have the urge to make it tighter in order to feel the stretch.  By the end of the day, however, you REALLY begin to feel it painfully, so I've been starting out with an easier setting, lately.  We'll see how he does.  The Little Woman said she actually can see a difference in my flaccid length, which wouldn't be important to me except for the fact that if I eventually need penile implants, they make them so that your erect length is about the same as your SPL, so HEY!  The longer the better!  BTW, TLW and I made love on New Year's Eve, and it may be my imagination, but it seemed the curvature had already improved a little bit.  Fingers crossed...!

UPDATE- 04/02/2015:  After 3 months of using the PTT device, my wife and I have noticed a definite improvement in the curvature of my Little Man. Where previously it curved all the way back over to my abdomen, it now curves but points straight up, so something definitely seems to be happening. Sex is still rather awkward, but somewhat improved.  Keeping my fingers crossed that there's more improvement to come!

UPDATE: 12/07/2015:  After about 7 months of PTT, the bend in the lower part of my shaft has straightened out considerably, while the small bend up near the head is, unfortunately, not much affected.  I was using VED's at the same time, so it's hard to tell whether they or the PTT worked better, although my gut instinct is that the PTT was most effective.  As a result, the doc has taken a wait and see attitude toward getting penile implants.  When I asked him about the ED1000 ultrasonic shockwave treatment which is not yet available in the US, he said it looks promising both for ED and Peyronie's, but all the studies aren't in, yet.

Penile Implants: A Brief Preliminary Comparison of Types

Since I don't have them yet, there isn't much I could tell you that you can't Google for yourself, but here's my take on them, anyway:  There are two basic types of implants: semi-rigid and inflatable. The rigid ones are malleable rods that keep your penis pretty much extended all the time-- you bend it up or down depending on whether you're ready to party or want the little guy to remain out of sight.  I don't find this very appealing, but one specialist pointed out that the rods generally last longer than the inflatables without having to be replaced.  For younger guys this might be important because since they are likely to be more sexually active, the repeated use of an inflatable might make them not last the 10 year average life they advertise, since the average implant patient tends to be older and less active.  

The inflatables have a more natural feel and appearance, I'm told, especially in the flaccid state, and they give the patient a great degree of control over the rigidity of one's member.  The bothersome thing about implants generally are that the length of the erect penis with implants is like 7 to 10% shorter than it used to be.  The dick doc said it would probably be about the length that you could stretch your flaccid penis with your hand. What the actual HELL?!  Even with the shortening caused by my Peyronie's I'm bigger'n that when in full bloom, so that prospect is very concerning.  If you look for implant videos on Youtube, you'll find one where the guy's johnson is freakin' HUGE, so he must have been an absolute HORSE before the surgery.  Geez, if only I could have what I once had....  Sigh.

There are two types of inflatables, too:  2 piece and 3 piece, which is kind of misleading.  The 3 piece has a fluid reservoir which is placed behind the abdominal wall, a pump in the scrotum, and the two cavernosal bladders, whereas the 2 piece has a combination pump and reservoir plus the bladders.  I couldn't find much information about pros and cons of either, though the docs seem to recommend the 3 piece.  The diagrams of the 2 piece make it seem like the ole' sac might be a little crowded with that combo.  ANYWAY, I'll let you know if I find out anything....

Success After a Dry Spell: Damn the Peyronie's, (Almost) Full Speed Ahead!

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Peyronie's Hope & Despair: Penis Implants Now, or Hope for Something Better Down the Road?

I'm in a quandary.  I can't seem to commit to the idea of getting penis implants.  I got over the fear of the surgery (although it is done under general anesthesia, which has its own problems), since all the work is done through a small incision in the bottom of the scrotum.  The idea of being able to have an erection whenever I want one is alluring, too, and once the surgery is paid for there might not be the constant expense of ED drugs.  But once made, it's a permanent decision to always have implants, which, since the current inflatable models last only ten to fifteen years, might mean additional surgeries to replace them (although the manufacturer supposedly warrants them for life, so replacements wouldn't cost anything).

On the other hand, I read a .pdf download from Medispec.com, the manufacturer of the ED1000 (see post).  It was a digest of all the testing & research regarding Low Intensity Shock Wave Therapy (which is what the ED1000 is) and it also included some research regarding High Intensity Therapy for Peyronie's using a lithotripsy device to try to break up the scar tissue that causes it, the results of which have been mixed but look rather promising.  If I get implants now,  the ED1000 won't be available to me when it finally gets approved for use in the USA, so it seems to make sense to wait, for a while, at least.

It's frustrating, though, because my wife and I have only had actual intercourse twice in the last two months I've had Peyronie's, and it has been extremely awkward, although we did have some success with a doggie-style arrangement where she kneeled on the bed while I stood up on the floor, but it certainly isn't like it used to be.  Sigh.....  (Years later I have tried shock-wave therapy and finally had the implant surgery.  See later posts.)

Peyronie's Disease: WTF Else is Gonna Happen???

About 8 to 10 weeks ago (see previous post).  I woke with one of my usual only moderately hard morning erections, and the damn thing was curved all the way up to touch my belly.  I finally got an appointment with my urologist in mid-February, and he detected a definite plaque (scar tissue) inside the ol' weenie that is causing it to curve.  He referred me to a urologist specializing in Peyronie's Disease. That doc said he did not believe the Edex had caused it, that I probably injured my member during sex at some point (and I do remember being bent bent double a time or two when I slipped out unexpectedly.  The injury supposedly happens usually when you are doing it in a woman-on-top position).

Anyway, this doc deals with Xiaflex, a new collagenase drug that is injected into the plaque to cause a break in it so the penis can be stretched to separate the parts of the plaque so it no longer "tethers" the penis.  He said, however, that at best it generally improves the curvature by only 33%, and that would not be much help to me, and people who already have ED are not good candidates for Xiaflex because it can make the ED worse.  Then, too, Xiaflex currently costs a whoppin' $3300.00 per vial, with as many as 8 vials sometimes necessary to complete the treatment!  Not sure if insurance would cover any of that, since the drug is sort of experimental.

His bottom line recommendation, if I cannot live with the curvature, is to get penile implants.  (It's a little too much for me to think about right now, so you'll just have to Google penile implants.) My Peyronie's is not stable yet, so he has me taking a couple of prescription drugs to mitigate it as much as possible until it does go from acute to chronic.  Supposedly, 10 to 12% of patients improve on their own, about 40% get worse, and the remaining bunch see no change at all.

Oh, joy....

Penile Curvature- WTH?

So I dunno if it was the bargain basement penis pump or the Edex, but my member has recently developed an upward curve to it.  She had trouble getting it inserted at first, but once in, we didn't have any problems.  I haven't been able to test it again because She fell and was injured a while back and has not completely healed yet, thus She doesn't have much interest in doin' the do, although she has cheerfully given me fellatio a couple times in the last two weeks-- I think she's still staving off the beast because a full Ironman session takes so much time and effort.  Anyway, I always had a little sideways curve due to unequal filling when the Little Man got excited (the 2nd wife used to call me "J-Man" because it would look like the letter J until it began to become fully erect) but this is definitely different.  I googled Peyronie's Disease, but I can't feel any sort of fibrous tissue in there when I palpate it myself.... I dunno, I've stopped using the pump for now.  Just wish I could use the Edex again to see what's going to happen.

Penis Pumps- Hmmmm....

My urologist had mentioned that I might want to try to use one of those things, but I was a little leery.  It seemed a little creepy and artificial (as opposed to injecting yourself with penis-expanding drugs?), but my Edex injections are getting so danged expensive (they went up $15 on a four-dose supply, to $230) that I reconsidered the ole' pumps, especially since they are reusable and might be covered by my insurance.  I checked on the Pos-T-Vac, widely advertised on TV, which is a medical grade device.  A basic system costs about $150, although I saw a different brand medical-grade device advertised on the CVS website for $119.  Not sure I wanted to make that investment, I ordered the Pumpworx Beginners kit, which is $18 plus shipping from CVS, and is classified as a "novelty device".

I've experimented with it 3 times, with less than stellar results, although I can see where the medical-grade pumps probably work better.  The first time, I couldn't get the danged thing to seal very well at the bottom, so when I started to build up any suction it started to "whee" like when you slowly let the air out of a balloon.  The second and third times I used it in the shower after applying hair conditioner to Little Man's shaft, and either the wetness or the conditioner sealed it well.  I could only get a certain amount of suction, however, before the squeeze bulb would stay squeezed and could not be re-inflated to be pumped again (a safety feature?  I dunno).  I did get some impressive size going, but even after releasing the vacuum it was then difficult to get the dang thing off me!  (It sounded like a champagne cork popping when it finally came out.)  Before I could get the cock ring on to keep it engorged, the erection had already started going away.  I know the Pos T Vac has a way to roll the cock ring onto the bottom of the pump cylinder so you can just roll it off the pump onto your shaft, so that might be another advantage to the medical-grade pumps.  So far, though, I have yet to be able to achieve a sufficient erection for penetration, although it worked well as a masturbatory aid (I know, I know, EWWW!  Hey, everybody poops and just about everyone masturbates, so get over it!)  The results have been intriguing, though, so I may try to get the Doc to prescribe one of the "good" ones.

UPDATE, 08/04/2014:  I went ahead and ordered a Pos-T-Vac from Walgreen's....  It definitely works better than the novelty pump, but I still haven't quite gotten the little fella all the way hard, yet, what with different size penis rings and pressure levels to try.  I did try using the new pump with a 100mg Stendra tablet, and that looks promising. We'll see....

UPDATE, 10/30/2014:  I had trouble getting the Pos T Vac to seal because I'm kinda hairy down there (the Little Woman jokes I should braid it) so I used clippers and some scissors and cut it very short but not shaved.  The thing did work better, but I still can't can't seem to generate enough suction to get it hard enough for penetration (although it makes hand and blow jobs more interesting).  It's funny how the cheap novelty pump seems to pull the little guy out to full length, whereas the Pos T Vac plumps him up more.  I had him big around enough that when I pulled off the pump to check him I couldn't get him back in the cylinder afterwards, but he still DIDN'T get hard.  Sheesh....

UPDATE, 01/20/2015:  I've given up on the Pos-T-Vac because I just can't keep shaving down there, and the results were only a little better than the cheapo pump.  NOTE:  If you buy a Pos-T-Vac, get one with either the squeeze handle or the electric pump.  The push-down pump requires you to push so hard that it actually made my abdoment hurt, after a while.  I've been using the cheapo in the shower almost every day in the hopes that it might help my Peyronie's disease (see later post, "Using Penis-Enlargement Devices to Treat Peyronie's?"), and it kind of feels good to have the little man enlarged even if he ain't hard.  Sigh....

With Edex, I am a victim of my own success....

After our last wild (for us) night that I detailed in my previous post, which occurred on a Friday, I tried to tactfully suggest we go again on Sunday night, because the only thing about great sex is that it just makes you crave more of it!  But the wife's response was "Oh no, I would have to work up to that!" meaning she needed a rest before enduring THAT again....  I didn't know whether to be proud that I wore her out, or depressed that she found it so tiring to be intimate with me.  The thing about Edex is that it is so expensive (with my crappy health insurance, it costs $205 for 4 doses) along with he fact that when you have ED it just... feels... so... damn'...GOOD to be rock hard again that you want to take advantage of its effects while they last, both of which led to the amazing two-fer of that Friday.  

The aftermath of that night led to another short dry spell of two weeks, although on that second Friday when we usually get busy, we were lying in bed when The Little Woman began playing with my equipment and brought it to Chubby Status, which is about the best I can achieve without the help of chemistry.  She started diddling her fingers along the underside of my shaft, and bore in on that sensitive part about two inches down from the head, and she did it so intensely that I soon exploded all over myself.  She chuckled, apparently taking a kind of weird (to me) satisfaction in the copious result of her handiwork.  I was much appreciative and we were both tired, so we went to sleep without doing the do.  Then again on the next Monday she tried the same thing again, but then began some oral techniques which put me into orbit, although again she switched to manual mode at the last so she could observe the results.  I was again amazed and delighted, but I was beginning to get the impression that by doing these things she was attempting to keep The Monster at bay, and to be honest, she was succeeding, really!

Then it came to be Friday again, and after a sumptuous meal and quite a bit of wine, She said rather unceremoniously "Let's go to bed, and bring your stuff."  Wow!  With trembling hands I hurriedly readied the dose and injected it.  As I've said before, Edex takes a while to work, but it seemed that as we fooled around I was throbbing with anticipation in no time, but ever the dutiful lover, I kept on with the preliminaries until suddenly she pushed me onto my back and mounted me.  She rode me furiously for less than a minute before she did her little "Unngh!" thing, which is usually my cue to let go, but it had been so long and I was so IN THE ZONE, that stable plateau period where it feels so good you don't want it to end, that I couldn't seem to get out of it.  Now, my sexual performance has varied widely since even back before ED was a problem for me, but I've noticed and read about how it sometimes becomes more difficult to climax as you get older.  That, however, did not seem to be the problem this time:  it was just so...damn'... GOOD that I didn't want to stop, and eventually She began to get tired.  I offered to assume top position, but she acted as if she didn't hear me, actually getting kind of angry, chanting "Come on!" as she thrust back and forth.  She finally seemed to make a supreme "I'll show YOU!" effort, and thrusted so hard and so rapidly it drove me off the plateau and into the abyss.  Orgasms in real life seldom approach earth-shaking for me, but by golly this one had me shaking for what seemed like an outrageous amount of time.  I was spent!

Always the passive-aggressive one, she said "I'm sorry I didn't excite you enough to come right away..."  to which I replied "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" along with some superlatives about her beauty and her performance, all of which were true, mind you.  That honest adoration on my part seemed to take the edge off her, somewhat, and when she lifted off me and I was drenched by a deluge of our combined juices, she again let out that weird little chuckle of satisfaction and it seemed that all was right with the World.  We cleaned up (it took me a LOT longer than it did her) and then came back to bed, but when I got there she was already fast asleep.  Looking at her lying there brought my Little Big Man almost all the way back to attention, but after playing around with it a bit I found that I was too tired to make the effort to work it through to completion. I was hit by a thunderbolt of amazement that I, too, would have to "work up to doing that again"!  Sheesh!

Edex Performance Becoming More Consistent.

The Little Woman and I had another dry spell, albeit a shorter one of about two weeks, but after which her performance improved with the pent-up passion.  My performance, not so much:  She rode me furiously, and though I hung on longer than last time I still erupted at about the 4-minute mark.  Afterward she seemed to be energized, heading back out to the living room to watch TV while I in typical man fashion quickly fell asleep.  I read somewhere that there is an actual physiological basis for this, that some endorphin or hormone or something is released in the man's system after sex that makes him sleepy, probably so the ancient cave woman could get the hell away afterward!

I was awakened sometime later by Her coming back to bed.  I don't know how much later it was, but when she pushed up against me to spoon, my Little Man sprang to life.  I dunno what came over me, but I didn't try to seduce her with sweet talk, I didn't ask permission, I just attacked her, burying my face in her cleavage while I climbed on top.  She didn't resist or protest, just wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hung on for what turned out to be a good long motorboating and pony ride.  I think maybe, for once, she really enjoyed being taken.  Anyway, I must have been at the limit of Edex' efficacy because as soon as I expended myself, the Little Man collapsed,  exhausted.  And you know what?  This time we both instantly fell asleep. 

My Edex Experience Continues to Be Unpredictable....

Well there was a long dry spell owing to a big fight my wife and I had, along with other factors, part of which includes the lack of spontaneity involved with the use of Edex.  It's so expensive on my crappy health insurance that I generally wait until She commits to us doing the do before going ahead with the injection. Just the other night, though, it had been almost a month since we'd last had actual intercourse (although, trouper that she is, she gave me a wonderful blow/hand job just last week after we made up), so I knew from her attitude and demeanor she'd be ready about any time now....  She seems to be about the only woman who likes morning sex.  I think it's because we can immediately get cleaned up afterward and begin our day.  No matter how good/bad/mediocre the sex has been, she almost always gets up in a good mood, humming away while she fixes breakfast.  Ah, what a lovely girl she is... but I digress:

I ambushed her.  I got up first, zapped Little Willy with the Edex and returned to bed.  It took a good 15 to 20 minutes to take effect, but hallelujah when it did!  I waited awhile for her to wake up, playing with the wood every so often to keep it firm.  Eventually, however, I found myself becoming too aroused, as the pre-cum began to flow quite a bit.  I finally stirred around in the bed enough to get her half-awake, then rolled my back to her.  As I'd hoped, she took up the spoon position behind me and, as she does quite often, she kind of sleepily felt me up, playing with my butt, rubbing my belly, etc until her hand inadvertently dropped to my nether region, and whoa! she startled fully awake at finding the diamond-cutter waiting for her.  She seems to be continually fascinated by the wood that Edex produces, and she rolled me onto my back and went down on me for a bit, then rested her head on my belly while she played with her toy.  She seemed to be feeling it up and down out of curiosity rather than trying to give me pleasure, several times squeezing it rather hard between thumb and fore finger as if testing its firmness, etc.  It didn't bother me as I was in freakin' HEAVEN.  I couldn't help but moan.  She eventually mounted me and tried to move as slowly as possible, but the dry spell and and all the unusual foreplay had me at a fever pitch and I was GONE in no-time... damn.

Now the clinical aspect of the Edex:  After exploding with the rolling climax produced by expelling all the backed-up love juice, Willy softened up quite a bit, and seeing this, the Lilttle Woman, her mission accomplished, rolled over and went back to sleep.  We spooned, but uncharacteristically for a man, I was unable to sleep afterward with her beautiful body pressed up against me. Willy soon (5 to 10 minutes) became rock hard and ready to party again, but dammit, I didn't dare try a second ambush.  Thanks for the torture, Edex!

EDEX Still Rules, No Buts About It!

After the unexpectedly wild night of June 20, 2013 (see previous post), we were all fired up for Date Night on Friday the 21st.  A romantic dinner out, a few drinks at the local club, and we were both ready for action.  I'd read in the literature that something like 57% of guys who start out on Prostoglandin have to have their dosage adjusted within a few weeks, so that took away a lot of worry. This time I went right for the gusto and injected two 10 mcg doses.  It only took a few minutes to take effect with a VENGEANCE, and when that happened I was more relaxed and confident than I'd ever been, so I was able to pace myself and take a leisurely approach to foreplay like I hadn't been able to do for a few years.  Our fooling around went on so long that SHE was the one who finally initiated intercourse:  It was cowgirl up, and she rode me furiously, at one point with her hand in the air like at the rodeo.  She has this back and forth move with her hips that apparently feels really good for her but doesn't give me the same pleasure that her up-and-down motion does, but that was good because it didn't make me come too soon, either. It was kind of a weird feeling having my member slammed back and forth inside her, but the visual effect of her up there was also unbelievably hot, so it was both kind of relaxing and arousing at the same time!  

She went on vigorously like that for quite a while, then suddenly confirmed that her usual little outcries are indeed the sound of her coming-- It was a BIG outcry this time, and she flowed when she came, which I'm not sure has ever happened since we've been together. She then slowed her movement and lost focus for a few seconds, but soon began rising and falling on me, which was INCREDIBLE, but soon I could tell she was either losing steam or losing interest.  I laid her down, assumed the top position and carried on, thrusting to please myself.  Danged if after a few minutes she didn't cry "unnngh!" again (although not as loud as before) and sort of went motionless for several seconds.  I couldn't believe how good it was, and didn't want it to end.  My wonderful lover, however, knows every one of my erogenous zones and tweaked all of them, finally pinching both my nipples hard until I was driven over the edge.  I exploded BIG, did some crying out myself, and then collapsed on top of her.  We were asleep in seconds....  THANK YOU, EDEX!