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.
Showing posts with label erectile dysfunction treatment comparison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label erectile dysfunction treatment comparison. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
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.
Monday, September 16, 2013
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!
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Where is my Stendra? And where is my ED 1000?
These are two ED treatments you've probably heard about if, like me, you research ED cures every other day hoping for a miracle. Just in case you ain't heard, the miracle may be here, or rather, may be in Canada, Europe, and everywhere else except the USA! The ED 1000 is a version of the ultrasonic shock wave machine that has been used successfully to grow new blood vessels in damaged heart muscle, now adapted for use on the penis to cure, that's right, CURE most ED problems. It's made in the US and has been in use in Canada and the UK for a couple of years, and they report something like a 95% success rate. The UK has pressed ahead with it because their National Health Service currently pays at least part of their citizens' Viagra and Cialis bills, so a cure would reduce that cost. I read somewhere that the treatment takes 6 weeks and costs around $2100. Hell, I'll spend almost that on EDEX this year alone!
Stendra is yet another PDE-5 inhibitor medication that supposedly was approved by the FDA in April, 2012, but I can't find any information on its availabilty. My drugstore did not have it in its catalog, and I signed up for a newsletter on the manufacturer's website but have heard nothing from them. Supposedly it works faster than Viagra, in like 15 minutes, and it wears off in an hour. I thought I might try it, since every ED drug I've had works great for awhile then quits, except for Papaverine and EDEX which never fail. We'll see....
UPDATE: I read where the developer of Stendra finally obtained permission from the FDA to advertise that it was more fast-acting, and that having this permission persuaded another drug company to partner with the original developer in production and investment, etc. Supposedly that means that Stendra may become available by the end of 2013. Keeping my fingers crossed! I've called a couple of ED clinics in Canada, but I've yet to find one that offers the ED 1000 treatment.
UPDATE, 03/13/2014: Stendra is now available. There are numerous brochures sitting around in my urologist's offce advertising it, now. Ya. Hoo.
UPDATE, 05/05/2014: I finally got my family doc to prescribe me Stendra. The literature says that because I take Diltiazem for blood pressure, I should not take more than the lowest (50mg) dose, but that dose is on back-order everywhere for some reason, so he gave me some 100mg samples and said to cut 'em in half. The first time I tried that, the other half of the pill went shooting out of sight and I never did find it. The 50mg dose had absolutely no effect on my severe ED, so a day or so later I did a whole 100mg, which helped things but did not make it hard enough for penetration (although my angel of a wife cheerfully pleasured me orally!), so a couple days after that I did two 100mg tablets (they make a 200mg pill, so that's not outrageous) and it worked very well with no untoward effects, although it took a full 30 minutes to reach full power. Still, supposedly you can take it with food, so that's a good thing!
UPDATE, 04/02/2015: I'm on an ED1000 email list (subscribe at www.medispec.com) that says they are partnering with menshealthsolutions.ca in Canada to provide ED1000 treatment clinics. The price for the treatment as of this date is $4000, although I dunno if that's USD or Loonies. The on-line brochure also says ED1000 is approved as a treatment for Peyronie's, which is a surprise. Not sure if I want to invest that much now and travel up North, or just wait until the treatment is approved in the US and might be covered at least partially by insurance. Medispec's website has said for months that the ED1000 is in the final stage of clinical trials for approval by the FDA, so I wonder what the hold-up is, beyond maybe Pfizer, Lilly, the other PDE5 drug manufacturers trying to keep it off the market. Oh, well....
UPDATE: I read where the developer of Stendra finally obtained permission from the FDA to advertise that it was more fast-acting, and that having this permission persuaded another drug company to partner with the original developer in production and investment, etc. Supposedly that means that Stendra may become available by the end of 2013. Keeping my fingers crossed! I've called a couple of ED clinics in Canada, but I've yet to find one that offers the ED 1000 treatment.
UPDATE, 03/13/2014: Stendra is now available. There are numerous brochures sitting around in my urologist's offce advertising it, now. Ya. Hoo.
UPDATE, 05/05/2014: I finally got my family doc to prescribe me Stendra. The literature says that because I take Diltiazem for blood pressure, I should not take more than the lowest (50mg) dose, but that dose is on back-order everywhere for some reason, so he gave me some 100mg samples and said to cut 'em in half. The first time I tried that, the other half of the pill went shooting out of sight and I never did find it. The 50mg dose had absolutely no effect on my severe ED, so a day or so later I did a whole 100mg, which helped things but did not make it hard enough for penetration (although my angel of a wife cheerfully pleasured me orally!), so a couple days after that I did two 100mg tablets (they make a 200mg pill, so that's not outrageous) and it worked very well with no untoward effects, although it took a full 30 minutes to reach full power. Still, supposedly you can take it with food, so that's a good thing!
UPDATE, 04/02/2015: I'm on an ED1000 email list (subscribe at www.medispec.com) that says they are partnering with menshealthsolutions.ca in Canada to provide ED1000 treatment clinics. The price for the treatment as of this date is $4000, although I dunno if that's USD or Loonies. The on-line brochure also says ED1000 is approved as a treatment for Peyronie's, which is a surprise. Not sure if I want to invest that much now and travel up North, or just wait until the treatment is approved in the US and might be covered at least partially by insurance. Medispec's website has said for months that the ED1000 is in the final stage of clinical trials for approval by the FDA, so I wonder what the hold-up is, beyond maybe Pfizer, Lilly, the other PDE5 drug manufacturers trying to keep it off the market. Oh, well....
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Back to the Future: Edex Rules!
Since the PDE5 inhibitors aren't working for me anymore (see previous post), the doc prescribed a trial dosage of Edex, a brand of E Prostaglandin (Alprostadil) which you inject directly into the penis. It's not as bad as it sounds, really! Edex comes in little kits, with the drug prepackaged in solution in 10 microgram (or 20 mcg) cartridges. You attach one of the included 29-gauge needles to the injector device which is like the outside of a syringe, insert the cartridge and then jab in the needle and push the device plunger down to inject the stuff. This is a lot more convenient than it was with papaverine in the old days, where I would have to make up my own dosages/syringes, but it's also much more expensive. The doc said to use 5 micrograms to start out, which you dose by squirting out the extra 5 mcg from the 10 mcg cartridge then inject all the rest. If that didn't work, I was supposed to use a 10 mcg dose the next time. Well, you know I didn't want any failures the first time, so I thought I would inject 5 mcg and if nothing happened, I would inject the rest of the 10 mcg cartridge to buck up things and not waste anything. The Little Woman and I had been drinking a little, too, so that may have clouded my judgement a little bit....
The problem was that even with my glasses I couldn't read the markings on the cartridge when I was holding it "down there", so I wound up just guessing by pushing the plunger part of the way down and then withdrew the needle. It turned out I'd actually injected about 7 mcg worth, and even though they tell you it takes between 5 and 20 minutes to work, I got impatient when I didn't feel anything right away, so I stuck it in again and injected the rest of the cartridge. Well! Things started to happen then, lemme tell ya! As soon as we started fooling around, Little Willie grew as big and hard as he's ever been, and actually started to ache a little bit (which is a common side effect, and it wasn't enough to make me stop going for the gusto). She likes it on top so she can manipulate things to maximize her pleasure (and who am I to complain?), and very early on she became Cowgirl UP! She even threw up her hand like she was riding a bronco, there for a bit. She pounded me back and forth inside her so hard I was afraid I might get hurt.... She came first, but gamely rode me until I exploded. She lay on top of me for a few minutes, then noticed I was still somewhat hard, and son of a gun, she mounted up and rode me to town again! ....The third time, I told her she didn't have to do that, that the dose of Edex I'd taken would probably not let it go down for awhile, but she went at it again anyway (you can see why I love this woman), and danged if she didn't force out another climax from me, albeit much smaller than the first two. I was spent, literally, and she was tired. We both drifted off to sleep, but after an hour I woke up and was still hard.... I began to get alarmed, fearing that a trip to the hospital was going to be necessary.
In the old days my now ex-wife would never want to go around a second time, EVER, so I often found that the climax produced by a bout of self-love would trigger enough relaxation that the erection would subside faster. This time, however, nothing doing. When I reached the 3 hour mark things had softened only a little bit, but I was tired and set my alarm for 1.5 hours later, resolving to go to the emergency room if by then nothing had changed. Just before the alarm went off I woke up again, and to my relief Wille was Little again. Whew! The next time I'm sticking to the 5 mcg dose, I swear!
PS: I thought the, um, artificiality of things might be off-putting to my wife, but the next morning the Little Woman was affectionately calling me Iron Man, an apt analogy, really. She really didn't seem to care why it worked, was just happy it did. Let me tell you, though, things are not totally artificial-- if there is no arousal on my part, the inside hardness will be there but the head remains small and the outside skin is a little loose. Get me excited, though (as she almost always does with ease), and everything expands correspondingly, and then some, so it ain't all just the drugs, man. EDEX RULES!!!
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Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Viagra Resistance/Viagra Tolerance: It's a Real Thing!
As I said in an earlier post, the wonder drug Cialis quit working for me a couple of years ago, so I went back on Viagra (the 100 mg tablet, this time), and it worked GREAT, although it didn't give you that 36 hours of readiness that Cialis did. Well, now the effectiveness of my beloved blue diamonds has begun to decrease, so that I can no longer achieve a strong enough erection for sex even though Little Willie does get somewhat expanded. The urologist suggested a penis ring, but that only helped a little bit. If you google "Viagra resistance" you'll find an herbal remedy sales website that cites an issue of the International Journal of Impotence Research which details a study that suggests the efficacy of Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors decreases over time, requiring stronger doses. I'm here to tell ya, though, that after awhile even higher doses don't work. I wasn't able to find the actual IPIR article....But I went so far as to take two 100mg Viagras at once, with not much real effect. So, my only other options are 1) a penis pump/penis ring combo, which sounds like a lot of work for dubious reward if you ask me (if you have one of those things and are happy with it, just let me know), and 2) a vasodialator you inject into the penis, like papaverine, phentolamine, or E Prostoglandin (Alprostadil), dunno if I spelled any of those names correctly. So, I elected for 2) and the doc prescribed Edex, a form of Alprostadil, since papaverine is almost unavailable anymore. We'll see how that works.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Overdosing ED drugs and other no-no's.
I'm pretty tolerant of most drugs (maybe too much, where Cialis was concerned), so I've never had the priapism that the ED drugs sometimes produce. Because of various circumstances (hey, you'll do almost anything to have sex sometimes, right?) I have violated most of the rules prescribed by the drug companies in their package literature. When the Cialis started to fail me, I once took 2 of them: it did not improve the erection but did increase the side effects. I once tried taking Cialis with grapefruit juice, which in some people causes more of whatever drug you're taking to be digested in the small intestine, which magnifies its effects. I am not one of those people, apparently, as it had no effect on Cialis' properties for me. There was once even a "Cialis Grapefruit" web page that had been created by someone, but when I tried to go there I received a response that the site had been taken down because it was "inappropriate", so I don't know if the effect achieved would have been good or bad.
Two Levitra tablets also produced no increase in performance, but it did make my nose TWICE as stuffy. I've never taken two Viagra at once, but I did take two in one day, about 10 hours apart. After taking the second tablet, the wife reneged on her commitment to doing the do, but did offer a hand-job as a compromise.... I didn't notice any difference in the erection until the climax: the two cavernosa blood vessels in the penis were so engorged that they somewhat constricted the uh, plumbing just like putting your thumb over the garden hose. Upon ejaculation, my spooge attained a new personal height and distance record. My Lady giggled, apparently pleased that she must have REALLY excited her man this time, so there was some benefit to that second pill in a day after all, although I'm not gonna make a habit of it, just in case one of those warnings might come true.
UPDATE, 04/02/2015: A footnote on one thing NOT to do.... When my doc some months ago prescribed Stendra for me, he said to start out with only 50 mg because of a possible drug interaction with my blood pressure medication, Diltiazem. So while on vacation in Florida, I took the 50 mg and it did absolutely nothing for me.... Frustrated, I resorted to an Edex injection... Stupid, right? I guess I just assumed that since the Stendra 50 had no noticeable effect, it wouldn't have any effect when I took the Edex injection.WRONG! The good part: The Little Woman and I made mad, passionate, vacation monkey love, TWICE! It was fandamntastic.... until the bad part a couple of hours later, when I figured out that my meat wand was still rock hard and showed no signs of softening. While TLW slept the night away (I'd worn her out, she said, probably just to massage my ego, but it still felt good to hear), I sneaked into the bathroom and cranked off another round in hope that the refractory period would help make the little guy become less angry, but to no avail. Even though we have all heard "If you have an erection lasting 4 hours or longer, seek medical help", I had read in the physician's information that comes with the medication that damage doesn't really occur until about 6 hours, so maybe they tell you to go to the hospital at 4 so you'll actually be able to get treatment by the 6-hour mark. At 4 hours, he'd subsided a little bit, so I just hoped and prayed everything would be back to normal, soon. By 6 hours, the swelling was just about gone, so I thought I was okay. When I looked back on that, I wondered if maybe that was the cause of my Peyronie's a year or so later. The urologist, however, said that probably wasn't the cause. Still, ya never know.... BE WARNED!
UPDATE, 04/02/2015: A footnote on one thing NOT to do.... When my doc some months ago prescribed Stendra for me, he said to start out with only 50 mg because of a possible drug interaction with my blood pressure medication, Diltiazem. So while on vacation in Florida, I took the 50 mg and it did absolutely nothing for me.... Frustrated, I resorted to an Edex injection... Stupid, right? I guess I just assumed that since the Stendra 50 had no noticeable effect, it wouldn't have any effect when I took the Edex injection.WRONG! The good part: The Little Woman and I made mad, passionate, vacation monkey love, TWICE! It was fandamntastic.... until the bad part a couple of hours later, when I figured out that my meat wand was still rock hard and showed no signs of softening. While TLW slept the night away (I'd worn her out, she said, probably just to massage my ego, but it still felt good to hear), I sneaked into the bathroom and cranked off another round in hope that the refractory period would help make the little guy become less angry, but to no avail. Even though we have all heard "If you have an erection lasting 4 hours or longer, seek medical help", I had read in the physician's information that comes with the medication that damage doesn't really occur until about 6 hours, so maybe they tell you to go to the hospital at 4 so you'll actually be able to get treatment by the 6-hour mark. At 4 hours, he'd subsided a little bit, so I just hoped and prayed everything would be back to normal, soon. By 6 hours, the swelling was just about gone, so I thought I was okay. When I looked back on that, I wondered if maybe that was the cause of my Peyronie's a year or so later. The urologist, however, said that probably wasn't the cause. Still, ya never know.... BE WARNED!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Cialis vs. Viagra vs. Levitra vs. Staxyn vs. Other Stuff
(Revised 11/24/2022) I was going to list the various treatments as I experienced them, but most folks probably just want comparison info about them. Here is what little I know from my own experience:
Cialis
Cialis
Pro: Effects last up to 36 hours (although with me it seemed a little shorter than that). The doc told me Cialis is only officially rated for one session of intercourse during that period, but I experienced repeated erections. My late wife and I once made love five (5) times in 24 hours when we were first together. Cialis made spontaneity much easier-- I could take it Saturday morning and be good to go through Sunday noon. I've also tried the daily dose Cialis, which is a small dose tablet you take every day, but it didn't work for me. If only it had, it would almost be like never having ED, I think. Sigh....
Con: It completely quit working for me after about 5 years, dunno why. Even when it was working its best, the erection Cialis produced was more "springy" than hard, and if there was a break (like when My Lady has to go and pee before we start, which is pretty often) during which the erection would subside, it often took awhile to get it started again. And Cialis usually worked well only when I took it on an empty stomach. Any food in there at all would delay things or keep them from happening all together. On the other hand, alcoholic beverages did not seem to affect my performance with Cialis as it does with the other drugs. The bottom line for me is, if it works for you, Cialis is the way to go. When I was taking it, it was the same price as Viagra and Levitra (although Stendra has an introductory deal that is pretty good), but it worked for so much longer....
Viagra
Pro: The MacDaddy of oral ED drugs, the big V almost never fails to produce a rock-hard erection, sometimes almost too hard-- when I tried doggy-style with my "tiny giny" second wife, it hurt her inside and she constricted my member so much that it hurt when I ejaculated and I then bled a little from the end of my penis. Some men, too, have told me that the expansion makes them feel so inflated and sensitive that they have difficulty controlling when they climax, often leading to a great but short-lived experience. Viagra is more fast-acting than some of the others, sometimes in as little as 20 minutes, although for me peak potency usually occurred at about an hour and fifteen minutes after taking the pill. Viagra seems unaffected by food intake, although the package insert warns that taking it immediately after a high-fat meal can delay its effects.
Con: Side effects-- Viagra makes my nose feel so stuffy I have to breathe through my mouth, and often my upper lip tingles. There is also a lack of spontaneity because, although its effects supposedly last 4 hours, I had trouble getting started after about two and a half hours. On the other hand, if I got to have sex as soon as it took effect, I could usually perform a second or third time during that 4 hours, and on some occasions when we made love at the end of the night I was still good to go the next morning. I dunno if the stuff lingers in your system while you sleep or what, but it was quite a pleasant surprise that next day, more than 7 or 8 hours later. The final Con for me is that alcohol intoxication usually kills its effects entirely, so no drunken debauchery on Viagra for me, waaaah! (UPDATE: Big V no longer works for me-- see later post on Viagra Resistance.)
Levitra
Pro: It works fairly quickly, and the effects supposedly last 6 hours, though I can't verify that-- but on occasion Levitra has given me the same happy morning-after surprise that Viagra provides. Alcohol does not seem to affect Levitra as much as it does Viagra. One day last week, I took the pill in preparation for the big finale, only to get involved in an argument with My Love over something really stupid, after which we went to bed angry. I figured the pill was wasted and went to sleep. Some hours later I must have had a Levitra-boosted night-time erection, as I was awakened by her rolling me onto my back. She mounted me almost before I knew what was happening and rode me furiously until I exploded, after which she rose up off me, plopped onto her side of the bed without saying anything, and promptly went back to sleep. We never talked about the episode, and I sure as hell don't remember what the argument was about!
Con: Just like Cialis, for Levitra to work properly I had to take it on an empty stomach. There was some nasal stuffiness, too, although not as bad as with Viagra, but that's more of a nuisance than anything serious. But, eventually it, too, quit working for me.
Staxyn
Pro: This a new one to me. It has the same ED medicine as Levitra, but it is in the form of a peppermint-flavored tablet that you dissolve on your tongue. The package insert says it can be taken with or without food, so that may be an advantage over the food problems I had with Cialis and Levitra. The package insert also says that the delivery system gets more of the medicine into your system than the same dosage Levitra pill.
Con: It takes a long time to take effect, like 1 to 1.5 hours, although when it finally does come in, it does so spectacularly. The wife and I tried a sample of it, and she reached over and stroked me every so often to see if it was working yet, which had me really worked up emotionally by the time things started to happen. She finally got tired of waiting and at the first sign of firmness (about 50 minutes) we tried to initiate the lift-off before the launch sequence had been completed, so we kind of went off half-cocked, as it were.... I awoke several hours later, though, with some serious wood, and I'm talking teak or mahogany, not bamboo. By that time, though, My Lady was fast asleep. If anyone has a sure-fire tactful technique of waking the little woman up to the Angry Little Man without offending her, please let me know! As it was, I just had to go out into the workshop and hammer in some nails.... My problem with this one is that I needed to take two of them to get the full effect, and since they only have the one size dose, it would get quite expensive for me to use it very often.
Stendra
I managed to get my family doctor to prescribe Stendra for me. It is marketed as faster-acting, like in 15 minutes. Because I'm also taking Diltiazem for heart rate/blood pressure, I'm supposed to be limited to 50mg of Stendra because the Diltiazem slows the metabolizing of Stendra so that some side effects may last for 8 or 9 hours. (And this may make it slower-acting as well.) Unfortunately, 50 mg had no effect for me, and neither did 100 mg. At the maximum dose for other people, 200 mg, however, things worked quite nicely, although it took 30 minutes or more to take effect. Its effects are similar to Viagra, and I did get a REALLY stuffy nose when I took it, so I'm not sure there's any advantage to Stendra, other'n the fact it's the only PDE5 inhibitor that still works for me. The manufacturer's website, Stendra.com offers a great coupon on your first 6 prescriptions, so it is worth a try. (Update: It quit working after a while, too.)
Levitra
Pro: It works fairly quickly, and the effects supposedly last 6 hours, though I can't verify that-- but on occasion Levitra has given me the same happy morning-after surprise that Viagra provides. Alcohol does not seem to affect Levitra as much as it does Viagra. One day last week, I took the pill in preparation for the big finale, only to get involved in an argument with My Love over something really stupid, after which we went to bed angry. I figured the pill was wasted and went to sleep. Some hours later I must have had a Levitra-boosted night-time erection, as I was awakened by her rolling me onto my back. She mounted me almost before I knew what was happening and rode me furiously until I exploded, after which she rose up off me, plopped onto her side of the bed without saying anything, and promptly went back to sleep. We never talked about the episode, and I sure as hell don't remember what the argument was about!
Con: Just like Cialis, for Levitra to work properly I had to take it on an empty stomach. There was some nasal stuffiness, too, although not as bad as with Viagra, but that's more of a nuisance than anything serious. But, eventually it, too, quit working for me.
Staxyn
Pro: This a new one to me. It has the same ED medicine as Levitra, but it is in the form of a peppermint-flavored tablet that you dissolve on your tongue. The package insert says it can be taken with or without food, so that may be an advantage over the food problems I had with Cialis and Levitra. The package insert also says that the delivery system gets more of the medicine into your system than the same dosage Levitra pill.
Con: It takes a long time to take effect, like 1 to 1.5 hours, although when it finally does come in, it does so spectacularly. The wife and I tried a sample of it, and she reached over and stroked me every so often to see if it was working yet, which had me really worked up emotionally by the time things started to happen. She finally got tired of waiting and at the first sign of firmness (about 50 minutes) we tried to initiate the lift-off before the launch sequence had been completed, so we kind of went off half-cocked, as it were.... I awoke several hours later, though, with some serious wood, and I'm talking teak or mahogany, not bamboo. By that time, though, My Lady was fast asleep. If anyone has a sure-fire tactful technique of waking the little woman up to the Angry Little Man without offending her, please let me know! As it was, I just had to go out into the workshop and hammer in some nails.... My problem with this one is that I needed to take two of them to get the full effect, and since they only have the one size dose, it would get quite expensive for me to use it very often.
Stendra
I managed to get my family doctor to prescribe Stendra for me. It is marketed as faster-acting, like in 15 minutes. Because I'm also taking Diltiazem for heart rate/blood pressure, I'm supposed to be limited to 50mg of Stendra because the Diltiazem slows the metabolizing of Stendra so that some side effects may last for 8 or 9 hours. (And this may make it slower-acting as well.) Unfortunately, 50 mg had no effect for me, and neither did 100 mg. At the maximum dose for other people, 200 mg, however, things worked quite nicely, although it took 30 minutes or more to take effect. Its effects are similar to Viagra, and I did get a REALLY stuffy nose when I took it, so I'm not sure there's any advantage to Stendra, other'n the fact it's the only PDE5 inhibitor that still works for me. The manufacturer's website, Stendra.com offers a great coupon on your first 6 prescriptions, so it is worth a try. (Update: It quit working after a while, too.)
Rugiet
I just did a new blog entry for this one on 11/20/2022-- look for it.
Papaverine, Edex, Caverject, Phentolamine: Bi-mix, Super Bi-mix, Tri-mix
These are all drugs you inject into the cavernosa of the penis, except that supposedly there's one form of Edex (Muse) that is a penile suppository (and I don't know anything about that particular product, sorry.) Papaverine was my first ED med and worked great, but the big drug companies don't make it anymore because it is no longer used for its primary purpose as a heart medicine. My doctor said it would be available from a compounding pharmacy, but after the terrible meningitis outbreak caused by conditions at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy as well as reports that my local one had been cited for unsafe conditions, I opted to go with Edex. Edex is DA BOMB-- see my later posts about it. Caverject is the same drug (Prostaglandin E1) as Edex, but the prepackaged syringe is kind of complicated to operate-- you put the needle on, then you have to adjust the plunger in a couple different ways to adjust the dose-- it's a whole thing. Bi-Mix is a combination of Papaverine and Phentolamine and Tri-Mix is a combination of all 3 drugs and it works quite well, although again, it has to come from a compounding pharmacy. I'm currently using Super Bi-mix, which is a stronger concentration of the first two drugs. I've tried Tri-mix, but the Prostoglandin makes my willy ache, so I stuck with the Super Bi-mix. I'm guessing this is likely the "proprietary formula" that Total Performance Medical sells to its patients. Total Performance Medical charges you something like $300 up front to be seen, and like I said, the drugs they prescribe are "proprietary", so you can only get them from TPM, and I never went for treatment so I dunno what the drug price is. The only cons for Edex are the expense (currently $160 for two doses, with my insurance) and initially having to experiment with the dosage so it works well but doesn't produce the infamous 4-hour erection. I had one of those, and didn't go to the hospital, which may be why I now have Peyronie's disease, although it didn't happen right after that occasion, and Peyronie's is actually fairly common with men my age. Then, too, Edex produces kind of a dull ache in my penis, but nothing too uncomfortable. Alas, I so wish for my old Papaverine: it made my little monster fat and hard as a rock for a consistent 1.5 hours. My new urologist convinced me to try Bi-mix, a combination of papaverine and phentolamine from a compounding pharmacy in Houston. It works better than Edex, doesn't produce the dull ache that Edex does, and it's a LOT cheaper-- $70 for enough for maybe 10 doses vs. $160 for only TWO doses of Edex. It's a much more natural-feeling erection, too.)
Penis Pumps, Cock Rings, and Other Scary Devices
I understand that they can be quite effective, especially when combined with a cock ring, which I did recently try. I'd had a couple of less than stellar erections, and at my regular visit to the urologist I mentioned this, since I was afraid that Viagra maybe wasn't going to work for me anymore (and eventually it didn't). He gave me samples of Levitra and Staxyn, listed above, and suggested a penis ring. Since the arteries into the penis are in the center of the organ and the veins out are toward the outside, a properly fitting ring can allow blood in while restricting its flow outward, keeping you harder longer (although it should be used for no more than 30 minutes, they say). The Levitra breathed new life into the little fella, though, and our next lovemaking session left us happily exhausted, making the cock ring unnecessary. Afterward she asked me what the cock ring was for, and when I told her it would make me harder and last longer she said "No, no, no...." for whatever reason. So I've been using the ring (hope this doesn't offend you) as a masturbatory aid so I can save the drugs for the real thing, and so far it's worked pretty well but not well enough to be a substitute for the drugs. It does kind of restrict the urethra a little bit, producing a high-velocity ejaculation similar to the effect of a Viagra overdose (see the "Viagra overdose and other no-nos" post). The other options I was given 'way back when were last-resort alternatives when nothing else would work: Penile implants, either a saline bladder inserted inside the cavernosa blood vessels that is then inflated with a little pump, or flexible, bendable plastic pieces the size of the cavernosa that either you slide into them (after an opening for them is made surgically), or which are completely implanted so you have to bend them upward to make an erection or downward to keep the little fella out of the way. I saw where one ED doctor who specializes in implants for transsexuals recommended the static bendable ones for his younger patients who are likely to be more sexually active, because they don't wear out as fast as the inflatable implants, which supposedly last up to 15 years, but it may be that they last that long because older folks don't use 'em as much..
(UPDATE, 03/13/2014: I may have to find out which implants are better-- see later posts about Peyronie's Disease. Sigh....)
ED 1000
A painless ultrasonic shock wave treatment that supposedly cures ED permanently in up to 95% of patients, it is available in medical clinics in Canada and the rest of the World, but is still in the investigational stage in the US but it becoming widely available anyway as of 2022.. It's been quite popular in the United Kingdom, because since they have socialized medicine, it saves the government money in the long run if they can more or less cure the patient's ED instead of continually buying drugs for him. I recently saw a small-scale study from Japan that kind of scaled back that 95% success rate to about 65%, but it WAS a really small sample of test subjects. The last I heard about price was $4000 for the full set of treatments in Canada, and you would have to stay there for a while if you don't live nearby-- You get 2 treatments a week for 3 weeks, then a 3 week break, then 2 treatments a week for 3 more weeks. Try Medispec.com for info-- they manufacture the device.
Papaverine, Edex, Caverject, Phentolamine: Bi-mix, Super Bi-mix, Tri-mix
These are all drugs you inject into the cavernosa of the penis, except that supposedly there's one form of Edex (Muse) that is a penile suppository (and I don't know anything about that particular product, sorry.) Papaverine was my first ED med and worked great, but the big drug companies don't make it anymore because it is no longer used for its primary purpose as a heart medicine. My doctor said it would be available from a compounding pharmacy, but after the terrible meningitis outbreak caused by conditions at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy as well as reports that my local one had been cited for unsafe conditions, I opted to go with Edex. Edex is DA BOMB-- see my later posts about it. Caverject is the same drug (Prostaglandin E1) as Edex, but the prepackaged syringe is kind of complicated to operate-- you put the needle on, then you have to adjust the plunger in a couple different ways to adjust the dose-- it's a whole thing. Bi-Mix is a combination of Papaverine and Phentolamine and Tri-Mix is a combination of all 3 drugs and it works quite well, although again, it has to come from a compounding pharmacy. I'm currently using Super Bi-mix, which is a stronger concentration of the first two drugs. I've tried Tri-mix, but the Prostoglandin makes my willy ache, so I stuck with the Super Bi-mix. I'm guessing this is likely the "proprietary formula" that Total Performance Medical sells to its patients. Total Performance Medical charges you something like $300 up front to be seen, and like I said, the drugs they prescribe are "proprietary", so you can only get them from TPM, and I never went for treatment so I dunno what the drug price is. The only cons for Edex are the expense (currently $160 for two doses, with my insurance) and initially having to experiment with the dosage so it works well but doesn't produce the infamous 4-hour erection. I had one of those, and didn't go to the hospital, which may be why I now have Peyronie's disease, although it didn't happen right after that occasion, and Peyronie's is actually fairly common with men my age. Then, too, Edex produces kind of a dull ache in my penis, but nothing too uncomfortable. Alas, I so wish for my old Papaverine: it made my little monster fat and hard as a rock for a consistent 1.5 hours. My new urologist convinced me to try Bi-mix, a combination of papaverine and phentolamine from a compounding pharmacy in Houston. It works better than Edex, doesn't produce the dull ache that Edex does, and it's a LOT cheaper-- $70 for enough for maybe 10 doses vs. $160 for only TWO doses of Edex. It's a much more natural-feeling erection, too.)
Penis Pumps, Cock Rings, and Other Scary Devices
I understand that they can be quite effective, especially when combined with a cock ring, which I did recently try. I'd had a couple of less than stellar erections, and at my regular visit to the urologist I mentioned this, since I was afraid that Viagra maybe wasn't going to work for me anymore (and eventually it didn't). He gave me samples of Levitra and Staxyn, listed above, and suggested a penis ring. Since the arteries into the penis are in the center of the organ and the veins out are toward the outside, a properly fitting ring can allow blood in while restricting its flow outward, keeping you harder longer (although it should be used for no more than 30 minutes, they say). The Levitra breathed new life into the little fella, though, and our next lovemaking session left us happily exhausted, making the cock ring unnecessary. Afterward she asked me what the cock ring was for, and when I told her it would make me harder and last longer she said "No, no, no...." for whatever reason. So I've been using the ring (hope this doesn't offend you) as a masturbatory aid so I can save the drugs for the real thing, and so far it's worked pretty well but not well enough to be a substitute for the drugs. It does kind of restrict the urethra a little bit, producing a high-velocity ejaculation similar to the effect of a Viagra overdose (see the "Viagra overdose and other no-nos" post). The other options I was given 'way back when were last-resort alternatives when nothing else would work: Penile implants, either a saline bladder inserted inside the cavernosa blood vessels that is then inflated with a little pump, or flexible, bendable plastic pieces the size of the cavernosa that either you slide into them (after an opening for them is made surgically), or which are completely implanted so you have to bend them upward to make an erection or downward to keep the little fella out of the way. I saw where one ED doctor who specializes in implants for transsexuals recommended the static bendable ones for his younger patients who are likely to be more sexually active, because they don't wear out as fast as the inflatable implants, which supposedly last up to 15 years, but it may be that they last that long because older folks don't use 'em as much..
(UPDATE, 03/13/2014: I may have to find out which implants are better-- see later posts about Peyronie's Disease. Sigh....)
ED 1000
A painless ultrasonic shock wave treatment that supposedly cures ED permanently in up to 95% of patients, it is available in medical clinics in Canada and the rest of the World, but is still in the investigational stage in the US but it becoming widely available anyway as of 2022.. It's been quite popular in the United Kingdom, because since they have socialized medicine, it saves the government money in the long run if they can more or less cure the patient's ED instead of continually buying drugs for him. I recently saw a small-scale study from Japan that kind of scaled back that 95% success rate to about 65%, but it WAS a really small sample of test subjects. The last I heard about price was $4000 for the full set of treatments in Canada, and you would have to stay there for a while if you don't live nearby-- You get 2 treatments a week for 3 weeks, then a 3 week break, then 2 treatments a week for 3 more weeks. Try Medispec.com for info-- they manufacture the device.
UPDATE 05/27/2022: Although still not formally approved by the FDA, Low-intensity Shockwave Therapy (LISWT) is now widely available from various clinics, but is still generally not covered by most health insurance providers. My urology clinic now offers it under the brand name U-Wave: when I signed up it was $1500 but is now $2000. If I was in the first stages of ED it would certainly be worth the money, since it is most succesful with mild to moderately severe ED. I have severe ED such that I am using Super Bi-mix, but I tried it anyway. It made my injection-induced erections somewhat fatter, and I seemed to have gotten some of my length back after its previous Peyronie's-induced shortness, so to me even with that limited success it was worth the expense. Sooner the better, I say!
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