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.)