need someone to talk to

Whm,
Don't give up. What works for me is to use the VED (pump) first to get an erection. I use a ring (not too tight) to keep the erection while I inject the rimix. I use .35 dosage. Give it 10-15 minutes using some physical and visual stimulation and you should get good results. Some folks have used some ED medication 30 minutes before the trimix injection to help. I wish you luck.

Don't give up but talk to us about your frustations on this site. I am also 54 and just starting this journey. I get my Cath out in the morning. Hang in there.

Is their a local Prostate cancer support group near the town you live at? I started joining to one and it helps to talk here and in person to people that have been down this road before us.

 

Hey man, I know your pain! I'm 11 months out since my surgery and still no luck with oral meds. However, I do ok with trimix injections. Most men should get some response from these injections. Now, I've injected a few times and had no response. You have to make sure you are injecting at the 1000 or 200 positions on the side of your penis. (The books say 900 and 300 but I've found more luck at these 2 positions). Make sure and pull your penis straight out as far as it will go to get the skin out of the way. Make sure you are holding your penis straight out so that you are actually injecting at the 1000 or 200 positions. I've injected into the skin a couple of times and had no erection because I didn't get the skin out of the way.  Take the needle and just pop it in quickly and then push the needle in until it's snug against the penis. Slowly inject over 10 seconds. Then apply pressure at injection site and opposite side of penis for 5 minutes. This should keep the medicine in the penis and not flowing out the penis into the abdomen. There is a moderator here, James, who has had a lot of experience with venous issues that may cause the medicine to leak out into the abdomen before it works. Just keep coming back here until he posts. I'm certain you can get the injections to work........

I second the advice about the constriction ring. When I started using one (really just a few rubber bands), I started getting consistently good results. I place just before the injection and leave on for three minutes while I do the initial massage. Before that, injections were very hit-and-miss, and early on, I had a disappointing string of six failures.

I have tried the pre-plumping technique Ed C advocates, (also James C elsewhere), but have found it did worse than nothing for me. Will it work for you -- who knows? I suggest try it and see what happens.

If you try the constriction, I suggest use a lower dosage of trimix at first. My theory is that it forces the trimix to hang around, and instead of bolting for the nearest exit, it stays long enough to do its magic.

I advocate patience too -- it took me about 20 injections before I discovered and mastered the tricks that work for me. Good luck -- onwards and upwards

WHM- I am also around your age  [51], I am also 8 mnths out of Surgery, I have a gleason of 7, had nerve sparing op, by a well respect surgeon in Australia.  I have been usinig meds everyday as prescribed, I have not yet tried injections.  I have tried vac pump, by did not get on with it at all.  I was becoming pretty depressed also, and I know that feeling of uselessness and the upset and disappointment on the wife face.  I too had nearly given up, but then one night last week,  my wife and I got close for our usuall tickle etc, and

'BINGO *###* , I had my first erection since surgery, it was about 90% and certainly good enough to do the job. 

We were obviously both over the moon about the event ,and now waiting for the second opportunity, which we both agreed, we would not rush.

I believe this happened because we decided some weeks ago, to stop worrying about the ED, and get on with life. 

As the saying goes, the more you chase a butterfly the more it will avoid you, but if you just stand still, it will come and land gently upon your shoulder. 

My suggestion to you would be just relax, forget about the ED, and just reflect on how lucky you are to be alive and to be with your loving family.

.................Kev  [ignor my forum name, thinking of changing it soon to maybe "STUD" lol]

Greetings, WHM.  I'm sorry you are going through this - it is very real and your pain and fear are also very real.  Nearly all of us on this board have been through many of these feelings in one form or another.  I realize that you may feel your wife is disappointed and she may be over this singular event.  However, not even knowing you or her, but knowing how my wife reacts I am confident in saying that she is very glad to have you where you are and that is surviving cancer.  She'll work with you in solving this problem just like she has been there with you in all of your treatment thus far. 

Like a couple of others have said in previous posts, you might want to talk to your doc about getting you some help (maybe meds, maybe talking to someone) during this time in your life. 

I'm glad you are here and are among friends.  My email is active as well and would be glad to hear from you if you want to talk off line.  Please hang in there and keep us posted on how things are going. David

I know where your coming from. email me and we can get together on the phone if you wish

richardamallory at hotmail.com

Hi whm-

I read your post and glanced at the responses.  I haven't read this thread in full so sorry if I repeat what others have said.

Sorry you're feeling down.  At 8 months I was in the same position you are.  Frustrated, depressed and negative about things getting better.

For me, it took 11 to 12 months to get something useable with the pill.  I tried a few injections but didn't like them.  I do think they helped a bit to jump start things.  It's odd that they aren't working on you.  Maybe try a different doctor and get a different formula.  But be careful.  If it was in fact a bad batch you tried and you now inject some good stuff, you don't want to inject too much.  Start out low and work your way up.

In regard to your wife, the sadness you see in her face may be a result of how you respond when things don't work.  Try not to think or care whether or not you get an erection.  Enjoy the closeness with your wife.  I actually found when I quit thinking about ED, things responded better.  Don't put pressure on yourself to perform.  Enjoy the things you are able to do.

I know it's terribly frustrating and depressing.  I have seen it said many times that the 12 month mark is when things started happening.  Good luck.

dave

whm, i hope you see in the four days since you posted here, that you are not alone in your feelings, good ones or bad ones. there are a lot of great people here, from all walks of life, all points of views, with a great variety of experiences and advice dealing with out prostate cancer.

you should be able to tell there is sincerity here, we are truly a brotherhood, we fight the same enemy, the monster called prostate cancer, we are at different points in our battles, some days are better than others. we share in each other's victories, and we grieve together when there's reason.

we are glad you are here, and hope some positive rays of hope start to filter into your mind and heart.

david in sc

 hi all hope everyone is doing well. sorry im so late replying to you guys but been working thru some major mental issues with this cursed disease.when i see the scope of some peoples suffering on this forum, i feel positively guilty whining about my lack of a workable erection.my doctor told me a while back i was probably still mourning the loss of my prostate,that struck me as a funny statement and i had to laugh but  i think its so true.im having more frequent erections all the time and having more sucess with the trimix .50 seems to be the magic number for me.i actually had my first decent love making in over a year this weekend a little trouble maintaining the erection but the penis ring seems to help.At least i now can see a light  at the end of the tunnel and have some hope.You just cant live without hope right?after we finished my wife of 30 years and i both broke down and cried.i think i then realised this has been as hard on her maybe even harder.Its easy to get a little self absorbed with this diease.when i left the doctors office yesterday after him showing me some final injection techniques i had  a major boner in my pants   is it ok to say that here?dont mean to be crude but it just felt so good...   Sometimes when visiting the clinic when i see some people suffering so bad who have caught the diesease in its final phases too late who are clearly terminal well your heart just goes out to those people and their families who must be suffering so much.After watching my mother die of terminal bone cancer,and supporting her thru her horrible pain,holding her hand while she died, i believe it has taught me much about what is relevant and important in this life.family is important people are important.reaching out to friends who are hurting is important....whats not important......money,possesions,material gain all not the least bit important we only think they are.what a shame it takes tragedy to make us see this and some people never learn it.I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank each and every one of you who took the time from your day to reach out to me when i was having probably the worst  most down depressing day of my life when things seemed so black and hopeless that i would never crawl out of the darkness,it means more than i can ever express. thank you    my message to you folks who are in the early stages of diagnoses or surgery or treatment dont be discourged, dont let yourself get to where i was talk to someone dont isolate  yourself it doesnt help!!!!!    THERE IS H O P E THINGS WILL GET BETTER BE A LITTLE PATIENT LET IT HAPPEN.        To all of you  fighting this disease or maybe just fighting wars within your own mind i wish you all peace and god bless WHM

Oh WHM,
Thank you! Thank you for letting us know that you are OK. I read and replied to your first post and then worried about you for a few weeks. (My name is "Worried Guy" after all)
I am particularly happy to hear that you finally showed improvement from 8 months to 11 months. It gives guys like me hope. I'm only 3 1/2 months past surgery with total ED and incontinence but I realize I'm still a babe in the woods. There is a good chance I will improve. You are proof of that!

In the meantime, I've got the wood pile almost all split, the rain gutters cleaned and the leaves raked and burned. I even caught two mice last night. My wife is very thankful.

Thanks for making my day,
Jeff

Whew! That was one heck of a thread to read through. Thankfully, it looks like Billy has had a great outcome. His story gives all of us whom are behind him on this road to recovery a little hope.