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Posted 1/2/2010 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
My recovery from RALP is going good. Feel great and am getting dry, but my old and now little willie has seemed to die. Having just got married this past spring it is not a good time for him to be out of action. My wife is very supportive and understanding. I keep telling how lucky she is to have attended a class in penile rehabilitation. (my urologist provides a class on the subject before surgery). I started pumping willie up about 2 weeks ago. 15 min every other day. When I was in to see the PA who specialty is ED I ask him about injections. He said he wouldn't try it until I have used the pump for 2 months. He said if he did it might hurt so much that I would never want to have another erection. Is injection better for intercourse then the VED??. Everyone on this site seems to use them. I have not yet tried intercourse with the VED. I am also on Cialis twice a week for therapy. Did not help much with mild ED before surgery and does nothing now.
I find this site very helpful... thanks for answering my question.
Posted 1/2/2010 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
IMO, the VED is helpful in maintaining blood flow until you can get the blood flow on your own. I never had anything useable from the VED and hated the constriction rings.

I'd wait 6 months post surgery to try the injections.  They worked for me but I didn't like them.  I know some guys use them without problem on a regular basis.

The ED recovery can take time.  For me it took a year before I could get anything useable with the pills. My advice is to use the VED, take the pills like you're doing and *********.  Maybe because of anxiety or whatever, I was able to get an erection by self stimulation before I could get one with my wie's assistance.  Emotion is much more in play now and pressure to perform is not helpful.

Good luck and let us know how things progress.

Dave

Posted 1/2/2010 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I never had a satisfactory result from a VED, even after using them 28 months. They make for a really firm erection, but it still is hinged on a soft part at the belly, plus it will leak down usually. That hinged effect never works well for me to acheive and maintain penetration. I began the injections at 4 months, they take some figuring out and dialing in the drug load, but give the most natural erection you will experience, short of one from your early 20's. Done properly, an erection from injection is firm, lasts almost as long as you want it to, you can vary the amount of drug to get a hour or 2 hour one. Some guys have slight or small pain and aching from them, usually the trimix, seldom does anyone write of the same from bimix. For as close to natural and easy to obtain erections, injections are really good. The only other thing I know that could approach them is an implant, but I have no first hand knowledge of them... tongue
Posted 1/2/2010 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
Greetings, Ricky.  I have not used the VED so can't comment much about it.  From what I have heard you probably want to wait about 6 months before going to injections.  One thought would be to try the other ED drugs.  My doc says he tries Cialis and/or Levitra first and if they don't work then moves on to Viagara.  If you have only tried Cialis you may want to try Levitra and/or Viagara.  Levitra works best for me.  I have also used Cialis and it works but not as well.  I've never tried Viagara. 

It's only been 2 months so it is very, very early yet on the ED front.  I know that you want to bring it around as quickly as possible but I'll  bet your wife will be supportive along the way and is understanding of what you are going through.

Keep us posted.  Trust things will come around.  David

Posted 1/2/2010 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
I was told to use the VED, take pills and come back at 6 months to see if we need to do anything else.
The VED give a nice erection but it is gone the second I take the device off to use it. ('m sure there is some Aesop's fable like this.) I have had no response with the pills either.
My 6 month term is up this month and I will request shots.
Jeff
Posted 1/3/2010 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
I started Trimix injections a couple of months after my prostate was removed, because pills did not work.  I still take pills (and use a VED) but as part of my penile rehabilitation.  I do not have problems with pain from the use of Trimix, but I understand some guys experience significant pain. There are also other possible side effects from injections that you should become aware of before you start.  Your urologist should walk you through all of this and supervise your first injection .... some guys have ended up in the ER with a 4 plus hour erection, because their first injection was too large. 

If you want a good reference on injections, I suggest you get a copy of Dr. Mulhall's book "Saving Your Sex Life: A Guide for Men with Prostate Cancer" (my local library had a copy ... you can also purchase it from a book store or on-line). It'll walk you through the use of VEDs, injections, inplants, etc.  I found the book very usefull in setting up a plan for penile rehabilitation, and for using injections.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Bob

Posted 1/3/2010 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
Ricky,
I've been using a VED (Encore/battery powered) since about 4 weeks out of surgery. We have posted a lot of good info on using that one (plus replacing their rings with Osbon rings). Just look at the threads that come up when you enter 'encore' in the search box for this website.

The very first thread goes into a lot of details and advice.

Also as a followup to my experiment with Osbon rings -- the three Osbon rings I bought around mid-july are still going strong (when using any two of them). But yes as JamesC says the rings are a pain after 10 or 15 minutes. But you just cannot beat the convenience of starting from not-much to beyond full erection size in a couple of minutes and get right down to business (even if business only goes for 10-15 minutes or so) and then release the rings and get on with your day. Good to not be taking a left over erection off to work in the morning eh?

I have to admit that a VED erection does not work for me in the old missionary position -- as mentioned the swivel joint just does not allow for good directional control. I always use the SPOONs position from behind with both of us lying on our sides -- and that works great.

I have also used TRIMIX GEL -- some success but not great -- and regular old MUSE - also some success but not great. (And meds V L and C not yet working at all). Not ready to try Trimix injections yet -- the VED is good enough for now.

So keep working on all the methods you have.
Posted 1/3/2010 5:38 PM (GMT 0)
When I went back for my six week post op appointment my surgeon I had already been on ED medication for four weeks with no results. My surgeon told me the next step in the intervention could be either VED or injections. He recommended injections but I was a little fearful of the injections and chose the VED. I tried the VED for four weeks and had intercourse a few times but was not happy with the rings or the quality of the erection. I went with the injections and used them until just a couple of weeks ago when I had a penile implant installed. My surgeon never said anything about having to wait to use injections and he is head of a large urology clinic at a major university.

Tamu
Posted 1/3/2010 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Ricky,

The VED is excellent in a first pass at making sure the penis does not get atrophy. In order to actually get an erection usable for intercourse, you have to also use the ring.

Trimix is an entirely different animal and makes love making more natural after your injection, but it does take a few applications to get the dosage and process perfected
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