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your first post-prostatectomy erections: what were they like?

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Posted 10/16/2007 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
I am nearly 15 months post robotic prostatectomy. I have been seeing some nerve response to the PDE5 inhibitor drugs in the last couple of months, giving me fleeting erections (i.e., the last for a couple of minutes and go away if I try to use them).

Is this what the return of erections is like, and has anyone had experience with this getting better over time?
Posted 10/16/2007 1:00 PM (GMT 0)
I had one injection of the Trimix and I had an erection that rivaled the old days, but it lasted too long. Yes, I can't believe I said that. I'll pick up my perscription today and start to my shots (at a lower dose) this weekend.
Posted 10/16/2007 2:42 PM (GMT 0)

Chas, Have you considered limiting your liquid intake prior to intercourse and using a condom.  That has worked for us.

Gene

Posted 10/16/2007 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
kdnole, yes, with bimix i can get rock hard erections that last a substantially long time - I am wondering more about erections without injections (but possibly with Cialis, Viagra, etc. Sorry, should have been more specific. I have tried with Cialis, Viagra and Levitra and still can't get rock hard with those. Given that I developed Peyronie's, I'd like to be able to someday avoid injections.

With respect to leaking, I have that too, it's a pain. If I plan ahead, I can limit fluid intake, but that only goes so far, and I still have a few drops that get out (sometimes more than a few). Oral seems to be out of the question, but that is the least of my worries, I'd like to be able to have some good old fashioned penetration without using a tension band.
Posted 10/31/2007 7:03 AM (GMT 0)
Some men get erections fast. I know a 37 y old who had them within a week of surgery, with the catheter still in place. Yet another 50 ish who seemed perferctly healthy got them after four years. Nobody understands these wide variations.
Posted 10/31/2007 8:03 AM (GMT 0)

HNR said...
e<FONT color=black>ctions fast. I know a 37 y old who had them within a week of surgery, with the catheter still in place. Yet another 50 ish who seemed perferctly healthy got them after four years. Nobody understands these wide variations.

Yikes, four years,that's a long time.
Posted 10/31/2007 11:37 AM (GMT 0)
StrictlyInc - 14 months post-surgery and using Viagra, Jeff still does not have erections like he did before surgery, but they are hard enough for penetration. it doesn't last very long though. he also takes a small dosage of Viagra every day. he never has an erection without stimulation. we are hopeful that it will get better with time. kat
Posted 10/31/2007 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
M.Kat,

Reading your signature, it sounds like Jeff's progression is very similar to mine - we even had surgery within 2 days of each other. I have also been having the brief erections since around early September, though it requires a good amount of stimulation. I take 10 mg Cialis daily (part of the meds for Peyronie's), and augment that with Viagra or Levitra if I am trying to be active. Pump produced erections is what I end up using for sex still, though. The latter have also improved, though that may be more due to practice with the pump than physical stuff.
Posted 11/1/2007 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
I'm just over one year over surgery date. Erections keep improving. Some mornings I have even woke up with an erection. Good ol morning wood...hehehe The first full ones were a little painfull. But that seems to keep getting better.

I have a Question for you all. Have you all notice a different "shape" in your penis during erections? I seem to have a noticable bend in mine. Wonder if that could be due to one nerve missing? Any Ideas???...

KW
Posted 11/1/2007 5:25 AM (GMT 0)
I'm almost 5 months post da Vinci. about 75% with 100 mg Viagra, maybe 25% without. No spontaneous (without stimulation) erections. I sometimes wake up with what seems to "feel" like the beginnings of one, but at best there's only a little bit of chubbiness. This has all developed in the last couple of months. Virtually nothing during the first 3 months. So I'm hoping this means that the nerves are healing, albeit very slowly :( Trying to be patient, but this is all very frustrating and at times very discouraging.
Posted 11/1/2007 7:56 AM (GMT 0)

kw said...
I'm just over one year over surgery date. Erections keep improving. Some mornings I have even woke up with an erection. Good ol morning wood...hehehe The first full ones were a little painfull. But that seems to keep getting better.

I have a Question for you all. Have you all notice a different "shape" in your penis during erections? I seem to have a noticable bend in mine. Wonder if that could be due to one nerve missing? Any Ideas???...

KW

kw, you may want to ask your urologist if you have Peyronie's. I developed this several months after my surgery, probably after starting injections, but also possibly as a side effect of the surgery itself or some trauma suffered after surgery.

I am currently being treated, and it has stabilized and even lessened. At one point the bend got so severe that it made intercourse painful and the angle difficult, which is when I went to have it checked out.

Peyronie's aside, though, just the act of cutting and reattaching the urethra after removing the prostate would seem likely to change shape and curvature of the penis.
Posted 11/1/2007 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
Look up Kelami's Syndrome...aka..Urethral Manitpulation Syndrome.
Posted 11/1/2007 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi kw and strictly

The bend you speak of is happening here too. Strictly - what "treatment" are you currently undergoing to reverse this??

;o) Linda & Bob
Posted 11/2/2007 12:02 AM (GMT 0)
I am being treated by the ED specialist at UCLA Urology. He has prescribed the following:

- 400 mg pentoxifylline, taken 3 times a day
- 10 mg Cialis, taken once a day
- 1000 mg arginine (prescription not required for this), taken twice a day

I am also taking something prescribed by a Chinese herbologist. It is called Prostate Safe, by Min Tong Herbs. (I know, the name doesn't make sense)

Been on this regimen for 4 months now. The bend has stabilized and seeems to be reversing. I am due back to see the specialist sometime in the next few days.

In my case, the bend started, seemed like no big deal (relatively speaking, of course), but ended up pointing down to the degree it made intercourse painful and difficult, with injection produced erections (intercourse with VED aided erections wasn't affected, mostly because those are spongy anyway).
Posted 11/5/2007 6:22 AM (GMT 0)
Four years is a very long time, but some get them right away. Some even with the catheter still in place. I'm going to the meeting in Miami on the 15th so I can hear more about it.
Posted 1/19/2011 11:29 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone else experienced actual ejaculation after surgery? I've been ejaculating, sometimes huge amounts of fluid, for about the past six months. It's been two years since my surgery this month, and I'm very baffled by what this might be. It's not the same consistency as semen, more like thick water.
Posted 1/20/2011 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
Back to StricklyInc's original question. My return was during the night, during REM sleep, within a few weeks of surgery. Wake up in the morning--"did that really happen or did I dream it?" Sometimes I would wake up from the dream, "oh, it's really happening." I had this from the beginning, but needed pills to make it usable. Waking erections seem to come on more slowly than preoperatively, pills speed it up and an make it last longer.

unc1202, It must be partially urine. Pre-ejaculate is a clear mucoid fluid produced by accessory sex glands -- these are still there after RP, and can be ejaculate. There isn't much of that, so if there are large amounts, it must be mixing with urine, that can happen in some people.
Posted 1/20/2011 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
Strickly,

I had my first definite strong early morning erection on 9/26/2010 ( i wrote it down) -- 18 months after surgery. It lasted while drifting in and out of sleep for an hour (I'd recheck each time -- point out to the missus etc). Did not try to put it to use -- not really that strong.

But the strange thing is it has not returned since then -- or maybe I am sleeping too soundly to notice - I doubt it tho. People have reported getting just sporadic wood with no real definite regularity as things progress.

I usually take one of the Big Three ED meds before going to bed. Can't really say if it helps or not.

J
Posted 1/20/2011 2:53 PM (GMT 0)
Jstars,

You're experience sounds very familiar.  First morning erection at about 18 months.  Not much to report since then.

I also continue with the night time PDE5 inhibitors.

I've seen improvement in ED, but it has been real slow.  Have been able to decrease Trimix from 4 units to less than 2 units.  Full strenght PDE5 inhibitors somtimes produce about a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.  Sometimes its only a 5 ... not sure what thats all about.

How long do you plan to stay on the night time ED meds?

Posted 1/20/2011 11:09 PM (GMT 0)
unc,
I have experience the exact same thing, though not in copius amounts. Its a very thick, clear goo. that happens during ejaculation.
steve
Posted 1/21/2011 2:43 PM (GMT 0)
To the original question: I am very blessed to be ahead of you time wise. I use the osbond to help with the first unassisted erections i pump and see how long I can maintain that erection without assistance, them pump and see how long I can maintain with help no rings...then pump and hold a few minutes under pressure then hold with a ring. this seems to help me get at least for now a approximate 50-60% with just manual stimulation without a ring. so its getting there but I personally recomend use the ED meds daily, and pump daily trying to maintain as long as u can afterwar the pump
Posted 1/21/2011 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
I had my first erections within days after the catheter was removed and they were rock solid as long as there was some form of manual stimulation. Without the stimulation,  it was impossible to get or maintain an erection. 

It is now 3 1/2 yrs post op and my erections are still rock solid and I even wake up every morning with an erection like I use to do prior to surgery.

 

Posted 2/19/2012 6:17 PM (GMT 0)
It's highly variable. I had "stirrings" when the catheter was still in, though the fact that it was made those less than pleasant, other than as a sign that nerve-sparing probably had worked.

I did a month of daily 5 mg cialis starting a week or two after surgery. There was some response, but very slow and not very firm at all. Still, any response is a sign of progress, so be good with that, and keep trying.

Since then drug application has been much more variable as I've both wanted to see what I have without it, and the stretch a limited supply as the insurance won't cover it - and I may not need it, much.

This week I took a 5mg Cialis Tuesday and Friday and things have looked good all week in both "rehabilitation" and actual practice. Still very slow to respond compared to the [puberty-day I went into the hospital] interval, but responding, but better than it was two months ago.

But it's very clear that individual results do vary, both in timing and the nature of the result.
Posted 3/1/2014 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
I'm alternating between caverject and viagra. Stronger erection with caverject, sometimes it lasts too long and difficult to cum. Viagra is more realistic, ie., no war club result like caverject, but viagra has side effects: dizzy, lightheaded. So both are a compromise.

I have urine in ejaculate also, but I do have a different opinion on this. My orgasm is better when something comes out, even it it's urine. Actually it's urine that is slippery. I think that it has some Cowper's gland fluid in it. I prefer the feeling of something coming out. My wife doesn't mind it at all. And in fact she likes the feeling of the liquid as well. So if it's a little pee, I call it peecum. It's mostly water and we like it. Sometimes I lie next to her and ********* while she talks very suggestively - dirty talk. She enjoys watching me pee myself.

So don't be so ashamed of a little pee coming out. Try it and talk about it while doing it. You might find it enjoyable as well.
Posted 3/1/2014 10:22 PM (GMT 0)
I guess it depends on how you define "erection". If we're talking "like before" then I've yet to have one. If we're talking one usable for sex, I was able to do that a few weeks after my RALP. As has been said here, it was like shooting pool with a garden hose but I got'r done. BTW, they were far more powerful than before and I'm guessing this has to do with the kegel exercises.

Today, is 6 months out...I'm able to have several orgasms a day. Able to "get it up" 3 times in 5 hours is my new post RALP record. Like before? No. My current erections are like what they were if I'd had a normal orgasm and had sex again in about 20 minutes. Just not as firm as before but raised to about 3/4 of where I used to get it to. More swollen than rock hard.

I said at 6 months I would turn focus to improving them and I will do so and see what happens. L-Arginine is something I will try and I may try some eXtenze or some kind of natural blood flow pill. Will likely try all natural food based methods before turning to any pill.

Like you, I can't stop and start easily. If I have to get up or kids bang on door it's very difficult to get restarted. Need to just put hammer down and go and the endurance needs lots of work, but I have been able at times to make it last.

Post Edited (Inchoation) : 3/1/2014 3:25:56 PM (GMT-7)

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