Erectile dysfunction

[GenericUsername 1,108]

I’ve been noticing that I’m having some ED out of nowhere. When I do get erections, my dick is not as throbbing as it should be. I’m upset for several reasons, notably that I have no sexual experience nearing the age of 26.

I’m not sure what’s causing the ED. I heard it could be age-related. Im concerned about the lower blood flow and what that says about my health. I’m pretty out of shape and having a bit of trouble losing weight. I had Covid once back in 2022 and had several vaccines that were hard on my immune system. They made me hornier at the time but perhaps the long term effects are worse.

Time to try Viagra?

[Carb0nBased 647]

I doubt it's related to normal aging as that shouldn't have any effect that young. I am more than a decade older and have some neuropathy down there that affect sensation but still when I do get hard, I get as hard as I ever have. 

I imagine that "long haul" COVID could cause something like this--that virus has somewhat of a reputation for causing dysautonomia, and erection is a parasympathetic reaction, which requires the nerves of the autonomic system to work properly. If that's what it is, I have no idea how you would treat it. There are drugs to help with changes in heart rate/blood pressure due to dysautonomia, as well as others to treat neuropathic pain (with moderate levels of success--and none treats loss of sensation), but aside from drugs like Viagra and Cialis, which act on the smooth muscle in the penis itself, I'm unaware of anything that could fix this.

Possibly you could try general nerve health supplements like B12, thiamine, etc.? Arginine has a weak Viagra-like effect--but again this wouldn't fix the nerve function if that's the problem. Time might also help, I don't recall reading how long it takes for, e.g., loss of taste and smell to normalize in long-COVID cases, but without any data I'd assume that your issues would likely worsen/improve on a similar timetable to that.

[Ilovepeestains 482]

I feel your concern, the same has happened to me. There is something called porn-induced erectile dysfunction, and I think it's affected me. Although it's not agreed upon by all professionals, and there haven't been many quality studies on it, there's is evidence that the epidemic of porn consumption in the modern age has led to widespread erectile dysfunction among young people. Before the Internet, erectile dysfunction among young people was rare. I'm a science guy and I'd like to see more research on it. But you'll find a lot of opinions and anecdotes on YouTube.

I decided to test it out on myself a few years ago and abstained from porn for many months. During that period, I was having much better sex with my wife. Then I fell off the wagon and went back to porn. But I noticed that I was much harder and more excited when I started using porn again. But that didn't last. Now after using porn again for a couple years, I don't remain hard for very long and it's more difficult to get hard, stay hard, and to orgasm. But porn is addictive and the only way I can stop forever would be to disconnect the Internet from my house and phone.

I read that Covid can damage arteries in the penis, which can also cause ED. But not sure how common that is. Smoking and being overweight can also cause ED.

Edited April 15 by Ilovepeestains

[Remi 1,034]

You should try to avoid things that can lower your testosterone levels like stress and start implementing things that can boost it into your everyday life. A good sleeping routine and enough quality sleep at night are crucial. Same goes for movement, workouts. This will not only increase your well being but can also boost testo levels depending on what excercises you are doing. Sprints are excellent for that. Whatever you do, start slow and according to your level. 

Next thing is eating habits. A good diet can make a huge difference. Doesn't even have to be too restricting. Its all about moderation.

Like mentioned by someone above, supplementing vitamins and minerals might help to an extend. Lots of people really swear by ashwagandha to help them reduce the negative effects of stress. Try natural supplements and vitamins before considering medicine or the blue pill.

Its probably not one thing but a few little things that add up. Try to make little changes and see if it improves. If you feel like its not going anywhere you could seek out help from a good doctor to see whats missing.

[gldenwetgoose 21,487]

Might I make a suggestion....     Go and see your doctor.

It could be stress.   It could be vitamin / hormone levels.  It could be excessive porn.   It could be chemtrails.     I'm being ridiculous in the latter of course.   But I'm not a medical professional, and as far as I know none of us are.

It could be something, it could be nothing - go and see your doctor and let them decide.

[DoctorDoctor 1,391]

Agree, go and see a doctor. Don't leave any details out when talking with the doc. I've heard porn, cycling and the type of bicycle seat, too much alcohol, poor sleep, high blood pressure, etc. can all cause ED. 

[Pinguy94 104]

I'd suggest a doctor aswell, I'm nearing 50 and have no problem getting fully erect and staying erect either vaginally, oral or just plain solo masterbating 

[GenericUsername 1,108]

Doctor told me to stop masturbating every day and that he might consider medication if I’m not doing better from exercise and managing stress after a month.

[Ilovepeestains 482]

On 4/23/2024 at 5:22 AM, GenericUsername said:

Doctor told me to stop masturbating every day and that he might consider medication if I’m not doing better from exercise and managing stress after a month.

Sounds like good advice. Every day is very frequent. Sometimes I need a week to recharge.

[durianfury 2,023]

On 4/23/2024 at 8:22 AM, GenericUsername said:

Doctor told me to stop masturbating every day and that he might consider medication if I’m not doing better from exercise and managing stress after a month.

Oh god, a month without porn. That sounds so hard. I’m so fucking addicted to this shit I can’t hardly go a day without it. 
I’m in a similar situation to you - i'm 23 and have issues getting hard enough. Can’t even get it up at all today after a stupid gooning session yesterday. I really need to take a break but I just can't. I have a super hot super horny partner who wants sex all the time and you’d think that would solve my porn addiction, but it hasn't yet.

[GenericUsername 1,108]

14 minutes ago, durianfury said:

Oh god, a month without porn. That sounds so hard. I’m so fucking addicted to this shit I can’t hardly go a day without it. 
I’m in a similar situation to you - i'm 23 and have issues getting hard enough. Can’t even get it up at all today after a stupid gooning session yesterday. I really need to take a break but I just can't. I have a super hot super horny partner who wants sex all the time and you’d think that would solve my porn addiction, but it hasn't yet.

I didn’t start to have issues until I was a couple years older than you. Yeah, I would recommend taking a break from gooning sessions. Space them out a bit and then they will feel more pleasurable anyway. The feeling might come back randomly and you’ll have a stiff boner. Have to let it happen naturally instead of forcing it at this age.

The longest I’ve gone is two weeks. That was just an experiment that probably won’t be repeated. Maybe you can go as long as you can without jacking off and then reward yourself with a really naughty pee. Don’t do NoFap because that’s just unscientific.

Edited May 16 by GenericUsername

[durianfury 2,023]

47 minutes ago, GenericUsername said:

I didn’t start to have issues until I was a couple years older than you. Yeah, I would recommend taking a break from gooning sessions. Space them out a bit and then they will feel more pleasurable anyway. The feeling might come back randomly and you’ll have a stiff boner. Have to let it happen naturally instead of forcing it at this age.

The longest I’ve gone is two weeks. That was just an experiment that probably won’t be repeated. Maybe you can go as long as you can without jacking off and then reward yourself with a really naughty pee. Don’t do NoFap because that’s just unscientific.

Would sex be detrimental to this healing process? I like to have sex :’)

[GenericUsername 1,108]

1 minute ago, durianfury said:

Would sex be detrimental to this healing process? I like to have sex :’)

I wouldn’t know because I’ve never had sex yet. This only applies to jacking off.

[Alfresco 11,630]

I'm somewhat older than you @GenericUsername as I'm in my mid 50's but I do think that watching a lot of porn can desensitise people.   From my own experience I remember that it used to be nearly every pee pic or video would get me hard, but now I can watch quite a few without any great reaction.  It is a case of over exposure to the same kind of stuff I guess.

I have also found that in general my erections are not as frequent or as full as they used to be - including sex with my wife.  

Therefore I did go and see the doctor and he did tests on hormone levels etc.  All was apparently normal for hormones and he did say stress might be an issue.   He did suggest Viagra or similar might help but stressed that it only works to enhance things if you are turned on, it doesn't instantly give an erection on demand.  I have tried it a couple of times and yes it does work but Mrs A and I are usually very spontaneous so we don't usually want to wait the hour it takes to take effect.   I have found things have settled down and I do get decent erections without Viagra, although maybe not as good as they used to be and I don't tend to last as long as I used to do either.   But I am getting older and nothing works as well as it used to do! The important thing is that we still have lots of fun and sex is still enjoyable and we both turn each other on.

Also - again probably due to age, I've noticed that my dick is not as big as it used to be when flacid.  I have no measurements to back this up, but it seems smaller than it was.

[oliver2 4,418]

2 hours ago, Alfresco said:

From my own experience I remember that it used to be nearly every pee pic or video would get me hard, but now I can watch quite a few without any great reaction.  It is a case of over exposure to the same kind of stuff I guess

I fear (or is it hope?) that a lot of that's not overexposure to anything, just time's relentless march

[Ilovepeestains 482]

Nobody should need to stop having sex to get their boners back. Sex is totally natural. And I agree with @GenericUsername NoFap is not scientific, and be very skeptical of the wacky claims those guys make. 😀

[GenericUsername 1,108]

I got a referral to see a urologist and will be doing a blood test that will determine my testosterone levels, among other things. If it’s low testosterone then it would be nice to know.