Hello From Colorado - 18 and Sad

[COGuy]

Been lurking for a little while, figured I'd finally join and post. I bolded the bottom parts where I actually have a few questions. Any help is appreciated!

Soooo. About me. I'm 18, live in Colorado. Pretty healthy guy, normal teenager. I believe my issues started this past summer, maybe 7 some months ago. Everything was very gradual for me. I have no idea why this happened, did not have any traumatic injury that I know of. Never even had sex...    Course I have masturbated pretty regularly past 4 some years, not the best habit but I'm a teenage guy I guess. Anyways as far as I know, no change on my part brought this on. I was straight as an arrow as far as I can remember, but with some upward lean.

Anyways like I said very gradual, didn't really notice much at all for a while and/or it didn't concern me and I didn't think about it. Noticed it but was very little so I thought it might be normal? Maybe 3-4 months ago I started getting more concerned but didn't chalk it up to much. Searched "curved penis" and various answers came up about it being normal, etc etc. Again I chose not to really think about it :/  At that time I was also having some weird health issues- near constant muscle twitches all over my body. So I was more focused on that- my Uncle was diagnosed with ALS at that time as well so I was pretty freaked out. I chalk it up a little bit to stress, College Applications aren't the most relaxing thing. Thank God that has mostly gone away by now.

All throughout that time I had completely regular erections (often, teenage guy). No change, no problems, no pain whatsoever. It was in Late December that I really became concerned, noticed that it really was curving left and got a little freaked out. Did some more research, came across Peyronies info, got a little depressed and stressed out, but was also very busy with life. Around that time I started noticing some discomfort, both when flaccid and erect. Very mild, little bit achy and sore. All along the left side. For me, there are no lumps really at all? The left side definitely seems to be firmer and harder than the right but in a very uniform way. Just not as soft as the right side when flaccid. Maybe a little bit "bumpy" or like there is some more fibrous tissue. maybe a couple areas more than others. I think there might be some lateral "cords" on the left side as well. So right now everything is still pretty soft and malleable, but definitely can tell a difference between right and left side.

I originally wasn't sure if my body was just growing in a weird way, but I stopped growing overall close to two years ago. Penis included. So I don't think this is congenital.

The curve is currently about 20 degrees left. Pretty smooth, doesn't hinge or anything. The bend seems mostly in the first half or so, towards the tip is straighter but still a bit curved. Like I said erections are very firm and full. I took my first picture of it about a month ago to track progress, and it thankfully doesn't seem to have changed much, maybe gotten worse by a couple degrees. When erect, it also seems like it is leaning left a decent amount as well. I can push the penis left almost all the way to my left thigh when erect, but right only maybe 15 degrees past straight ahead. This has me confused a bit, seems like that would be a tendon tightening thing preventing that? Or i suspect the curve/scarring is also occurring in the base of the penis past where it protrudes. Length is mostly the same, maybe decreased .25 inch but really not noticeable.

I've been pretty depressed, wondering why this is happening to me. I'm not even out of high school yet, have my whole life (and sex life) ahead of me and it's not looking too great. Supposed to meet girls like this? Just not fun to think about. Keep in mind I know things can be much worse. There are many illnesses that are far more devastating and much more serious, and I'm thankful that I'm overall a healthy person. On top of that I know Peyronies can be much, much worse as well. I'm hoping my age, and trying to treat this in the acute stage will be a plus in allowing me to heal and correct the curve one way or another.  For the time being I don't think my current curve would interfere much with sex, maybe make a few positions slightly uncomfortable but I could deal with it. However I am terrified of it getting worse, guess I just want to be able to have a normal sex life.

Now that that's out of the way I'm trying to figure out a course of action. After reading on here I'm on COQ10, L-Arginine, and Acetyl L Carnitine. Take a multivitamin (Juice plus) with high vitamin E content, and some Omega 3 pills for good measure.

I have an appointment at The Urology Center of Colorado March 3rd with Dr. Jesse Mills. Concerned that that's the earliest I can get in, but I'm not sure what else to do. Anyone have some good Colorado Recs? Also heard Dr. Grossman might be worth a shot, but the Urology Center seems like it's one of the best places to go. We have a family friend who just retired from Urology, may try to go in to his practice before the march appointment to see his old partner just to get an opinion (don't think they deal with Peyronies very often), and perhaps see if I can get a Pentox prescription. Is that a good idea?

I'm thinking traction might also be a good idea for me, considering I'm still in the acute stage. I've been trying to research some but there's a lot out there. Any suggestions for a device? And is that a good idea for me? I don't want to aggravate things further. I'm a little concerned on how receptive I'll be to it, I've always been a grower not a shower- flaccid often 2~ inches but erect 5.5~ inches. Just not how sure how easy it will be to use the traction device.

Beyond that I don't know what treatments might work for me. The Xiaflex reports have made me hopeful, maybe that will be the ticket? Especially considering the plaque still is very soft and the curve is not severe. There wouldn't be any issues using it in the acute stages correct? And taking Pentox beforehand? I'm curious what the ultrasound will show, considering there's nothing is super obvious for me as a hard lump right now.

Overall thanks for any thoughts. I'm still pretty depressed about all of this, but I've not lost hope and am optimistic about the future. Hoping I can maybe get this sorted before I head off to college next fall. Even if that means spending my last true summer off getting shots in my penis and wearing a stretcher all day... such is life I guess.

[Cal30]

COGuy, welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you're worried about your penis and your sexuality.

From reading your post, mostly what I see is a of fear and anxiety, and a huge amount of self-doubt.

I feel like your upcoming Dr.'s visit and this post on this forum are attempts to reduce your general anxiety about life and ease doubts about yourself.

Let me just start by saying, that none of us has a magic crystal ball that can tell your future. We don't know if you even have peyronie's let alone, whether it will get worse or not.

If you get married and have problems with sex, that is one thing, but what you're presenting here is a bunch of fear about something you've never even tried: sex.

You need to either face that fear head on by having sex or just forget about the idea of ever having sex.

None of us, not even a doctor, will know what sex will be like for you until you try it.

As a disclaimer, I do not advocate sex outside marriage, and I'm not recommending that you go out and just have sex with the first woman you can find.

I'm recommending that you find a way to overcome your fear and anxiety, and remain open to the possibility of some day meeting a marrying a great woman, and having great sex with her.

I really think you need to find a way to address your anxiety, fear and self-doubt.

You think that it's just your penis that's the problem and once you straighten it out (pun intended), you're going to feel all better, but you won't. Something else will come up down the road.

Your problem and solution are in how you react to these bumps and hurdles along the way. Do you react to everything with fear and doubt, or do you calmly and confidently confront problems head on?

Believe me, women prefer a man who knows how to navigate life with a steady hand.

I strongly encourage you to find a way to deal with your anxiety and self-doubt issues as a whole rather than fixating on possible big problems in your life. (Men who freak out about things generally are not particularly popular with the ladies.)

Life is full of problems. You'll have many more, I guarantee it! The key is is in learning how to face those problems with confidence, competence, willpower and faith.

I hope we can help you here.

Good on you for having the courage to post!

Cal

[NeoV]

Welcome to the forums,

You're taking all the right steps, Xiaflex may not be needed, and it's no guarantee so hold on.

I agree that traction may be useful for you along with taking the oral medications / supplements. The biggest thing for you may now be how to avoid re-injury and aggravation. Most of us who have Peyronie's (from my experience) have a susceptibility to the disease, and once we learn to avoid making it worse we tend to get better. In my case not masturbating so often helped me a lot, since I had been doing it way too much to the point where I no longer had morning erections at all. Allow the body to recover and allow your testosterone to raise back up. Allot serious TIME to fixing this, and consider your cure a new way of life. 18 is young to get this but you aren't any exception here. I also started getting symptoms at 18, and I'm 28 now. If I would have been more careful I could have avoided making it much worse.

Do not worry about sex, girls will forgive you for minor details like a slightly bent penis. The thing to do is to laugh it off, tell a girl "hey I have to be careful, so no bending me ever okay?" And you should be fine. A girl bent me while I was in missionary position and that caused my Peyronie's to take off.

Peyronie's can be a springboard for you into personal development and higher goals for yourself. A flawless diet, exercise, etc. For me bodybuilding and personal development as well as learning to be social and accepting myself was largely a product of being dragged so low by this disease. Ironically it's the people who have setbacks or so called serious issues that end up doing truly great things. Men with "no problems" tend to find themselves trapped in some very bad addictive thought loops and in bad situations in their lives.

The key for me is true commitment. Commitment to the disease, to your social skills, your happiness, your life.

[LWillisjr]

Don't assume you have Peyronies. Your 3-Mar appointment is very reasonable and not to be concerned. And I think many urologists are quick to diagnose anything "non-normal" as Peyronies as well. It is best you are tracking yourself for any changes.