Since I don’t remember any specific trauma, I’m not sure when my problems started. My best guess is between 3 and 6 months ago.
I’ve always been very active sexually, and have never taken any drugs for
Erectile Dysfunction. I am recently 60 years old, and, although I have had some health problems over the years (mostly connected with international travel), I have never had any penis problems…until quite recently.
I went through a period 4-6 months ago where at night I had very hard erections. Not really arousal-type erections, just hard, very long-lasting erections that made it hard to sleep. I kept rolling over on them. (This may have something to do with lack of sex; my significant other went through menopause, and for a while, penetration really hurt her. Thankfully that’s over—but now I have a problem of my own!)
A few months ago I noticed that even though my erections were very hard, they seemed—well, I don’t know how to put this. It’s like they were hard but smaller, as if they were getting hard by contracting rather than engorgement. And about that time I noticed a perceptible upward bend. Then, within a matter of weeks, the bend became sharper, moving to about 30-35 degrees. It also sort of hurt.
At this point, I had my first experience of not being able to maintain an erection during penetration, which shocked and humiliated me. It had something to do with discomfort—and, then, after that first time, with pure freak-out.
Obviously Peyronie’s, once I consulted medical authorities. And the counsel? The usual wait-and-see.
I can feel the
plaque. It’s not a large wedge or ball as shown in so many diagrams. More like a thin hard sheath on the top of the penis, just below where the curvature starts.
I’ve lost nearly 2 inches in length as measured by ruler—but quite a bit of that is curvature, and it’s not that extreme if measured by a sewing tape measure. But when I wasn’t erect, it’s as if my penis was “hiding”—pulling back and getting small and hard, as if I were in really cold water. And it hurt, on an unpredictable basis.
I distrust doctors as a class—and have many, many reasons, based on experience, for doing so. Therefore, I began researching alternative options, beginning with John Parks’ website/e-book, and eventually arriving here. I may talk to a specialist at some point—probably someone recommended by you folks here—but based on my experience with doctors so far, I’m in no great hurry.
Most of what I am doing so far I believe falls into the ‘no regrets’ category. I am taking Acetyl L-Carnitine, Serrapeptase, Nattokinase, and Vitamin E. I am using heated castor oil packs in the evening. (I am skeptical of Thacker’s formula, but I am not skeptical of castor oil packs; I have used them with success for other conditions.)
As recommended by Parks, I am using
DMSO and SSKI. On my own, I’ve added a small amount of pure Acetyl L-Carnitine powder to the
DMSO for direct absorption. (With a molecular mass of about 205, it ought to be absorbable topically, even without the
DMSO. [Yeah, okay, that’s a little geeky, but I’m a chemist.])
In just a couple of weeks, I have noticed dramatic improvements. My
flaccid is more normal, and my overall discomfort is much lower. I don’t know if something I’m doing contributed, or if things are just improving on their own, or it if it’s just a consequence of taking some kind of action instead of sitting and wondering!
I’ve ordered a
traction device—Male Edge. (I’d ordered The Peyronies Device, formerly Size Genetics, a week earlier, but US Customs sent it back. The company urged me to re-order, but they couldn’t resend until they’d received their original device back…and even then they weren’t sure if the new shipment would come through. So I gave up. I don’t want to wait months, with no guarantee of delivery.)
In any case, I am delighted to have discovered this forum, with so many members (no pun intended) and so many people with so much experience in dealing with this problem.
A couple of questions I haven’t been able to resolve after a few days of reading the forums here. I apologize if these have been answered a thousand times before:
1) Intercourse/masturbation: Good or bad? Risky, or healthy (or both)?
2) Cialis, etc. Is this still recommended as baseline therapy if you can get natural erections?
3) How important would you rank
Pentox, especially at an early stage?
4) Is there any reason not to do both
Traction and Vacuum?
I’m assuming I’m still in the ‘
acute’ stage, but since I don’t know when it started I can’t really tell. All I know is that things were just fine six months ago, and now they aren’t.
Thanks so much for running this place and contributing so much time. As I’m sure you all know, discovering you have Peyronie’s makes you feel all alone, and this forum is a Godsend.
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Topic: Looks like I found the right place (Read 2322 times)