Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Who is speaking up? The real men dealing with erectile dysfunction

Suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED) can be a lonely experience. There may be plenty of facts and figures out there to read through, but sometimes it’s hard to get an impression of what other men are really going through.


With this in mind, we decided it’s time for a change. Here are three examples of real men who’ve experienced ED firsthand.


Mark, 57, Liverpool


I’ve always had a healthy sex drive and enjoyed being intimate with my wife. However, about two years ago I started struggling to get erections during sex. At first, this caused big problems in our relationship because my wife assumed I no longer found her attractive. This was really tough to deal with because I knew it wasn’t true.


To begin with, I assumed that the issue would just go away, but in fact it got worse. I started to dread sex because I knew I’d find it difficult to get an erection. I really didn’t want to visit a doctor because I felt like a failure and was too embarrassed to discuss the subject. However, I knew I had to do something.


I started to read up on ED online and discovered that stress [TB1] could be a trigger. This was a light bulb moment for me. I knew the pressure at work had been taking its toll on me and was one of the reasons I’d put on weight, but I’d never realised that it could interfere with my sex life.


I also realised that I could be at risk of having heart disease. I have booked an appointment with my GP to arrange some tests to check me for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.


I decided to share the information with my wife, and this made things much easier. She stopped seeing herself as the cause of our bedroom problems. She also encouraged me to look for ED medicines online. I’d always known about Viagra, but just never saw myself having to use it. I’m so glad I did though. It had an immediate effect on our sex life and helped me to get my confidence back.


Now, I rarely have to use the pills, but I know they’re there in case I do.


Gavin, 35, York


The first time it happened, my wife and I treated it as a one off. My son had been keeping us awake half the night most nights with teething pain so we just put it down to tiredness. Months passed, one by one my son’s teeth broke through, and sleeping patterns returned to normal. My problem, however, did not go away. My wife, being the lovely woman she is, was very reassuring. I cracked jokes about turning into an old man, but secretly I was in turmoil.


At 35 years old, I never expected to suffer from erectile dysfunction. I didn’t smoke, never had more than the odd pint on a Saturday evening and was very fit. With my self-confidence at an all-time low, for the first time in my life I began to avoid sex.


It wasn’t until another couple of months had passed that I realised what was causing my problem. I was having a much-need drink with the lads after a 25 km cycle one Saturday when the conversation turned to sex. To my surprise, the younger guys were speaking openly about their problems getting it up in the bedroom after years in the saddle. Despite being a long-time member of my local cycling club, I had never heard of the phenomenon and was very interested.


They spoke frankly about their experiences and laughed about having felt like the world had ended when it first happened. I felt instantly relieved to find out I was not alone. Could it really be that years of cycling had affected my nerves? Apparently so.


I thought I was going to have to give up my number-one hobby until one of the guys told me how Viagra had helped him. Taking his advice, I went to my GP and got a prescription the following week. My GP also checked my blood pressure and did a diabetes and cholesterol test to rule out any underlying causes.


Thanks to these little blue pills, my sex life has never been better. My wife and I are finding more time to be intimate now that my son is getting older and to top it off I haven’t had to quit the cycling club.


Chris, 23, London


When I first noticed that I was having problems maintaining an erection, not only did I feel embarrassed, but I was also confused. Erectile dysfunction is a condition usually associated with older men, so why was I having these problems? As far as I was concerned, I was a fit, healthy man in the prime of my life.


Then it occurred to me that if the issue wasn’t physical, it had to be psychological. With sex being a major topic of conversation amongst me and my guy friends, without even realising it, the pressure to perform had started to take its toll. Porn didn’t help either. Seeing so many well-endowed, muscular men appearing to give women the time of their lives made me feel inadequate about both my body and my skills in the bedroom. Especially when encountering new sexual situations, I was beginning to feel an increasing sense of angst, making me lose confidence in my ability to please girls in bed.


Before I knew it, my self esteem had plummeted and the enduring stress had completely reduced my sex drive, making it almost impossible for me to get an erection. Being unable to satisfy the girls I was with made me feel useless and these feelings of low self worth made the problem gradually worsen.


When I realised what was happening, I knew that I needed to do something about it. Browsing the web allowed me to learn about erectile dysfunction in younger men and help me deal with my worries regarding performance anxiety, without having to face an awkward conversation with the doctor. Purchasing a safe drug called Levitra fromonlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy.com has helped me to regain my self-confidence and get back to having a fun sex life again.