On HRT and have erection problems..............

[bdomihizayka]

So I am 28 years old, and have been on HRT for about 4 years. I take 200mg of Test C a week subcutaneously. I was an avid bodybuilder and choose to be on HRT. But from around 24- 6 months ago, I feel victim to opiates and was an addict.

My problem is- I have no libido, and I can't get efficient erections. Like if I'm trying to have sex, maybe 25% of the time I'll have an erection hard enough for sex. I don't wake up with erections and haven't in years, and definitely never get random erections. Also, I am on NO other medications besides a thyroid medication for hypothyroidism.

This problem has lasted since around the time I started HRT and seems to be getting progressively worse.

I mean I know I should get blood work and post my results on here and all but from over the years my hormone levels have really all been balanced for the most part. I have seen a urologist recently and had a prostate exam and everything is normal.



Finally- I have a herniated L5. I also have moderate to severe spinal stenosis all the way down my lumbar spine. I have ZERO back pain or referred pain/ tingly feelings or loss of bladder control- BUT I have read this can be a cause of impotence.



What I want to ask is with all this information- if you were me, where would you start to try and rectify this problem? I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I've seriously completely lost the will to live.

 

[CFC]

Hi there, sorry to hear about that.

I'm sure you know about the well-known effect opiates can have on libido, and that they do tend to slowly improve after many months or even years of time off. Unfortunately libido isn't all about test levels, and it can take a long while for everything to settle down again.

Have you spoken about your libido and ED issues to your doctor? You may benefit from seeing an endo or even a sex counsellor if, perhaps, some of your issues are latent mental/psychological troubles and not just physical.

Separately, if you've had trouble getting/staying hard (which is not the same as libido), that can knock confidence, and so you might benefit from some ED drugs in those situations (tadalafil, sildenafil etc).

As for spinal issues, it's not likely to impact libido at all, which is unrelated to erectile dysfunction. If you only have minimal effects from the herniation, then I wouldn't count that as playing much of a role personally.

 

[Swim15]

^Good points.

I think there's something to be said about the opiates, however if that problem started two years ago up until 6 months ago and you started HRT 4 years ago they may not be related although it still could impact things in the present.

The mental aspect of sex, confidence, etc can be huge too. There was a short period where I had issues that really stemmed originally from imbalanced hormones but that led to some awkward sex situations which then impacted confidence and caused the root of the problem to change to a confidence issue which took a little while to correct.

Assuming that is not the issue - generally it's easiest to find this out by having some regular/semi regular casual sex with someone you are really trusting/good friends with and preferably have past sexual experience with - then hormone balance is most likely the issue.

I'd then ask -
1. Are you taking an AI?
2. Have you talked to your doc about this?
3. Do you have any blood work from before getting on HRT?

Bloods likely won't tell you much since everyone's "sweet spot" is different in terms of test/estrogen ratios but checking things like DHT, SHBG, and other hormones can help.

Personally I've got some tell tale signs that I pay attention to so that I don't need blood work
1. If I've got no dex drive but can get erections/orgasm, my test is fine and estrogen is low

2. If I've got a sex drive but problems with erections or weak orgasms, test is fine and estrogen is too high

3. The sweet spot is high sex drive, easy/constant erections, and intense orgasms. This, for me, is a test dose in the range of 200-800mg with no AI and some AI if I go above that range with longer esters.

After taking some of those other factors into consideration and if you aren't on an AI, my first personal stab at it would be a low dose AI (probably arimidex at .25mg twice a week).

 

[musique]

Very good points from both CFC and SWIM15, Your erection problems most likely were a result of higher than desired estradiol levels which can easily be rectified with an AI, I recommend Arimidex( anastrazole) as its readily available, is very well tolerated and can be had cheap via generic or from different countries if need be for more savings. However research your source as Always ! ~ 0.5mgs every other day would be sufficient for the amount of test you were doing.
As stated by SWIM, get some blood work. Obviously a CBC, Lipids, Iron, Liver enzymes and a hormone panel consisting of Thyroid, Testosterone ( free and total) Estradiol, Prolactin and DHT ( dihydrotestosterone) - the huge factor for intense erections and libido.

Along comes Opiates...A real erection killer and libido number. Get off of them ( no pun intended) of you'll have to resort to a PDE5 inhibitor such as Viagara, Cialis or levitra or if you need to raise that flagpole with a bazooka and you're hard core inject papaverine or a tri-mix into your Johnson , but be aware that you should never be chemically enhanced for more than 4 hours or your wang becomes Oxygen deprived and necrosis ( cell death with a broken Willy) will ensue.

P.S> do NOT lose your will as this is temporary and definitely 100% treatable