Whether you suffer from ED Erectile Dysfunction or Erectile Dissatisfaction if you do find yourself online searching for a quick fix or at the doctor asking for the blue pills, it’s absolutely crucial you understand that medical doctors are educated and trained to treat the symptoms of ED and impotence not the underlying causes or root of the problem, which could be a host of other challenges.
Accordingly, I’m going to issue a Warning!
If you take the medical route with pills, creams or devices, just know going in that these are all temporary solutions and without addressing the root, your problem will always return.
That being said, I wanted to put all options on the table in order to help you make an educated decision about your personal circumstances.
If you do choose this route, just make sure you’re working on the other natural ED cures like the ones offered in “Man Up – The Ultimate Guide to Natural ED Cures, that solve the root of your challenges, otherwise, as you’ll soon discover, things could get worse.
The Two Medical Routes For ED
There are two main categories of treatment for ED in the medical establishment – Mechanical and Pharmaceutical. Of these two, pharmaceutical is bar far the most abused and misunderstood. It’s also the most prescribed (haphazardly at that) by most medical doctors, so let’s unpack this beast and slay it with some truth.
Pharmaceutical Treatments
Confusingly, pharmaceuticals do not address the underlying cause of your problem but instead interfere with the process of blood flow that creates and sustains erections. Essentially, your erect soldier contains up to eight times more blood than when it’s flaccid. But once you lose your erection, this trapped blood gets released, your erection ends, and blood flow returns to normal.
PDE5 inhibitors, such as sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis) and vardenafil (Levitra), stop a particular enzyme found in blood vessel walls called PDE5 (phosphodiesterase type 5) from working properly. Since PDE5 helps control blood flow to your pulmonary arteries, PDE5 inhibitors cause your blood vessels to relax, which increases blood flow to your big guy.
Now let’s just stop right there. Did you catch that “stop PDE5 from working properly?” Now I don’t know about you but I’d rather have Mother Nature working for me than against me (Remember the Wave).
Here’s a little food for thought: we do not suffer from erection problems simply because we were not born with enough Viagra in our bodies. Really, can you imagine adding Viagra to the daily recommended allowance of vitamins and minerals needed for survival? Probably not I’d guess. But again, depending on your circumstances, this could be a temporary solution, so let’s see what other risks there are before we jump on the Viagra bandwagon.
You’re Soldier Could Explode
Turns out these PDE5 inhibitors all have warnings. In fact, here’s just one of the many possible side effects copied directly from Viagra’s website:
- An erection that will not go away (priapism).If you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, get medical help right away. If it is not treated right away, priapism can permanently damage your penis.
While you may be saying “whoopee I get a hard on for over four hours,” you may want to hold off on that thought. It turns out, holding an erection for long periods of time has actually been proven to do long term damage to your dong. It’s called “priapism” and studies show PDE5 inhibitors can “extend duration of action for up to 12 hours.”[i]
An extended erection is kind of like staying awake without sleeping for four days and alternating weight lifting with wind sprints – pretty soon your blood vessels will just explode. While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, I think you get the point. Artificially inflated boners for long periods of time are not only detrimental but painful.
They Only Work 50% Of The Time
While manufacturers who sell PDE5 inhibitors promote their drugs as 70% effective, in reality, according to 14 separate studies of over 18,000 men, the success rate is actually closer to 50%. Not exactly an urgent reason to jump off the wave and dive into a bottle of blue pills.[ii] And even when these pills do work, don’t expect porn-star erections. They only create erections “sufficient for intercourse.”
They Create Erections Not Arousal
As effective the PDE5 inhibitors may be for the 50% just mentioned, unfortunately, they have no effect on arousal. So you may get a stiffy, but you may not feel particularly interested in sex. Because of this lack of arousal and other factors, many men feel disappointed with the drugs and according to statistics, fewer than half refill their prescriptions. [iii]
They Become Less Effective Over Time
Ever heard of the law of diminishing returns? This happens with all drugs. The more you take them the less effective they become and the more you need to take to get similar effects. Think about smoking pot or drinking alcohol. If you’ve built up a tolerance, you’ll just need more and more to get the same high. Not exactly a good idea considering these drugs have loads of side effects.
There Are Serious Side Effects
And what about those Sildenafil side effects? There are serious negative side effects from taking PDE5 inhibitors that can adversely affect your short and long-term health. Here’s a list of some of the manufacturers’ warnings:
- Upset stomach or diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Heartburn
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Nosebleeds
- Flushing
- Difficulty sleeping
- Muscle or back pain
- Numbness or tingling in the hands, arms, feet, or legs
- Sensitivity to light or vision changes
Financial Risk
While PDE5 inhibitors have dropped from around $30 a pill to an average price of $7 for a generic brand, it still ads up. And regardless of how much dough you got in the bank, when you consider all the risks, riding that wave to discover some long-term solutions should be sounding pretty stokeworthy about now.
What’s The Bottom Line Here?
Given all the risks, pharmaceutical solutions should be a last resort, like when it’s your birthday or your partner’s birthday and you can’t get your pole to rise. Or when you’re over 70, in good physical condition, but nothing else seems to work, in which case this may be a good temporary solution.
But even if this is the case, make sure you’re addressing the root of the problem; otherwise, you’ll just be bailing water from a sinking ship. To do this I highly recommend reading Man Up – The Ultimate Guide To Natural ED Cures, which will show you how to fix your problem without having to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars to a doctor or end up on a toilet all night.
References:
[i] Steidle, C.P. et al. “Correlation of Improved Erectile Function and Rate of Successful Intercourse with Improved Emotional Well-Being Assessed with the Self-Esteem and Relationship Questionnaire in Men Treated with Sildenafil for Erectile Dysfunction Stratified by Age,” Current Medical Research and Opinion (2006) 22:939.
[ii] Viagra Falls: Older Men Aren’t Very Into Erection Drugs Michael Castleman Psychology Today Mar 01, 2016
[iii] Banner, L.L. and R.U. Anderson. “Integrated Sildenafil and Cognitive-Behavior Sex Therapy for Psychgenic Erectile Dysfunction: A Pilot Study,” Journal of Sexual Medicine (2007) 4(4, Pt 2):1117.
