Penis sensitivity issue

[sammmy]

I suggest stopping all supplements and test the TRT by itself. Over the counter supplements are not as 'harmless' as they sound. That includes teas, 'male booster' herbs, nootropics, or anything that messes up with neurotransmitters. Orgasm is orchestrated mainly by the nervous system, albeit sexual hormones have receptors there.

My difficulty reaching orgasm gets more severe, to the point of full anorgasmia, if I take anti-oxidant supplements like Glutathione, Quercetin, Milk Thistle Extract. So you see you have to be careful with such 'harmless and useful' stuff. Huperzine A always makes it easier for me to orgasm, but at this point you can just try to drop the extra stuff and see how it goes.

 

[John O'Connor]

Without knowing more about your sleep issues, i.e. reason for taking insomnitol, I'd be cautious with the above advice on switching to Ambien. It's highly addictive, and has been linked to dementia with long-term use. If you need a sleep aid, try regular melatonin. I worked as a medical scribe for a geriatrician in nursing homes and the doctor I worked with switched all of her new paitients off of ambien and onto melatonin. She started all of them on 6mg dose and would bump it up to 9mg is needed. Many of the patients were only there for short rehab stays following surgery, and so many of them said they tried melatonin previously and it didn't work for them. But typical dose is 3mg, and that often won't work. I can't tell you the number of compliments this doctor received from patients after 1 week on the higher dose melatonin. They claimed they had the best nights sleep they've had in years. If 5 or 6mg works for you great, if not try bumping up to 9mg. Preferably only take it when you can't sleep, as even melatonin can be habit forming, but at least it's a hormone we all naturally make.

 

[John O'Connor]

Also, your ferritin is low. Have you been donating blood? It's good to see your vitamin D level is solid. Vitamin D will help you absorb the iron supplement. Try to get your ferritin back above 100. Don't be fooled by the normal range of iron being 30-400. Their is nothing normal about an iron level of 30. Also, I'm curious why your free T is so high. Maybe that was just a random moment in time. Has it been high on previous labs while your Total T was still in the normal range? Testosterone either converts to estrogen or DHT. You seem to be converting more toward estrogen, so maybe lowering your dose would help. Some here would suggest an AI, aromatase inhibitor, but I believe the growing consensus is to avoid the AI and simply lower your testosterone dosing.

 

[jonezee2014]

Also, your ferritin is low. Have you been donating blood? It's good to see your vitamin D level is solid. Vitamin D will help you absorb the iron supplement. Try to get your ferritin back above 100. Don't be fooled by the normal range of iron being 30-400. Their is nothing normal about an iron level of 30. Also, I'm curious why your free T is so high. Maybe that was just a random moment in time. Has it been high on previous labs while your Total T was still in the normal range?

Thanks for the info. Yes I had donated blood a week or so prior to my panels being done. My free T has always been high and SHBG low. I will look into just melatonin as well

 

[John O'Connor]

Thanks for the info. Yes I had donated blood a week or so prior to my panels being done. My free T has always been high and SHBG low. I will look into just melatonin as well

I'd recommend avoiding blood donations until you get the ferritin back up. It can take months to get it back to normal. Iron is a slow absorbing mineral, and if you take too much it will cause constipation, which is normal, but back off if stools get too hard. Also keep taking your daily magnesium as that will help with the constipation. 500mg magnesium daily is good while taking the iron supplement. And if your free T is always high, maybe it would be best to manage your dosing to that number instead of total T. Also if you donate blood to manage hemoglobin levels, make sure you are fully hydrated prior to blood draws. Being dehydrated will artificially show raised hemoglobin levels.

 

[sammmy]

Without knowing more about your sleep issues, i.e. reason for taking insomnitol, I'd be cautious with the above advice on switching to Ambien. It's highly addictive, and has been linked to dementia with long-term use. If you need a sleep aid, try regular melatonin. I worked as a medical scribe for a geriatrician in nursing homes and the doctor I worked with switched all of her new paitients off of ambien and onto melatonin. She started all of them on 6mg dose and would bump it up to 9mg is needed. Many of the patients were only there for short rehab stays following surgery, and so many of them said they tried melatonin previously and it didn't work for them. But typical dose is 3mg, and that often won't work. I can't tell you the number of compliments this doctor received from patients after 1 week on the higher dose melatonin. They claimed they had the best nights sleep they've had in years. If 5 or 6mg works for you great, if not try bumping up to 9mg. Preferably only take it when you can't sleep, as even melatonin can be habit forming, but at least it's a hormone we all naturally make.

First of all, as someone that has personally taken Ambien on and off for months, it is not addictive at all. I don't feel any need to take it when I don't need it - it simply enables me to 'turn off the light switch' at night, nothing else. If you take it at prescribed dose it has zero impact on mood or psychology. The 'link to dementia' I bet is an observational study that goes like: older people have sleep issues and are often on ambien, also older people often have dementia, therefore ambien is 'linked to dementia'. Even the most elementary statistics textbook will tell you that a correlation is not a proof of cause and effect. This is like saying: ice-cream is sold more in the summer, more people drown during the summer, therefore ice-cream 'is linked to drowning'. A big portion of the so called 'medical studies' simply do not understand that and that is why they are not true.

Second, melatonin may be 'a hormone we all make' but we certainly do not make it at enormous doses of 9mg each night. Also, melatonin is actually a hormone that potentially has a negative impact on sexuality at the enormous doses you are suggesting, something that the OP tries to resolve.

So my advice is, if you can't sleep, get on Ambien and forget the 'all natural stuff' because it is less studied and will mess up more than anyone knows.

 

[Joe Sixpack]

melatonin which can be anti-sexual,

Interesting catch. I was not aware. Did you discover this thru trial and error and personal experience?

 

[John O'Connor]

First of all, as someone that has personally taken Ambien on and off for months, it is not addictive at all. I don't feel any need to take it when I don't need it - it simply enables me to 'turn off the light switch' at night, nothing else. If you take it at prescribed dose it has zero impact on mood or psychology. The 'link to dementia' I bet is an observational study that goes like: older people have sleep issues and are often on ambien, also older people often have dementia, therefore ambien is 'linked to dementia'. Even the most elementary statistics textbook will tell you that a correlation is not a proof of cause and effect. This is like saying: ice-cream is sold more in the summer, more people drown during the summer, therefore ice-cream 'is linked to drowning'. A big portion of the so called 'medical studies' simply do not understand that and that is why they are not true.

Second, melatonin may be 'a hormone we all make' but we certainly do not make it at enormous doses of 9mg each night. Also, melatonin is actually a hormone that potentially has a negative impact on sexuality at the enormous doses you are suggesting, something that the OP tries to resolve.

So my advice is, if you can't sleep, get on Ambien and forget the 'all natural stuff' because it is less studied and will mess up more than anyone knows.

Sammy, I think we probably agree more than we disagree. As I said, only take melatonin if/when you need it preferably. It's good to see you only take ambien when needed. I know many of the patients my doctor treated took ambien every night as a routine. I agree with you on the link between dementia and ambien too. Correlation is not causation. But if you google ambien and dementia you will see lots of results. Just as you will if you google cigarettes and emphysema. I simply think it's reckless to suggest switching to ambien is harmless for someone currently taking a melatonin based sleep aid every night.

In your defense a 9mg dose of melatonin is a massive dose. It's probable that this dose is only needed in patients trying to get off their daily ambien routine. This was not a starting dose for her patients. If you look for melatonin you will see it typically comes in 3mg and 5mg size pills.

But, to say ambien is not addictive at all, is just not accurate. From Drugs.com: Ambien can be habit-forming. Only take as recommended by your doctor and for the shortest time possible. There have been reports of withdrawal symptoms occurring on abrupt discontinuation of Ambien. Symptoms may include low mood, insomnia, tremor, abdominal and muscle cramps, vomiting, sweating, and rarely seizures. Ambien should be tapered off slowly on discontinuation. Only use Ambien for short periods of time to help with sleep (ideally no more than seven to ten days) as it can be habit-forming.

 

[sammmy]

Interesting catch. I was not aware. Did you discover this thru trial and error and personal experience?

Personal experience with a combination herbal pill containing 1 mg Melatonin - not only it prevented me from falling asleep but on the next day my delayed ejaculation was exacerbated quite obviously. However, I personally have this reaction to strong antioxidants and melatonin is an antioxidant. It seems that orgasm requires some oxidation process and I am borderline on it.

Mega doses of melatonin that is being pushed as 'all natural' has no long term studies at all. It interacts with other hormones and the immune system and nobody currently has a clear understanding how.

 

[Vtail]

Mega doses of melatonin that is being pushed as 'all natural' has no long term studies at all. It interacts with other hormones and the immune system and nobody currently has a clear understanding how.

I've tried Melatonin a number of times, starting with 5mg and going up to as high as 20mg. It didn't do much if anything for my sleep, but I did have higher than normal blood pressure after a few days of regular melatonin use. This has happened a few times and each time when I stopped the melatonin my BP returned to normal. Can't say for certainty that it was the Melatonin and I wasn't able to find any articles correlating melatonin use with high blood pressure. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

 

[Vince]

Here’s a thread I posted a while back on Melatonin is also a big immune system booster.
I don’t think it has anything to do with penis sensitivity

 

[jonezee2014]

Wanted to update everyone here after getting lots of good advice. Since I started I ended up dropping HCG as I didn't find a good sweet spot with it and it didn't seem to improve my erection quality. I also did start Cabergoline and NP Thyroid. I think the combination of those two have improved my situation quite a bit. I'm leaning towards the thyroid meds making a difference more, I was on them last year and recall not having the sensitivity issues as much. I feel like now I'm about at 85% with erection quality and sensitivity which is WAY better than where I was. Sex is actually enjoyable again and not frustrating. My protocol now has been simplified - .13mL cyp daily, 30mg NP Thyroid twice daily and .25 Cabergoline twice per week. Also I do take 5mg Cialis daily. I've been on that for about a year, I'm curious if that should be cycled?

 

[madman]

Wanted to update everyone here after getting lots of good advice. Since I started I ended up dropping HCG as I didn't find a good sweet spot with it and it didn't seem to improve my erection quality. I also did start Cabergoline and NP Thyroid. I think the combination of those two have improved my situation quite a bit. I'm leaning towards the thyroid meds making a difference more, I was on them last year and recall not having the sensitivity issues as much. I feel like now I'm about at 85% with erection quality and sensitivity which is WAY better than where I was. Sex is actually enjoyable again and not frustrating. My protocol now has been simplified - .13mL cyp daily, 30mg NP Thyroid twice daily and .25 Cabergoline twice per week. Also I do take 5mg Cialis daily. I've been on that for about a year, I'm curious if that should be cycled?

That is a hefty dose of T 26 mg daily (182 mg/week) for someone with a very low SHBG (9 nmol/L on your previous labs).

Where does your TT/FT/e2 sit on such a dose let alone RBCs/hemoglobin/hematocrit?

Your FT level and e2 were high on your previous labs with the same dose T 26 mg daily + 140iu hCG let alone you never posted your CBC which is critical and would include RBCs/hemoglobin/hematocrit as your ferritin was crashed most likely from donating blood too often in order to manage the elevated hemoglobin/hematocrit.

Top it off that although your FT was high on your previous labs it was tested using an inaccurate assay (direct immunoassay) and if anything you should be using the most accurate assays such as Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration if you want to know where your FT level truly sits.

 

[Sergel]

An interesting read! ... I thought I would chime in with my experience with Melatonin...
Started Melatonin to cure silent reflux, which it did actually to my great surprize. I can't explain what 20mg of Melatonin nightly did to my GI tract, but my silent reflux issues just cleared up better than with Proton Pump Inhibitors! ...

However, sexually, I felt dead inside... it completely killed my libido... could not get an erection at all... like it was dead ... really really bad on that front... So I think a small bout of Melatonin for it's therapeutic value is ok... but long term is a sex killer for me... Stopped the Melatonin completely and sex drive came back...

I wondered here because I too take a long time to come during intercourse and sometimes just give up...

Those are my 2 cents worth...

 

[Onearmedman]

Sounds like my problem as well. My sensitivity has gone way down... when I was 20 it felt great... I'm 35 now and it's nowhere near the greatness it was when i was in my teen years.... I wish I still had that same feeling. Guess it's just old age

 

[Gman86]

Sounds like my problem as well. My sensitivity has gone way down... when I was 20 it felt great... I'm 35 now and it's nowhere near the greatness it was when i was in my teen years.... I wish I still had that same feeling. Guess it's just old age

are u on or have u tried HCG?

 

[Nixter]

Following as I have similar complaints.

 

[lukas_az]

According to ingredient list on Amazon, 'insomnitol' contains a hefty dose of 5-HTP which is a precursor of serotonin. Boosting serotonin like SSRI's do, easily leads to anorgasmia. Get on Ambien and drop that whole poly-pharmacy in insomnitol. The 'all natural' mixtures are the ones causing most problems, not the targeted drugs.

this is an INSANE and dangerous advice. I would absolutely stay away from any GABA type pharma drugs. you probably better off drinking booze here and there.

 

[sammmy]

Due to drug induced insomnia, Ambien is the only thing that helps me fall asleep. Teas, supplements, blocking light, "sleep hygiene" and other idiotic advise did not do anything. I've been taking 10mg every night for months and the only side effect is not forming short term memories while the drug is active i.e. while you are sleeping. I am not "addicted" to it, it doesn't "make me feel good", it doesn't "make me high", nor I feel the need to take it for anything else except fall asleep at night.

Alcohol has far more negative side effects.

"Research" on the z-drugs like Ambien is basically fear-mongering observational-study nonsense in which correlations are proclaimed for cause and effect - this is a major ERROR in 101 statistics but medical people need to publish "studies". Of course older people with deteriorated brain and nervous system are more likely to take Ambien and are more likely to have Alzheimer, Parkinson etc - it doesn't mean Ambien caused those.

Here are some real people Ambien Reviews so whoever is interested can judge for themselves how "insane and dangerous" is to take Ambien.

 

[JA Battle]

Due to drug induced insomnia, Ambien is the only thing that helps me fall asleep. Teas, supplements, blocking light, "sleep hygiene" and other idiotic advise did not do anything. I've been taking 10mg every night for months and the only side effect is not forming short term memories while the drug is active i.e. while you are sleeping. I am not "addicted" to it, it doesn't "make me feel good", it doesn't "make me high", nor I feel the need to take it for anything else except fall asleep at night.

Alcohol has far more negative side effects.

"Research" on the z-drugs like Ambien is basically fear-mongering observational-study nonsense in which correlations are proclaimed for cause and effect - this is a major ERROR in 101 statistics but medical people need to publish "studies". Of course older people with deteriorated brain and nervous system are more likely to take Ambien and are more likely to have Alzheimer, Parkinson etc - it doesn't mean Ambien caused those.

Here are some real people Ambien Reviews so whoever is interested can judge for themselves how "insane and dangerous" is to take Ambien.

I can respect that it seams to be your only option and therefore, for you, an easy choice to just use it to fall asleep. However, it should not be taken lightly for the majority of people with sleep issues. They should not skip figuring out the root cause of there insomnia. I would never be satisfied taking a drug to fall asleep. I would want to fix what was wrong with me to allow for something as natural as sleep to happen naturally. It’s your choice. It should be one of everyone’s last choices.