My lowest Total Testosterone reading before TRT was in the 170ng/dl range. At that time, I had no erection issues. 10mg of tadalafil or 20mg of sildenafil would light me up all night. I would have sex every day at times when the wife was willing. Once I started TRT, that quickly moved to 4x a day on some days. I had great sex on TRT for the most part for the first 18 months to two years. The last couple years have been miserable. I would rate my erections at mostly a 6 out of 10. Sometimes less than that.
I can't remember the last time I had a spontaneous erection. I no longer wake up with them. I don't get strong erections through the night. I don't get erections when seeing my wife in sexy lingerie. It takes a good bit of physical stimulation to become aroused. Once I have an erection, it's gone almost immediately without physical stimulation. My libido is good. I want sex every day.
Early on, when I was figuring out my protocol, I would inject large amounts spread out 2x a week. I found that when I did that, taking anastrozole would bring erection quality back. I moved to daily injections to keep levels more stable and not spiking too high. That trick doesn't seem to work anymore and I don't want to be on anastrozole. I've also found that tamoxifen increases both libido and erection quality.
Before my erection issues, I would take 20mg of sildenafil and get flush, warm ears and extremities, stuffy nose and raging erections. Now, I can take 120mg of sildenafil + 20mg of tadalfil and I don't even get those negative side effects (I do get the acid reflux from tadalafil). Not even the side effects??? It's like whatever is happening in my body is completely blocking the effects of PDE5i's. All of my blood work is find. I've tried various levels from 700 Total to 1000 Total. I do better at 700 than 1000. Maybe I need to go back to 600 next to try that for a while.
This is an acute problem since TRT. I'm healthy otherwise. I'm going to say I don't watch porn, but I am starting to think social media feeds like ******** and Instagram are borderline porn always showing me fitness girls and similar things. I've removed Instagram from my phone.
One idea I'm still toying with is that for the first 2 years on TRT, I was banging my wife 10x a week. I was lifting weights hard for the first time in years, I was looking better, I had energy, people were noticing me physically changing for the better. Did I fry my dopamine system? I have restless leg syndrome and one of the medications for that is a dopamine agonist, ropinirole. That medication helps my legs. Meaning, my body is looking for more dopamine. Caffeine doesn't work too well on me anymore either.
I've read other similar situations online from guys that say their erections and/or libidos went south after a couple years of TRT.
Anyone have any other ideas for me to try? I've tried every protocol from 2x a week to daily injections, 100mg to 175mg per week of Test C. I still have sex, but this is now starting to get to the mental part for me where I'm never sure if it's going to be enough.
Thanks!
I can't remember the last time I had a spontaneous erection. I no longer wake up with them. I don't get strong erections through the night. I don't get erections when seeing my wife in sexy lingerie. It takes a good bit of physical stimulation to become aroused. Once I have an erection, it's gone almost immediately without physical stimulation. My libido is good. I want sex every day.
Early on, when I was figuring out my protocol, I would inject large amounts spread out 2x a week. I found that when I did that, taking anastrozole would bring erection quality back. I moved to daily injections to keep levels more stable and not spiking too high. That trick doesn't seem to work anymore and I don't want to be on anastrozole. I've also found that tamoxifen increases both libido and erection quality.
Before my erection issues, I would take 20mg of sildenafil and get flush, warm ears and extremities, stuffy nose and raging erections. Now, I can take 120mg of sildenafil + 20mg of tadalfil and I don't even get those negative side effects (I do get the acid reflux from tadalafil). Not even the side effects??? It's like whatever is happening in my body is completely blocking the effects of PDE5i's. All of my blood work is find. I've tried various levels from 700 Total to 1000 Total. I do better at 700 than 1000. Maybe I need to go back to 600 next to try that for a while.
This is an acute problem since TRT. I'm healthy otherwise. I'm going to say I don't watch porn, but I am starting to think social media feeds like ******** and Instagram are borderline porn always showing me fitness girls and similar things. I've removed Instagram from my phone.
One idea I'm still toying with is that for the first 2 years on TRT, I was banging my wife 10x a week. I was lifting weights hard for the first time in years, I was looking better, I had energy, people were noticing me physically changing for the better. Did I fry my dopamine system? I have restless leg syndrome and one of the medications for that is a dopamine agonist, ropinirole. That medication helps my legs. Meaning, my body is looking for more dopamine. Caffeine doesn't work too well on me anymore either.
I've read other similar situations online from guys that say their erections and/or libidos went south after a couple years of TRT.
Anyone have any other ideas for me to try? I've tried every protocol from 2x a week to daily injections, 100mg to 175mg per week of Test C. I still have sex, but this is now starting to get to the mental part for me where I'm never sure if it's going to be enough.
Thanks!
Last edited: