Healthy 35 Year Old Male Experiencing Sudden ED

Hello. I’m a new member here and I wanted to post this in Men’s Sexual Health but I don’t seem to have permission. I would appreciate it if a mod could help move this topic there.

So I’m a new member that joined a while ago because I wanted to share my PE journey once my LeLuv pump arrives in the mail. However most recently I began to run into a very sudden ED and it is making me very depressed. I tried to have sex with a woman 3 times in the past month, and during all 3 times I failed to maintain an erection. All three times ended with a very painful, unsatisfying ejaculation with a not-fully-hard penis. Normally when I am with a woman I feel a primal drive to want to penetrate her, but lately I don’t have that drive anymore.

This is shocking and depressing to me because I have always had near 100% erection quality. I’m trying to pinpoint what has suddenly changed and I would appreciate it if anyone could give me advice on solving this problem.

First off I want to share my lifestyle. I began seriously training at the gym for about a year now. My height is 5’10 and my starting weight was around 130 lbs. My current weight is 165 lbs, and I estimate my bodyfat to be between 15-20%. While I am not shredded I look very good and my strength has increased tremendously. I place a lot of emphasis on my lower body and I always receive compliments from women. My compound lifts have increased as follows: (Squat 115 lbs -> 225 lbs for 5x5), (Deadlift 135 lbs -> 315 lbs for 3x5), (Bench 95 lbs -> 140 lbs for 5x5), (OHP 60 lbs -> 100 lbs for 5x5). I’m on a PPL routine that has me in the gym for 6 days a week and I do a lot of volume. Lately I am noticing that I am beginning to fatigue and not recover as quickly, especially ever since I hit 225 lbs for my squat. I suspect that I can no longer stick to 5 sets for heavy compound lifts like the squat and that I need to bring the set count down. Normally I would be on this grueling 6 day gym routine and still have a hardon after the gym to masturbate every 2 to 3 days. For this past month this is no longer the case and I only get horny every 7 to 10 days. I’ve also noticed that I no longer feel energized after my workouts and that I feel broken and lethargic. Does it sound like I am overtraining and is this the significant source for my sudden ED? I’m going to take a rest week and cut down my sets drastically to 3.

My sleep is ok in terms of total hours (6-8 hours) but they are interrupted sleep cycles. For example I would fall asleep for let’s say 3-4 hours, and then I wake up still feeling tired but not sleepy. So I eat something and then go back to bed and fall asleep again. This has been going on for about 2 months now. I’m not sure why I have this interrupted sleep pattern now.

My diet is very healthy. I cycle meats (ground turkey, salmon, chicken thighs) with rice. I eat two eggs a day. I eat a bagel with peanut butter everyday. I drink lots of milk. I eat a cup of pineapple and half an avocado everyday. I eat little to no junkfood.

My supplements are as follows:

Morning:
-Citrulline Malate 2g
-Kirkland Men’s multi-vitamin for 1 tablet
-Vitamin D3 25mcg/1000IU
-Fish Oil 1200mg
-Tongkat Ali

Pre-gym:
-Citrulline Malate 2g

Night:
-Lecithine 1200mg
-B12 1200mcg
-Zinc gluconate 25mg
-Fish Oil 1200mg

What has changed with my supplements in the past two months is that I added Tongkat Ali and Citrulline Malate. Should I try stopping all supplements until my libido returns? Should I stop taking extra supplmenets like D3, B12, Zinc and just stick to a multivitamin and fish oil? I worry that I may be overdosing on the extras like D3, B12, Zinc (I have been on them for almost a year now).

I’m planning on seeing my doctor to get his opinion and also receive a cialis prescription. In the meantime any advice would be appreciated.

I don’t see any problem with your supplements. I’m not sure about the sleep thing; I almost never sleep more than a few hours at a time, though that’s supposed to be bad. Diet and exercise look good.

Sometimes ED hits, stays for a few weeks or months, and then goes away as mysteriously as it arrived. It has happened to me, and many of the members here on Thunder’s. It will usually go away on its own… but since you’ve already had it for a month, it would be a good idea to schedule a visit to a doctor and get a “full testosterone/estradiol panel.” It takes several different interrelated tests to get a full view of your testosterone function, but a lot of times the doc will only schedule a simple, quick one. Since you’re otherwise in excellent condition, you need the full test; it’s not like you’re a hundred pounds overweight, sedentary, and diabetic, where ED wouldn’t be unusual. Get a full blood and urine workup if you can talk him into it.

Some doctors will hear “ED” and automatically prescribe an erection drug like Viagra or Cialis. Sometimes that’s the right answer, but NOT until they’ve made a proper diagnosis. Don’t let them brush you off.

And finally, don’t be embarrassed about having the problem. It is *very* common. You might not even be the only case he sees that day. Or in my case, the very pretty female endocrinologist I had to describe my problem to.

We’re about same weight class. Your routine and diet seems to be on point and 6 days of lifting isn’t really too much because it’s not high sets. If your worried about overtraining I’d lose that one day and keep same volume and spread between 3 day training, rest 1 day, train 1 more day, rest again. What you need to keep watch is that sleep. If your not getting enough sleep, your catabolizing, your body isn’t getting all the metabolic function it needs, doesn’t get all the repair it needs. I’d ask your doctor for a sleep clinic referral, check if you have sleep apnea. Would you also say your work or life is under emotional stress? Workout won’t necessarily put you in a good sleep cycle. I’ve once workout 4 hrs a day and that got me in a lot of trouble. I woke up hating myself after 2 weeks. Then other times job happened to be significantly stressful that working out was a means of escape for me. I did get stronger but it can only improve everything else but the situation. Also check your hydration levels and if you need to carb cycle. There’s more than one ways to maintain/lose fat. So if you need to eat more carbs on certain days like a squat or deadlift day, then cut back on rest days. Switch the carbs too between rice and potatoes.

What would you say your daily intake of cholesterol is? Seems pretty low. Which, by popular opinion is a good thing, but its really not. A committee was put together a few years back that came to the conclusion that there was no valid science behind the recommendation to keep cholesterol low.

Fact is, cholesterol is the base molecule from which all of your adrenal hormones are made, including Testosterone. If your cholesterol and carb intake are both low (your liver can make cholesterol from carbs), then you’re T level might be low because of it

Appreciate the support. I see my doctor tomorrow and I’m hoping to get some tests done like you said.

I’m under some emotional stress from a past relationship that ended a while ago but it’s not to the point that I can’t sleep or anything. I normally eat carbs until I am satiated so it feels like I am eating enough, even after a squat or deadlift day.

I don’t know my exact cholesterol intake but now that you mention it I did stop eating red meat, fatty fried foods, and sour cream in the past two months. This also coincides with the onset of my ED. I’ve also been craving fatty foods for the last few weeks. I did eat some chipotle yesterday with lots of sourcream and cheese and I am able to get some erections today at about 60% EQ. Normally I would eat chipotle once a week but I stopped doing so in the past two months.

Unless you’re on steroids, six days a week in the gym is way too much. You said it yourself, you are not recovering as quickly. How can you recover when you are constantly in the gym breaking yourself down? It may or may not help your ED, but you should take some time off, and then train less often. Work as hard as possible, then give your body adequate rest.

Mexican food, got me craving there bud! Glad it seem like you’ve got a bit of improvement there. I still feel your diet is pretty healthy, assuming your macros is on point. But even if you have an imbalance there, full panel will help you understand what’s going on with your hormones. Check on sleep and hydration too. Good luck

Could be just a supply/demand issue, then. You’re putting a lot of demand for Test on your body, seemingly without giving it enough building blocks for it.

Eggs are a great source for protein, cholesterol (~190mg), fats, and also choline (~140mg). Choline lowers blood levels of homocysteine, which is a big risk factor in cardiovascular disease. More on it here Dietary Choline and Betaine Intakes and Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases: Review of Epidemiological Evidence - PMC

Your overtraining for 1. The more intense your workouts are the longer it takes to recover especially on a 5x5 program. I got my best results working out 2x a week with high intensity. You need to hire a trainer and workout way less because less is more for a natural athlete.

Your body needs some intake of dietary fat, namely monosaturated and polysaturated fats. The constant harping against fat loses sight of the fact that in moderation—which includes avoiding bad fat such as transaturated or limiting saturated fats—is still an essential component to well-rounded nutrition, and getting too little of it is absolutely as unhealthy as too much.

Fat is needed for cell growth, brain functioning, and hormone production, among other things. It is a legitimate source of energy as well. Eliminating fat from your diet is going to hinder cell growth while recovering from a workout, cause brain fog, and slow down your production of testosterone, for starters.

Your body thinks you are starving it by not getting enough fat, and it is reacting accordingly with this wake-up call. First, go eat a fully loaded Chipotle burrito, stat. Second, please do yourself a favor research at reputable sites about the need tor healthy fats in your diet and how much an active male your age needs, then introduce them back into your regular daily diet. Thirdly, ease up a little on the weight training. Your body needs off days to recover.

The Greeks said it best long ago: everything in moderation, and nothing to excess. That’s true of diet and exercise as well.

The one thing no one brought up here is pornography.

Does OP watch porn? At all, for any reason whatsoever? The only time in my life that I had ED was due to porn use. Two weeks after I quit I was cutting diamonds. That was 17 months ago and I’ve been rock hard since.

Pelvic floor aggravation maybe from squats, maybe there’s an issue from that? You sound very healthy but your diet is pretty limited, I’d diversify your protein and eat fatty clean proteins a few times a week like ground beef or a fatty steak once a week and something fattier than salmon; dark meat chicken instead of white meat once a week, stuff like that.

Why are you taking Tongkat? It is “supposed” to raise natural testosterone, but who knows for sure. Most times its taken a little bit before you need an erection. If you only take it in the morning and it is doing something to you, but you aren’t engaging your penis at that time while its working, when you do want to use it, it might be well past when it was working and it could have a detrimental effect later in the day. I wouldn’t take that at all, its not needed. Citrulline is fine it helps with your pump in the gym. But take it an hour before you want to be hard. It always got me more swollen down there more quickly!

Is that normally a problem with squats? Squats from everything I’ve seen on the topic are an excellent way to relax, stretch, and strengthen the pelvic floor in a single exercise. In fact, I’ve even read some therapists say that the are even superior to Kegels.

Of course, this assumes the squats are being done with proper form, which is something a lot of self-taught weight trainers lack. As with any weight-bearing exercise, bad form can be worse than not exercising. I suppose, then, that bad squatting form could worsen pelvic floor disorders.

Update:

Had to fast for 12 hours for bloodwork in the morning. Afterwards I immediately went to a breakfast diner and ate a bacon cheeseburger with home fries and 4 pieces of bacon. Came home, fell asleep, and woke up with morning wood of 80% EQ. I think I really underestimated how little fat and cholesterol I was getting from my routine diet. I thought the two eggs + fat from the meats would be enough but I think I need to splurge a bit more on fatty foods. It could also be that my erection is recovering from the pure rest I am getting from the gym. My legs in particular felt so worn down for a month, but right now they feel strong as hell.

I’ve always regularly watched porn when I masturbate. Up until my early 30s I would feel the need to masturbate every 1 or 2 days and I always did so with porn. This past year that has slown down to every 3-4 days. Normally I would masturbate and watch porn like this and still be able to have good sex with a woman. I’ll try doing a porn/masturbation cut too.

I’m a 3 year user of Tongkat and I’ve had good motivation and libido boosting effects from it. However lately I feel like I am starting to develop a tolerance for it so I’ve stopped taking it for the time being.

I’m a natty and not on any steroids. I think when I was starting out 6 days was fine but lately it does not seem like my body can handle the 6 day schedule I use. My schedule is essentially like a Strong Lifts 5x5 but with less rest days and more accessory work/volume.

In regards to fat and cholesterol, make sure it comes from clean sources. Organic pasture raised whole eggs, organic kefir, use real organic butter or lard, never use margarine, avoid all oils unless is a very high quality certified EVOO that you can consume quickly.