27 year-old with terrible EQ among other symptoms after pumping - any advice?
I am a 27 year-old Doctor in UK who has suffered what seems to be severe injury from a medical grade VED I was prescribed by a Consultant back in December. My erections were very good at this point (although could be affected by stress/anxiety at times) but he felt he could feel some narrowing at the base even though he never confirmed any plaque or fibrosis on scan. Therefore he prescribed cialis 5mg once a day a night and advised using a VED once a day for 10 minutes to help stretch out the narrowing and firmness at the base.
The way in which he advised using the pump was:
- pump up to the max size you can tolerate; some discomfort is ok but never pain
- hold at max for no longer than 2 seconds then release vacuum
- start the process again and aim to cycle through 10 full erections (or however many fit in to the 10 minute session)
- 3 pumps every 10 seconds, no faster than this
- check for bruising/petechiae
Now checking this forum it seems like what he had advised me was incorrect, and in fact too aggressive. I followed his advice in that I never held at max erection for longer than 1-2 seconds, I felt a slight discomfort/stretching sensation but I wouldn’t say I ever felt pain, my sessions never went over 10 minutes, I never had superficial bruising/petechiae, I never pumped more than 3x/10 seconds.
Just for more information, I was using the Somaerect device from Augusta Medical Devices which is a medical grade VED and therefore does not have a vacuum gauge. He never mentioned anything about vacuum levels, and both him and the pump technicians assured me it was completely safe with no scope for damaging yourself.
Interestingly, I used the pump alongside cialis 5mg for around 2 and a half weeks in December/January and everything seemed fine and I was having some of the best erections I can ever remember. Therefore, I stopped using the pump at that point and carried on. It was only when the Consultant called me for a follow-up in April that he advised I should still be using the pump daily until I saw him in clinic again. Therefore, I went back to the pump for 8 days over a 10 day period at the end of April and it was then that I noticed my EQ suddenly plummet. I was living with my girlfriend at that time and having sex several times a day so I don’t know if that was potentially the issue compared to the pump use in Dec/Jan when I was not sexually active. Maybe it was too much in conjunction with the pump.
The symptoms since that use in April have been:
- some soreness R-side of shaft after stopping use of the pump (this resolved relatively quickly in just a few days)
- no spontaneous erections - I was getting these all the time before, at times even from just seeing my girlfriend or holding her hand
- No nocturnal/morning erections generally, and if I do get them, 50% of normal and very short-lived
- contracted, tense flaccid which feels hard
- cold glans. Poorly engorged glans and corpus spongiosum with erections
- very difficult to get erection even alone - takes 1-2 minutes of stimulation to even get to something resembling erection and I have to be sitting or lying down - no chance if standing up
- erections feel less rigid and more unstable at the base
- seem to have lost girth when erect
- lose erection within 10-20 seconds without constant stimulation
- small brown pin-prick mark on left side of glans
My questions are really:
- has anyone experienced similar, and if so, what can be done to try and recover?
- I don’t understand why 2 and a half weeks of pumping in Dec/Jan caused no issues but 8 days in April has led to this? What would the mechanism of pump damage even be as I never had any bruising, petechiae, pain or significant oedema?
- I have been taking cialis 5mg daily, l-citrulline 1500mg, ginger 500mg, vitamin E 400 IU, vitamin D 1000 IU and muira puama 500mg but not much has improved - in fact I would say things are getting worse
- I have been looking at proteolytic enzyme supplements such as serrapetidase and nattokinase to try and break down scar tissue/fibrosis as I am worried this is what I may have
- I have an appointment with a private urologist on Monday 3rd August and hopefully will be able to get a scan (previous urologist I saw in July just told me it was all psychological and there is no way the pump could have caused damage)
Thanks, I appreciate any help that can be suggested!
