ANTI-ED MEDICATION
Once I told the patient about the anti-ED medication, he was game to try it. One week after taking the most effective antihypertensive medication for his condition, Gary felt his ED had worsened. Then he enrolled in the Vasomax trials. The anti-ED drug worked. Ecstatic, he reported to me that he never felt better. “I’m so relieved. I have my health—and my sex life—intact.”
ED medication is also effective for men on cholesterol-lowering drugs. When Michael, fifty-seven, came back to my office after his ultra-fast CT test, the special five-minute heart exam confirmed the presence of plaque in his coronary arteries. This was not surprising; he had a family history of heart disease coupled with his own high cholesterol levels.
I prescribed Lopid (gemfibrozil) to lower his cholesterol and triglyceride (fatlike substances) levels in his blood and reduce the risk of a heart attack. Lopid seems to work by raising the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which counteracts the effects of the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the type that increases the chance of having a heart attack. I informed Michael that the drug would probably work well for him—but that it might also cause erection problems. Knowing the danger he was in, Michael agreed to start medication at once.
At his next visit, I was satisfied to see that his cholesterol levels had dropped to an acceptable level—210 mg—and that his triglycerides had plummeted as well. But Michael’s reaction to the good news was one of indifference. “Sure, the results are great,” he sighed. “But 1 can’t have sex—so, I still don’t feel so good.”
I explained that now that his life-threatening condition was under control, we could address the medication’s side effect. As part of the Vasomax trials, he tried the pill.
A month later, Michael’s wife, Louise, called me. “I just want to tell you myself how grateful we are. Knowing that Michael is healthy is such a relief. Knowing that we can be together the way we want is a gift.”
For those men battling depression with medication, there is hope as well. For Richard, a thirty-five-year-old lifelong depressive, taking Prozac was, in his words, “like watching a dark curtain lift and seeing the sun again.” With his life and outlook much improved, he began dating and was several months into a loving relationship when he came to see me. “I’m perplexed,” he began. “Sometimes I can’t get an erection and other times I’m really hard—but I don’t come.”
Under treatment with a therapist, Richard rejected the idea of switching to another SSRI medication to see if his erection problems would disappear. He felt that the mental stability he had achieved with Prozac was too precious to jeopardize. Instead, he wanted to know if the erection pills could work for him.
I informed Richard that information on the ability of Vasomax to overcome the sexual-inhibiting effects of the SSRIs was limited. So far, few of the men participating in the trials were on antidepressants. The same was true with the Viagra studies. I went on to say, however, that the anecdotal evidence I had seen with Vasomax was positive and worth pursuing. In Richard’s case, the results he achieved with Vasomax were consistent with that of other patients: the SSRIs did not hamper the workings of the pills, and his erectile problems disappeared.
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Tags: Men’s Health