What you need to know:

Please speak to your Doctor first!

• There may be other medications you are on that could make this dangerous, or other interactions unique to your medical history. I cannot stress how important it is to always purchase these pills with a prescription and not from the Internet. You cannot be entirely certain of what you are buying from a website when it comes to pharmaceuticals.

• Take the pill 1-2 hours away from food. Especially heavy fatty meals will slow down absorption.

• There can be side effects with these drugs. Please ask your doctor for advice (keep in mind that everyone is different, plus I’ve heard of clients having side effects to Viagra but not Cialis and vice versa, so it may be worth trying the other).

• There are extra ingredients these pills need to ‘work’

  Firstly, you need to feel aroused.

  Secondly, you need to be feeling relaxed. (a longer explanation on this here)

  Remember, every spontaneous erection starts in the mind first, so ask yourself: ‘how am I feeling, what am I focusing on, how could I feel more relaxed and more in the mood?’

• Most important ingredient: awake erection nerves (cavernous nerves)

  I hear all the time from men how discouraging it is the first time they try Viagra after prostate surgery. They set an arousing and relaxing scene. Get excited for a movie-version Viagra launch… But get no physical response at all (apart from potentially a hot face and headache).

  The thing is - this is the expected reaction after surgery - even months or years afterwards. Your erection nerves are likely to be offline, even if you had nerve-sparing surgery. The cavernous (erection) nerves surrounding the prostate are very delicate (imagine a tenth of a wet piece of tissue paper), exposure to light and heat during surgery alone can send them into an ‘offline’ trauma state.

  Viagra and Cialis work by combining with chemicals in the blood stream that are only released when the cavernous nerves (the delicate chaps surrounding the prostate) are ‘online’. So if you do not get a response the first time you take it, do not be discouraged. It does not mean it will never work. It means for now your nerves are still dormant. The medical literature on cavernous nerve recovery after prostate surgery suggests that it can take a full 2 years for any nerve potential to recovery - and then there is evidence of men getting spontaneity again 4-5 years down the line.

• However, even without awake nerves you might find viagra or cialis helps when pumping. The literature suggests trying Viagra or Cialis can help create an even better erection when combined with a vacuum device.

  As one of my client’s put it in a testimonial: ‘The VED and the cleverly designed ring is superbly effective, especially with a boost from Viagra (although that is not essential)’

Want to try this option? Your next steps:

Not currently taking Viagra or Cialis?
Book an appointment with your GP or urologist to discuss this option.

Already have a script for Viagra and Cialis?
Take it as directed by your Doctor.

Tablet-taking Checklist for best possible results:

• Am I feeling relaxed and safe?

• Am I feeling horny, baby? (in an Austin Powers voice if you must) and feeling aroused can be created spontaneously or intentionally through physical/verbal/visual stimulation. Get creative with the five senses.

• Did I eat at least one hour ago?

• What am I expecting? Keep those expectations down to the ground. Remember, if you do not get nocturnal or spontaneous erections that is likely to be from nerve trauma, then the pills might just give you some engorgement and that’s it. The results you are looking for are extra engorgement and enjoyment from the erection you create in the vacuum device, the hope is the pill acts as a sort of ‘icing on the cake’.

A BONUS IDEA…

Do you and your partner want to ‘spice’ this up a bit? One idea that I heard from Richard Wassersug (a Canadian researcher who lives a post-prostate life himself), was to re-purpose or buy a jewellery box and keep one pill in it at a time. Give your partner control over the box. They can then put it out on the bedside table as a signal that they are in the mood for some fun!