Is Maintaining Morning Erections Important?

[ResearchIt]

I'm almost 43 and my morning erections have mostly disappeared starting when I was 41.

I am healthy and fit. Sexual function is 70% of what is was 3 years ago, but it is still fine. I'm not on TRT. My labs all come back good, 600-800 Total T, good thryoid, etc. The only exceptions are high but within range SHBG and low but within range Free T.

Two questions:

1) Has anyone who lost morning erections like this gotten them back for an extended period of time using some type of hormone therapy (Clomid, Natesto, TRT)? I wonder if raising my Free T levels would bring them back?

2) Do you believe attempting to restore morning erections is a useful endeavor as we age? Like if I keep them happening then I am maintaining myself in good shape and not letting myself degrade.

Thanks!

 

[SkiDaddy]

Loosing Morning erections is the First and very important sign of Heart issues, better take it seriously, if not in a couple of years it will let you know in a way you DO NOT WANT.

 

[Seth]

I regained morning wood after starting daily Cialis.

 

[Cataceous]

It's routinely stated that nocturnal erections are important for penile health, providing necessary blood flow and thus oxygenation [R]. In hindsight my attenuated nocturnal erections could have been the canary in the coal mine, warning of the overt hypogonadism to come in a few years. Conventional TRT did restore nocturnal erections, but not with consistency. I've only regained consistency in the past year or two with unconventional protocols.

 

[ResearchIt]

I really appreciate the feedback. As I mentioned above, my only lab issue is lower range Free T and higher range SHGB. Total T and other labs are good. Taking a PDE5 inhibitor does assist in restoring my morning erections, but I never had to take that before and want to address the underlying issue if I can identify it.

I have already addressed sleep, exercise, diet, penile doppler ultrasound, etc.

I was thinking of trying a couple of things:

1) Hormones - enclomiphene first and then Natesto second. Attempt to increase my Free T to see if it makes a difference in nocturnal and morning erections.

2) Shockwave Therapy - After seeing the effect of hormone adjustment, I want to get off those and try shockwave therapy with a legit clinic and device (Duolith SD1 or Urogold 100).

I feel like my issue is that my body doesn't create nitric oxide so freely like it used to. Even though my sexual function is still fine, my penis feels less springy and less prone to an erection like in years past. And I am only 43 and healthy. I am not sure whether it is hormone related where enclomiphene or Natesto might help? Or if it is tissue related where shockwave therapy might help?

Does this seem like a good worthwhile plan? Any comments or suggestions?

 

[Vince]

To help your freeT, I would start supplementing with magnesium. Also consider using a low-dose Cialis.

 

[madman]

I'm almost 43 and my morning erections have mostly disappeared starting when I was 41.

I am healthy and fit. Sexual function is 70% of what is was 3 years ago, but it is still fine. I'm not on TRT. My labs all come back good, 600-800 Total T, good thryoid, etc. The only exceptions are high but within range SHBG and low but within range Free T.

Two questions:

1) Has anyone who lost morning erections like this gotten them back for an extended period of time using some type of hormone therapy (Clomid, Natesto, TRT)? I wonder if raising my Free T levels would bring them back?

2) Do you believe attempting to restore morning erections is a useful endeavor as we age? Like if I keep them happening then I am maintaining myself in good shape and not letting myself degrade.

Thanks!

post#17

Diminished erections in early 40s

At age 43 my body's sexual condition is not quite as good as when I was 25 or 30, but everything still works fine when I have sex. However, I hardly ever have morning erections anymore, I used to have them every morning. My nocturnal erections are generally ok, but also sometimes weaker than...

www.excelmale.com

Again no point in going on about your FT being on the lower end unless you had it tested using an accurate assay (Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration).

You need to retest using an accurate assay to know where it truly sits especially in cases of altered SHBG.

Morning wood on exogenous TRT

Was greeted by wood this morning (yes I'm bragging) and got to thinking: We know that testosterone cycles up/down throughout the day while we're still producing it naturally. And morning wood is an indication that it often peaks in the morning. We further know that on TRT the natural...

www.excelmale.com

 

[madman]

To help your freeT, I would start supplementing with magnesium. Also consider using a low-dose Cialis.

$$$

 

[ResearchIt]

Again no point in going on about your FT being on the lower end unless you had it tested using an accurate assay (Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration).

You need to retest using an accurate assay to know where it truly sits especially in cases of altered SHBG.

That is a good point, unfortunately I don't know the method used on my Free T labs over the last year. I did just get a recent lab done with Quest using the correct methods (equilibrium dialysis) and this was the result:

So maybe my Freet T isn't bad after all, or is the value above of 112.2 still not great? Is Quest's reference range realistic?

I am repeating these labs next week to get a few more data points and I will post those results.

 

[KevinS]

Lost my morning woody in my 40's also. I am 60 now. The little guy does get plumped up and a twitchy most mornings - but not a full hard on anymore. At the time I think it was related to back issues, job stress and related weight gain - all of which I have struggled with over the years.

 

[ResearchIt]

Also consider using a low-dose Cialis.

It is interesting that using low-dose Cialis does make my morning erections come back most days. Since that is the case, it seems like the other mechanisms involved in a morning erection (brain, nerves, signaling, venous closure, etc) are working, it's just a case of the body not generating enough nitric oxide during the morning erection process and that's where the PDE5 inhibitor comes into play, it allows you to make the most of the nitric oxide your body does produce. Does that seem right? If so, I am wondering if the decreased NO is hormonal or tissue related, hence the tests I wanted to run on myself.

 

[ResearchIt]

Lost my morning woody in my 40's also. I am 60 now.

While your morning wood went away in your 40s, during the years after, did your erections during sex stay mostly the same? Or was the loss of morning wood the beginning of worse erections during sex in the years that came after?

 

[KevinS]

While your morning wood went away in your 40s, during the years after, did your erections during sex stay mostly the same? Or was the loss of morning wood the beginning of worse erections during sex in the years that came after?

Not at first. I didn't start to use Cialis occasionally for penetrative sex until around 50yo, and now at 60 I need at least 20mg of sildenafil to have a stable erection anytime I am Top.

 

[Systemlord]

As I mentioned above, my only lab issue is lower range Free T and higher range SHGB. Total T and other labs are good.

The Free T level indicates how much Test your body is producing.

 

[Systemlord]

Sexual function is 70% of what is was 3 years ago, but it is still fine.

When your Free T starts dropping even more as you age, I expect the sexual function to decrease further. I think some forget that symptoms don't always appear out of nowhere like flipping a lightswitch, more like a dimmer switch, symptoms show up gradually as testosterone declines.

No way are you considered hypogonadal, but your levels aren't optimal either. So to say your erectile issues aren't testosterone related is absurd.

 

[Golfboy307]

Age 54. My morning erections have improved greatly after 7 years of TRT, NO boosting supplements before bed, and 3-5mg of Cialis every night. I don't have them all of the time, but usually have solid nocturnal ones throughout REM sleep 4-6am. When they occur, I take that as a sign my hormones are in the right range, blood flow is good (I have managed hypertension) and stress/sleep levels are sound. If any of those factors are "off", I can go through a period of poor EQ.

 

[JYD21]

Loosing Morning erections is the First and very important sign of Heart issues, better take it seriously, if not in a couple of years it will let you know in a way you DO NOT WANT.

What do you suggest doing to find out if there are heart issues? Stress test? EKG?

Thanks.

 

[SkiDaddy]

• Ultrasound is a non-invasive test that can show early atherosclerotic plaque formation (even before it is narrowing an artery) in blood vessels such as the neck (carotid) arteries or the aorta.
• Coronary Calcium Score is a non-invasive test that uses a low radiation CT (computed tomography) scan without any injected dye (contrast material) to identify the calcified part of any atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle. The only thing that causes calcium in the coronary arteries is plaque. The higher the calcium score, the higher your risk for events such as the development of angina or heart attack. The coronary calcium score does NOT represent the degree of narrowing of a coronary artery.

 

[waterbottle1258@tutanota.]

Loosing Morning erections is the First and very important sign of Heart issues, better take it seriously, if not in a couple of years it will let you know in a way you DO NOT WANT.

Source?

 

[Ozzieville]

Great discussion here. I'll be 68 next month, and I got on TRT a couple of years ago because my libido was shot and I wasn't getting any morning wood. Like ResearchIt, my total T was great even before TRT, but my free T was on the low end.

TRT has brought my total T and free T way up. A Quest Labs blood test last month shows total T at 1802 and free T at 277.5 (this is on just 100 mg of testosterone cypionate per week). I work with Dr. Rand in Santa Monica, and they like seeing free T in this range. So ResearchIt, by this standard your free T is too low, regardless of the Quest measuring stick.

The results for me have been very robust nocturnal erections and morning wood; a restored libido; more clarity of thought; and a generally more optimistic attitude.

So I'd recommend you consider TRT to bring your free T up and see the results. In my case, the results have been satisfying.