If you are one of those men who for some reason have started taking pills and started suffering from some episode of erectile dysfunction… Welcome! You are reading the right article to guide you and what you should do to get your erection back.
However, before we start, let’s go in order. There are three types of erectile dysfunction: organic, pharmacological and emotional.
- In the case of organic erectile dysfunction, we refer to cases in which some kind of physical defect in the vascular, endocrine or nervous system is the cause of the dysfunction.
- Pharmacological erectile dysfunction occurs when one or more treatments for other diseases prevent the correct functioning of the erectile system.
- Finally, emotional erectile dysfunction occurs when a certain state of mind inhibits a man’s erection.
These three types of dysfunction coexist, for example a man with hypertension and dyslipidemia gradually causes vascular damage to the penis, i.e. erectile dysfunction. The doctor will prescribe antihypertensives and blood fat regulators, thus pharmacological erectile dysfunction can be provoked. Finally, the man will begin to notice his first erection losses and will lose his peace of mind during intercourse: emotional erectile dysfunction.
Sound familiar? I’m sure it does. If you read on, I will help you to know which treatments cause dysfunction, and you will know what to do to reduce the need to take them as much as possible.
Medications that cause erectile dysfunction
The medications that most affect erection are antihypertensives. Not all of them, but a good part of them.
The erectile mechanism is based on an increase in pressure in the cavernous bodies of the penis, although antihypertensive drugs are intended to protect the body from sudden rises in blood pressure, so when the nervous system gives the order to increase the pressure in the penis, the drugs prevent it.
Increased triglycerides and cholesterol are widespread in Spain, and on many occasions these men are prescribed triglyceride regulators, which are the cause.
Antidepressants and antipsychotics are drugs whose field of action is the central nervous system, and are responsible for more than three out of ten cases of dysfunction in men under 50 years of age.
A good number of men suffering from prostate hyperplasia are treated with anti-androgens, which are sometimes also used to prevent alopecia, which prevents the conversion of testosterone into dihydrostestosterone, decreasing vigor and sexual desire.
In turn, it is obvious that the polymedicated patient will end up taking a gastric protector, which also contributes to the problem.
There are other medications that can cause erectile dysfunction, but which are used on a smaller scale, such as anticonvulsants for patients with epilepsy or derivatives of morphine and methadone, as well as drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
What do I do if my doctor has prescribed any of these drugs?
Two considerations should be taken into account.
First of all, with what you have just read, at the moment the doctor prescribes you one of these drugs, you can ask for a change to another drug with the same purpose and that does not affect the erection.
Secondly, you should consider an aspect that surely you have not done, since all diseases have among their causes a genetic predisposition and some factors acquired by daily life habits.
It is easy for a man with high cholesterol and hypertension to have a sedentary lifestyle, to not follow a balanced diet and to be a smoker.
Reducing and eliminating the factors that have caused the disease will help to restore health. In fact, the person diagnosed with a disease often thinks that the disease will be with him for life, although nothing could be further from the truth, it is possible to return to the initial state of health by correcting the harmful habits.
I am still surprised from time to time in the office, when some men learn that they can stop hypertension or diabetes just by starting a sports routine, making a new nutritional scheme and reducing alcohol and tobacco consumption.