I'm having trouble with ED. Anyone with ADHD relate?

Sex Tips & Talk
1

So I’ve been getting intermittent trouble for a long time now. I was still getting morning glories, dinner time glories, evening glories, driving glories, shower glories, etc. so I wasn’t too worried. Seemed to be a mixture of age and then the worry of it getting stuck in my head. Boredom from ADHD has always played its part too and over the years I’ve had to do a lot to maintain or even get aroused.

But my ADHD meds have just been increased and since then I can’t grow anything more than a sponge. I can feel it happening but it never becomes anything of practical use. I can barely even wank ( feel like I’m letting the community marathon down! ) . I’ve an ADHD meeting next week so I’ll bring it up. According to the interwebs it shouldn’t last for more than 8 weeks. But then it also says this should only happen in the first two weeks of prescription and to younger men.

I’ve been told I can’t use Viagra because its contra-indicated for some other tablets I’m on. They aren’t for anything life threatening so I’m hoping I can let them flush from my system and then try viagra. I’ll be asking my GP.

Anyway I just wanted to vent my frustration from multiple days without an orgasm and fear of more serious ED, and see if anyone of the many ADHDers on here have had similar issues with Atomoxetine?

6 Likes
2

@I_ll_try_anything
Hi!
I am on ADHD medication as well. Ritalin.

I am also taking an antidepressant and antipsychotic (for helping me sleep).

I also have trouble getting erections and having any urges to want to masturbate. It is very frustrating.

I wish you the best of luck.

2 Likes
3

I’d say maybe a side effect from your meds or simply ADHD minds wander and so maintaining in the moment takes quite some focus and hard stimulation

1 Like
4

I’ve a nephew on the same combination. I suppose one positive is that you will eventually be able to come off the antidepressants and antipsychotics ( hope I’m not over stepping the mark there, I’ve seen the work it can take ) and will be left on the Ritalin .. which by all accounts may well remove any frustration you currently have.

Thanks for the reply.
Hope it all goes well for you and that one day you can wank yourself into a satisfied future with the rest of us.

1 Like
5

Thanks. Yeah, I’m hoping its the meds and that its as temporary as they say. Now we understand the ADHDs affect we’ve got the mind wandering and boredom undercontrol. Or at least we know what the root coause is and the blame game and guilt is no longer a thing. Its cost us a lot of money on toys and things(!) but we’re both enjoying that now.

1 Like
6

UPDATE: Its still not great but my OH helped me prove its not an entirely lost cause. She’s been able to coax some proper rigidity when needed though not for long. Fingers crossed it is just these tablets and it’ll wear off soon. The kegel exercises might be helping too.

1 Like
7

How long have you been on the meds for and has the doctor indicated that the side effects will subside after a few months once it’s in the system?

8

Started in January(ish) and the dosage has been slowly increasing. I’ve a consultation next week so I’ll have a chat then but from what I’ve read it can last 8 weeks from when a dosage is changed.

1 Like
9

Hoping it will improve once the pills leave your system entirely.

Good luck

1 Like
10

Yep it usually can take a good 6 weeks for most medication to settle in the system so sounds like it’s a case of perseverance for now and checking in with the doctors on any concerns :relieved_face:

1 Like
11

Just jumping on to suggest that perhaps speak to your consultant about the alternatives to the medication you’re on. As a woman I actually found desensitisation from medication of the ‘same family’ that your medication belongs to that I use for nerve pain and my energy levels have improved since starting my ADHD medication last year - I’m on Elvase.

12

Thanks.

I’m not allowed anything else, particularly stimulants. They interact with my other meds quite badly. Even Atomoxetine landed me in A&E when my heart decided it wasn’t happy.

As @AJSTAR says, I just need to be patient and give it time. It can take 6-8 weeks before they fully kick in and a similar time for side effects to subside. So I’ll keep monitoring progress and I’ll ask my GP if I can pause my heart meds if needed.

Glad Elvase is working for you. Must be such a relief.

Are you a LotR fan?

1 Like
13

Stimulants increase Dopamine and Norepinephrine which reduces blood flow, I’m not a doctor nor do I have ADHD but I do remember this from years ago.

1 Like
14

I’ve got an appointment with a GP tomorrow to discuss whether its advisable to temporarily stop my other meds in order to take viagra while I need it. Like I said, I hope this is only a temp issue.

15

Update : Viagra should be ok so long as I’m careful! Party on!

Although if you don’t hear from me again you can rest assured I went with a smile on my face and a hard on like Nelsons Column. It would be nice to have at least one mention in the Members we Miss thread.

2 Likes
16

Glad you got that sorted out but I have to ask - How is ADHD meds as an adult? I was on 70mg of Vyvanse back in high school and started at 50 even younger. I hated every second of it, but it never killed my drive, just made me crazy locked in. As soon as I finished high school and turned 18 I stopped. I wonder now what it would be like in my 30s to go back to it.

17

I’m not on stimulants for the same heart reasons, so I’m on slow release Atomoxetine.

Burnout stripped me of the inability to use 50+ years worth of coping mechanisms, masks, tricks to get through life. I’ve been unable to work properly for a good 3 years now, gradually improving only as the med dose has increased. I’m at about 40% ability but even at that I’m questioning whether I want to return to 100% because 40% is proving unhealthy.

2 Likes
18

I’m sorry to hear that, I really am.

You’ve posted bits and pieces and I’ve not wanted to pry or delve into what you’re going through.

I/we can see the blurb you put in your bio about having issues coping with it and that it gets worse with age.

I’m not asking you to say anything and certainly not anything you don’t want to.

What I am doing is letting you know I both sympathize and empathize with you.

You aren’t alone of course, meaning folks care about you, want the best for you, which is what I want for you too.

Sadly we know that many folks, in real life and even on this forum, are going through different issues. Many of them vary, but what doesn’t vary is the heartache, the worry, the stress, the psychological issues from our issues and struggles. Those are universal, regardless of our what our actual issues are.

You know some of mine and you inquired a tad about what I’m going through. It’s not anything I wanted or want to go through, but we don’t get to choose what happens to us, we only get to choose how we try to cope and deal with it.

There is the issue of course that we’re going through, but there is also all that comes from it and that’s my main point now. It weighs on you, on others, on myself. We can’t take it off and put it down or put it away.

It’s forced upon us in a real way and we have to cope with it as it’s there, it’s always there, with us.

I’m not trying to pry. As always, post as much or as little as you want and are comfortable with, whether it’s with your issue or how you’re dealign with it, which is just as important, more-so actually than the actual issue itself.

I also understand and empathize with you about the worry that our issues create for us. Worry about the future, about changes that are coming and how they will affect us and affect our loved ones. How they will affect us both physically and mentally.

In so many ways, life is wonderful, it’s great, there is so much wonder in the world, beauty etc.
But we all know there are some bad things too.

I am genuinely sorry for what you’re experiencing and going through @I_ll_try_anything

19

Thanks, but I’m OK. In many ways I’m better than I’ve ever been because so much now makes sense.

I don’t mind talking about aspects of it and while I do share far too much on here there’s still plenty I’ll leave out of the hands of the data scraping bots.

My way of dealing with all of it, burnout, mental health, Neurodivergence etc., is to talk. To be vulnerable, to own up to the ‘weird’ shit I do and have done, and work hard to take away the shame and spread some knowledge. Most of the problems surrounding Neurodivergence are caused by society at large. Sometimes cynically but more often through ignorance and fear. I figure talking about it reduces the ignorance and so might make life easier, eventually. Once we get past the cute, superpower, fashionable, bandwagon nonsense thats currently being bandied about, or the blame for being newly diagnosed.

1 Like
20

That’s good. I can relate to that as well after finding out the reason I was and am the way I am too, when I found out about the fistula I have.

Again, that’s good. Also again, I can relate. Really only Miss Heather knows it all. Some of my docs and therapists know large parts, but not everything. I didn’t tell my ex-wife all that much but I did want her to know there was an actual reason for the way I am. Having the fistula allowed(s) for unregulated blood flow into the penis. My ex-wife always thought I was just turned on and aroused by others, other women, and she took that personally, internalized it and became angry with me about that and that grew and grew inside of her and helped us build up the brick wall between us ever higher and higher. It wasn’t that I was turned on or aroused by others, it was an actual physical issue.

And a huge thing my ex-wife always overlooked when arguing with me back then was that I was only aroused around others. That was laughable, then and now. She saw me so many times when we were home alone in our house in the woods where I was aroused, for no reason at all, like when I was cleaning the kitchen floors, when I was outside cutting the grass (in the middle of 40 acres, couldn’t see another home with the trees on the leaves so no one could see me or us in our yard), when I was vacuuming or when we took long car rides overnight after her parents no longer lived by us. So my ex-wife knew that was ridiculous, to think or say I was only aroused around others but having to admit differently wouldn’t have fit her narrative. I mean, she and I lived alone, this was before we had any children. She was upstairs and I was downstairs cleaning the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. She came down, I didn’t hear her and she was behind me. After watching me for a while, she said to me “Why do you have an erection?” So she knew and knows this happened all the time to me, whether I was alone, or with her or out in public etc. My surroundings, where I was at or who I was with didn’t matter as it was a physical issue inside of me and that was with me wherever I was or whoever I was with. And with my ex-wife’s personality, she was really put off by me being noticeable down there. She was embarrassed, upset, hurt, frustrated etc. And it’s not like my ex-wife needed a reason to be upset with me either as she had many reasons, in her mind, to be upset with me but that was just another one for her.

As for the data scraping bots, I hope the way I deal with it is enough though I figure I’m underestimating what others may do with info online. I fudge dates and years and names. The way I see it, things aren’t materially different if I’m 56, 57, 58, 59 or 60. The gist of what I say is true but I fudge identifying numbers, ages, dates, names and locations. Some will say where they were born, which city. I’ve never done that online and I never will. I’ve said I lived in the Ozark’s and I/we did. But that’s a large area and it encompasses several different states too. I’ve said I’ve lived in TX but that’s a huge state. Also, we only lived there like 51 weeks. I never even got a TX driver’s license while we lived there. I had a valid license from my previous state and yes I was supposed to get a new license in that state, but I never did.

I understand and agree with that too.

As for my issue, not enough have it or are even aware of it. Heck, many doctors, urologists etc. don’t know much about it as they never come across it in their practices.

I understand it’s difficult for others to relate (not just to me, but to any who have different issues, diseases, injuries and on and on) but my main point is not the actual issue itself but what I (and others) go through, what we have to deal with, put up with etc.

Things I experience because of this issue matter more to me than the actual issue itself, if that makes sense. Being misunderstood. Being shunned, teased, put down, told to leave places etc. affects a person.

So darn many people are put down, affected, teased for many different reasons and issues in this world and my point isn’t their actual issues (as they vary), but for what they have to go through, put up with, endure etc.

Not everyone may relate to every issue, I certainly can’t, but we all can relate to pain, to suffering, to being afraid, worried, anxious about whatever issue it is that is affecting someone.