From Finasteride to VL to Implant

The final frontier. Deciding when, if and how.
Frenchie
Posts: 166
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2022 11:14 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby Frenchie » Tue Apr 04, 2023 1:11 pm

daddel wrote:
annoyed31 wrote:
daddel wrote:Update: Confirmed with my surgeon to have the procedure done in October. Fingers crossed.


Can you tell me who is your surgeon ? I have an option to do it UKE (Armin Soave) or UKSH(Osmonov), I live in Hamburg.

See 4 posts above.

I have heard of Osmonov being a great surgeon in Germany and Europe but how many implants does he do normally a year? Is he high volume? Its a shame that Europe is way behind USA in terms of surgeons and number of surgeries for penile implants. I hope it grows more in the coming years because we are young and we'll need it.
Venous like since I was 20 years old. Pills don't work too well. Thinking of implant in the future

indeed
Posts: 121
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 3:25 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby indeed » Tue Apr 04, 2023 1:19 pm

From what i read, Osmonov is great and high volume.
Check out his twitter, he seems to be very invested in this field

Frenchie wrote:
daddel wrote:
annoyed31 wrote:
Can you tell me who is your surgeon ? I have an option to do it UKE (Armin Soave) or UKSH(Osmonov), I live in Hamburg.

See 4 posts above.

I have heard of Osmonov being a great surgeon in Germany and Europe but how many implants does he do normally a year? Is he high volume? Its a shame that Europe is way behind USA in terms of surgeons and number of surgeries for penile implants. I hope it grows more in the coming years because we are young and we'll need it.
30 years old. Suspensory ligament repair with Dr. Ralph March 23.
20cm Titan OTR, no RTEs. Dr. Clavell - May 10, 23.

daddel
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:47 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby daddel » Wed Jul 19, 2023 3:13 am

Update: So I was able to bring the OP appointment forward from Oct 27 to Aug 18!
Getting nervous now.
Wish me luck!
41y/o, Venous Leakage due to Finasteride use 17 years ago, PDE5-Inhibitors lost effect gradually over the years, nothing worked anymore.
Implanted 18 August 2023 (while I was 40y/o), Titan 20cm + 1cm RTE, Germany

jasejuk
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2022 1:45 pm

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby jasejuk » Wed Jul 19, 2023 4:18 am

Thanks for sharing your story/experience, and it's great you have tried having the surgery to try and fix the VL.

I wanted to have the VL surgery and was told by 2 urologists it was extremely unlikely to work, and if it did, it wouldn't last.
Your experience expresses that, even after 2 ops.

Will follow you to see how your implant surgery and recovery goes. Like me, you have very little to lose and a lot to gain.

Good luck for August.
Age 50. ED since 25 yrs old. Used pills etc. Last 10 years, everything, including injections --did not work. Doppler test diagnosed VL. Implanted Coloplast Titan 22cm UK NHS ( --13/02/2024 Coloplast with Dr Win Gan Lee -- UCLH London UK)

DennyW
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:43 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby DennyW » Thu Sep 21, 2023 9:54 am

Did you experience or feel libido despite lack of erections? I was 10 years on Fin, and now 10 years off. Chem castrated, tried everything as you did. Nearly zero libido under any conceivable circumstances. PDE5's worked a bit while on Fin, but not long after stopping no effect whatsoever. I would have been better staying on Fin (possibly).

Lifeabroad
Posts: 39
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2023 2:31 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby Lifeabroad » Thu Sep 21, 2023 11:25 am

daddel wrote:Hi all,

I know the title is a bit provocative, but in the end that's exactly what happened to me (resp. will happen).

After reading here at FT for a very long time, I registered some time ago and am only now getting around to introducing myself and telling my story. I don't really have any more urgent questions about implants, I've learned everything I need to know here. Thank you very much for all the information I was able to gather here!

About me: I'm from Germany and was born in 1983, I'll be 40 in about a month. I will try to be as brief as possible, but I would like to share my background with you. In 2004/2005, when I was in my early 20s, I took Propecia (Finasteride) for hair loss. Then within a few days or almost overnight in the spring of 2005, I noticed that I couldn't get good erections anymore. I knew that this could be a side effect of Finasteride and I stopped taking it, but it never got better. Over the years, I was able to counteract it with PDE5 inhibitors like Cialis and Viagra, but the effect became less and less over the years. Around the end of 2013, I noticed that I had a huge drop in the effectiveness of the pills and since then it has been extremely difficult to get a sufficient erection even with very high dosages (400mg Viagra and other experiments). By the way, I don’t have any other risk factors for ED: I’m slim, do a lot of sports, don’t smoke, non-diabetic etc..

I have, of course, been following the research on "Post Finasteride Syndrome" for years and have been involved in all sorts of experiments discussed in the relevant online forums. From various dietary supplements, changes in diet, lifestyle, training, to shockwave and hormone therapies, and so on and so forth. I have tried everything under the sun and spent thousands of Euro. Nothing has had even the slightest effect on my erections: they just got worse and worse over time. I am basically a positive thinker and tend to be rational. But of course all this has a massive impact on my quality of life and mental state. You know what I'm talking about. Over the years, of course, I have seen many doctors and urologists. None of them could help. Either it's "in my head" or there was Viagra - that's it.

In 2020, I came into contact with a vascular specialist and andrologist here in Germany who is also one of the leading implant specialists. I wanted to know what the situation was with the arteries and veins in my penis and had an intensive examination. The result: venous leakage. In view of my age, the doctor agreed to perform a venous ligation on me. Knowing full well that this is more of an experimental nature and that success is not guaranteed or even rather unlikely. Since he had performed this operation successfully before, we gave it a try.

Since I have also "suffered" from an upward curvature of the penis since birth (this has never really been a problem...), he suggested that I have venous ligation and penile straightening at the same time. The operation took place in the summer of 2020. At first, the penis was straight afterwards and I also noticed a slight improvement in erections. However, both effects only lasted a few weeks, after which it was back to the way it was before. Although a little effect from the straightening is still there today. But that doesn't do me any good, because I can hardly get any erections. In early 2022, I convinced the doctor to try a second vein ligation, as I have often read that it has a better effect after the second attempt every now and then. He agreed. The second operation was in March 2022. 3-4 weeks of slight improvement in erections, then the effect disappeared again and I am back to 0.

Of course, I kept thinking about implants in parallel, but I wanted to try everything else first before taking this step. By the way, other forms of therapy like VED or injections don't give me erections at all. With luck, a chubby one. During a consultation with the surgeon a few weeks ago, we went through all the details and questions about implants. He mentioned positively that I was the patient of his who was already the best informed of all his implant patients, thank you FT :D

He suggested a Titan implant, but without pressuring me one bit. He said that the implant would help me very well and that I was a very good candidate. But the decision is mine alone. I may well get an appointment relatively soon, at the end of February. If this date doesn't work out, it would be in October (due to professional circumstances).

I will keep you updated. If anyone has any questions or tips for me, please feel free to contact me!

Cheers,
daddel


Hey Daddel, I am also from Germany and I am also suffering of the venous leak, but not as severe as yours was. Could tell about what examinations did you have to participate in to prove the an implant is the only option for you? I mean whole thing for the med insurance … did they make you try VED and cock ring? Or just injections? Was the whole process difficult to prove that you are a candidate for an implant?

daddel
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:47 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby daddel » Sat Sep 23, 2023 1:12 pm

[/quote]
Hey Daddel, I am also from Germany and I am also suffering of the venous leak, but not as severe as yours was. Could tell about what examinations did you have to participate in to prove the an implant is the only option for you? I mean whole thing for the med insurance … did they make you try VED and cock ring? Or just injections? Was the whole process difficult to prove that you are a candidate for an implant?[/quote]

Hi, what do you mean with „examinations“?

I had ED, very severe ED. Couldn’t get it up, not with pills, VED, cock rings, injections.. you name it. Did the Doppler scan test, VL was diagnosed. I gabe it a bit of time, years, to see and try everything out again. But things just got worse and worse. So I decided for an implant. That’s it.
41y/o, Venous Leakage due to Finasteride use 17 years ago, PDE5-Inhibitors lost effect gradually over the years, nothing worked anymore.
Implanted 18 August 2023 (while I was 40y/o), Titan 20cm + 1cm RTE, Germany

Lifeabroad
Posts: 39
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2023 2:31 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby Lifeabroad » Sat Sep 23, 2023 7:58 pm

daddel wrote:

Hey Daddel, I am also from Germany and I am also suffering of the venous leak, but not as severe as yours was. Could tell about what examinations did you have to participate in to prove the an implant is the only option for you? I mean whole thing for the med insurance … did they make you try VED and cock ring? Or just injections? Was the whole process difficult to prove that you are a candidate for an implant?[/quote]

Hi, what do you mean with „examinations“?

I had ED, very severe ED. Couldn’t get it up, not with pills, VED, cock rings, injections.. you name it. Did the Doppler scan test, VL was diagnosed. I gabe it a bit of time, years, to see and try everything out again. But things just got worse and worse. So I decided for an implant. That’s it.[/quote]

I mean, did the insurance pay for your implant/op? That’s what I meant by examinations. As far as I am concerned, insurance company wants proves that other methods of treatment were not effective. In the US you can chose basically what you wanna go for, injections or to jump straight to the implant, which is a big difference with Germany, where implant are concidered as a last resort, so that insurance wouldn’t pay for the implant as long as injections are some what effective, I guess?

1380anthony
Posts: 138
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:29 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby 1380anthony » Sat Sep 23, 2023 9:37 pm

daddel wrote:Update: So I was able to bring the OP appointment forward from Oct 27 to Aug 18!
Getting nervous now.
Wish me luck!


How's your recovery going? Was your venous leak due to scar tissue?

daddel
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:47 am

Re: From Finasteride to VL to Implant

Postby daddel » Sun Sep 24, 2023 1:18 am

Lifeabroad wrote:
daddel wrote:

Hey Daddel, I am also from Germany and I am also suffering of the venous leak, but not as severe as yours was. Could tell about what examinations did you have to participate in to prove the an implant is the only option for you? I mean whole thing for the med insurance … did they make you try VED and cock ring? Or just injections? Was the whole process difficult to prove that you are a candidate for an implant?


Hi, what do you mean with „examinations“?

I had ED, very severe ED. Couldn’t get it up, not with pills, VED, cock rings, injections.. you name it. Did the Doppler scan test, VL was diagnosed. I gabe it a bit of time, years, to see and try everything out again. But things just got worse and worse. So I decided for an implant. That’s it.[/quote]

I mean, did the insurance pay for your implant/op? That’s what I meant by examinations. As far as I am concerned, insurance company wants proves that other methods of treatment were not effective. In the US you can chose basically what you wanna go for, injections or to jump straight to the implant, which is a big difference with Germany, where implant are concidered as a last resort, so that insurance wouldn’t pay for the implant as long as injections are some what effective, I guess?[/quote]

My Doc diagnosed VL and provided this info to the insurance I guess + the info that all other options failed?
41y/o, Venous Leakage due to Finasteride use 17 years ago, PDE5-Inhibitors lost effect gradually over the years, nothing worked anymore.
Implanted 18 August 2023 (while I was 40y/o), Titan 20cm + 1cm RTE, Germany


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