www.incontinentsupport.org

Sorry about being prude but I was wondering is it normal not to have erections, zilch/zero even upon waking in the mornings I don't get an erection. I'm 3 months into being 30 years old and haven't experienced an erection in months and I'm too embarrassed to consult my doctor about the problem.

My blood pressure is 124/80 last time it was checked while I was inpatient at a psychiatric facility, my blood Glucose was under 5.

You mention a psych facility ... what drugs are you currently taking.

A lot of pyscoactive drugs can have that effect.

I'm currently taking Abilify (aripiprazole) depot 400 mg monthly injection and Depakote 250 mg daily Mood Stabiliser. I have a condition called Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar type.

I think the medication is the course of my incontinence issues too but am worried that if I tell my psychiatrist about the incontinence and erectile dysfunction they will change my meds and I'll become unstable again and hospitalised and because I've tried all the atypical antipsychotics the only other option is the older typical antipsychotics which have far worse side effects then the atypical antipsychotics.

My incontinence has progressed from post micturition dribble to what I think is stress incontinence because I tend to leak the most when I walking around or doing any slight movement and can feel a slight dribble into my pad, when I do make it to the toilet I have a very long after dribble which is impossible to control, I have resulted in wearing diapers because it's just too embarrassing having a accident and I'm managing okay with the pads. But the incontinence is getting worse.

Well ... Both those drugs have been associate with sexual dysfunction in men, but at a lower rate than traditional alternative.

I suspect those could be the cause of the impotence, but switching meds might actually be worse.

Well I guess it is. For me it wasn't directly linked to my incontinence though. I'm 39 now, but years ago (maybe around 30) I had a massive drop in my natural testosterone levels. Why I don't know though. I noticed right away I wasn't getting erections much any more, and I wouldn't get as angry any more either.

I did go through trying testosterone supplements, but you can only get it through shots or a sticky alcohol based gel you rub on your abdomen. The gel is unpleasant to use at best, and barely even works, so I do not recommend using it. The shots required to many doctors visits and eventually I just stopped getting them.

Ultimately this was just one more thing I had to get used to. The erections do come back to one every 1-3 weeks though. And it is nice not getting road rage any more too.

The anti-depressants I'm on have given me a mild case of ED as well as a not as mild case of IC. After having more severe side effects from a number of other ADs, I have decided that these side effects are quite livable. You need to try some different meds. The human mind is very sensitive to many stimuli, and you need to find what works best for you. It took me three years to find this solution, and I'm not about to change again. Talk to your doctor about ALL of these issues. Without this information, he/she can't help you get better.

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- Tom