Testosterone Optimization On RP-inspired Nutrition

[GreekDemiGod]

So I'm tracking the frequency of my morning erections. My usual wake-up time is 8AM on average. I noticed that some mornings, I won't have an erection at 8am, but I happen to briefly wake up thirsty or craving sugar, at 4-5AM and I'll have an erection, and then go back to sleep until 8am.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

So my erections have been slowly declining and it started a couple of years ago, before I started "peating", but they continue to worsen. My current girlfriend seems to notice I'm having a problem, our sex life suffers. Basically, I rarely get hard if I don't take some kind of herbal pills, which is tragic to think about it. This has caused some performance anxiety in me, in that I'm not afraid to initiate sex, to not embarrass myself in case I don't get hard.
My mental libido is very high, If I see hot women in a bikini at the pool, I instantly get excited and fantasize about sexual moments between us, but my schlong just doesn't seem to be alive. It just feels like lack of vitality, of life energy, of blood going into that area.

I'm not sure if it's a matter of poor circulation/ calcification, or is it simply my Testosterone levels being too low.

 

[Inaut]

So my erections have been slowly declining and it started a couple of years ago, before I started "peating", but they continue to worsen. My current girlfriend seems to notice I'm having a problem, our sex life suffers. Basically, I rarely get hard if I don't take some kind of herbal pills, which is tragic to think about it. This has caused some performance anxiety in me, in that I'm not afraid to initiate sex, to not embarrass myself in case I don't get hard.
My mental libido is very high, If I see hot women in a bikini at the pool, I instantly get excited and fantasize about sexual moments between us, but my schlong just doesn't seem to be alive. It just feels like lack of vitality, of life energy, of blood going into that area.

I'm not sure if it's a matter of poor circulation/ calcification, or is it simply my Testosterone levels being too low.

Speaking from my own experience....

My thing works really well when I’m into the woman emotionally. If I don’t have that connection it isn’t all that arousing to me... What I’m basically saying is you probably need to find a chick you like more than just physically. When you have that connection, it’s on all the time... Again just from my experience so may not apply here.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

@Inaut I get what you mean, but it's likely almost the opposite for me.
I'm into my girlfriend emotionally. Maybe too much.
Whereas with other women who I treated purely as sexual objects, I felt less pressure. And I would get hard more easily with them. The thought of using them turned me on. The though if it being a one night stand turned me on.

 

[pineywoodrooter]

I had this problem a few years ago despite natural T levels in the 800-900’s. Forget going to a “doctor” for it if you’re young as they’ll immediately say it’s mental and throw some Cialis at you.

I spent about a year on Cialis, which did work well, but that stuff is poison. The side effects are pretty terrible and it is absolutely habit forming. It took over a year after stopping it for everything to return to normal.

Anyway, everyone always points to testosterone first when they have this issue, which I think is wrong. Plenty of dudes don’t have this problem and they have terrible T levels.

My issue was dopamine and a low stress response (arousal does elicit a slight stress response), I believe. I vaped marijuana most nights for a few years. This caused some slight anhedonia during the day (low dopamine) and I wouldn’t have a stress response to anything (studies have shown that long term marijuana users have a blunted stress response).

Low dopamine + lowered stress response = crappy erections.

After quitting the vaping and Cialis, everything is working fine again. Might want to look at other areas (dopamine, stress, etc) in addition to testosterone.

Good luck brother. I went through this for a year and I know it’s disheartening. Boosting dopamine is the avenue I’d explore.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

@pineywoodrooter Thanks for the perspective.
What would the side effects of low-dose Cialis would be? I've never taken it, but considered it.
I can definitely relate, arousal elicit a high mental response, but the physical response is missing or reduced. And the intensity of all my emotions is just reduced.
I do masturbate often because else I would be thinking about sex all day, but I know it depletes life energy. And when I do masturbate, I don't achieve a full erection. So I'm afraid my problem is partially physical.

 

[TheCalciumCad]

So my erections have been slowly declining and it started a couple of years ago, before I started "peating", but they continue to worsen. My current girlfriend seems to notice I'm having a problem, our sex life suffers. Basically, I rarely get hard if I don't take some kind of herbal pills, which is tragic to think about it. This has caused some performance anxiety in me, in that I'm not afraid to initiate sex, to not embarrass myself in case I don't get hard.
My mental libido is very high, If I see hot women in a bikini at the pool, I instantly get excited and fantasize about sexual moments between us, but my schlong just doesn't seem to be alive. It just feels like lack of vitality, of life energy, of blood going into that area.

I'm not sure if it's a matter of poor circulation/ calcification, or is it simply my Testosterone levels being too low.

I do masturbate often because else I would be thinking about sex all day, but I know it depletes life energy. And when I do masturbate, I don't achieve a full erection. So I'm afraid my problem is partially physical.

Sounds ALOT like high prolactin / low dopamine likely from blue light toxicity and lack of sunlight (the same reason vitamin A will be giving you issues), stop obsessing over nutrition and supplements and go for a long walk every day instead.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Sounds ALOT like high prolactin / low dopamine likely from blue light toxicity and lack of sunlight (the same reason vitamin A will be giving you issues), stop obsessing over nutrition and supplements and go for a long walk every day instead.

How do we define blue light toxicity? Is someone who works at a computer in an indoor setting up to 8hrs/ day automatically "blue light toxic", unless he gets a good amount of sunlight to balance?

 

[pineywoodrooter]

What would the side effects of low-dose Cialis would be? I've never taken it, but considered it.

Low blood pressure, flu-like symptoms, lower back pain, muscle weakness, low energy, complete alcohol intolerance, sun intolerance, apathy, and it's "addictive" (I became completely reliant on it when my issue was only minor before). It's very difficult to stop taking it once you've started.

 

[TheCalciumCad]

How do we define blue light toxicity? Is someone who works at a computer in an indoor setting up to 8hrs/ day automatically "blue light toxic", unless he gets a good amount of sunlight to balance?

8hours is tonnes of blue light considering we only have around 12hours a day of bright sunlight daily, especially if you get home just to look at more blue screens all night under LED lights habitually. Contacts/glasses/sunglasses will also block beneficial sunlight UV from getting in the retina.

 

[jaype]

I had this problem a few years ago despite natural T levels in the 800-900’s. Forget going to a “doctor” for it if you’re young as they’ll immediately say it’s mental and throw some Cialis at you.

I spent about a year on Cialis, which did work well, but that stuff is poison. The side effects are pretty terrible and it is absolutely habit forming. It took over a year after stopping it for everything to return to normal.

Anyway, everyone always points to testosterone first when they have this issue, which I think is wrong. Plenty of dudes don’t have this problem and they have terrible T levels.

My issue was dopamine and a low stress response (arousal does elicit a slight stress response), I believe. I vaped marijuana most nights for a few years. This caused some slight anhedonia during the day (low dopamine) and I wouldn’t have a stress response to anything (studies have shown that long term marijuana users have a blunted stress response).

Low dopamine + lowered stress response = crappy erections.

After quitting the vaping and Cialis, everything is working fine again. Might want to look at other areas (dopamine, stress, etc) in addition to testosterone.

Good luck brother. I went through this for a year and I know it’s disheartening. Boosting dopamine is the avenue I’d explore.

completely agree. I think it might be low dopamine.

Also can relate to what @Inaut said. When there's an emotional connection, any physical touch and it's on.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

It's getting worse. I haven't had a morning boner in over a month.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Update: Finally got an erection this morning after a long time. Some things I did differently yesterday that might have benefitted:
- ate beef(ground sirloin), more than 0.5 lbs, with onions and butter
- ate a can of sardines last night
- rubbed 2000 IUs of Calcirol on the testicles.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

More than 3 years since I opened this thread. It's been getting worse and worse, to be honest. My D stopped working without external help (I have to use herball pills to stay hard).

 

[redsun]

More than 3 years since I opened this thread. It's been getting worse and worse, to be honest. My D stopped working without external help (I have to use herball pills to stay hard).

What are the main foods you are eating nowadays?

 

[HighT]

And what are the herbal pills you take for that?

 

[Korven]

More than 3 years since I opened this thread. It's been getting worse and worse, to be honest. My D stopped working without external help (I have to use herball pills to stay hard).

Have you ever worked with a functional doctor or health coach? It can be difficult to navigate health issues on your own and you may end up just going around in circles. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes and someone to bounce ideas off is necessary to move forward in a positive direction.

But yeah kind of sounds like you are dealing with a chronic gut problem, which is tricky to fix.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Have you ever worked with a functional doctor or health coach? It can be difficult to navigate health issues on your own and you may end up just going around in circles. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes and someone to bounce ideas off is necessary to move forward in a positive direction.

But yeah kind of sounds like you are dealing with a chronic gut problem, which is tricky to fix.

So far I haven’t. Now that I earn more money, I started considering it, since I can afford it. I reached out to a nutritionist from my town, supposedly he specialises in digestive problems. Might consult with him.
Also scheduled an appointment with a doctor I found, he talks a lot about intestinal dysbiosis .

I tested negative for celiac, I wonder what test should I take for lactose tolerance.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

And what are the herbal pills you take for that?

It’s sort of a herbal viagra. It contains L-arginine, tribulus, guarana, ginseng, Polygonum, epimedium, muira puamaz

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Time to face the fact that I actually have some degree of ED, and it started a couple of years ago. I remember in 2019(right after I quit Carnivore and started on Peat), I had a girl come over to my place, we were both super attracted to each other, both physically and mentally. We kissed and fondled each other all night, took almost all our clothes off, yet my D didn't get hard even one bit, so I didn't even try to have sex with her. Most we did was foreplay.
I regret it so much, the sex between us would have been amazing.
At that time, I didn't realize it was not normal to not get hard that night, and though it was just a one-time incident.

Lately, I've been using the herbal pills more (No2 boosters) and more, however they seem to be losing effectiveness.
Last night, I took Cialis 20mg for the first time, was able to get hard/ aroused, but it faded without stimulation.

I even tested some Proviron pills 25mg, felt nothing from it.
I decided that I will reintroduce light cardio back in my regimen, being able to run a few miles is someone every healthy person should do.
I still do weight training, but reduced the intensity a lot and much more sensible with my body.