diabetes supplement
Diabetes Complications

Managing Erectile Dysfunction with Diabetes

Of the many possible complications of uncontrolled diabetes, erectile dysfunction is the one we talk about the least. Unlike essentially all of the other complications, it doesn’t bring us physical pain, but the emotional trauma it often brings can be devastating.

limp cock.jpg

It doesn’t have to be that way. If you were the only guy who had erectile dysfunction, having it might well embarrass you. But now we know that perhaps 30 million American men have it and that it increases with age. “About 4 percent of men in their 50s and nearly 17 percent of men in their 60s experience a total inability to achieve an erection,” according to estimates by the National Institutes of Health. “The incidence jumps to 47 percent for men older than 75.”

Those figures are for all American men. But what about men with diabetes?

Men who have diabetes are two to three times more likely to have erectile dysfunction than men who don’t have diabetes, says the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Nobody knows what proportion of American men with diabetes have erectile dysfunction, but it could be as high as 75 percent.

But this leading health organization says — and I emphasize — that it “is treatable at any age.”

And thanks to the miracles of modern medicine you now have a variety of good ways to treat erectile dysfunction that a doctor can prescribe. A visit to a doctor might be somewhat challenging at first, but it’s a lot better than the alternative. In this new world of information on the internet this is the only personal contact you need to make — aside from your bed partner, of course.

If you want to shy away from the term “erectile dysfunction,” you can call it by its common acronym. “ED is the inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse,” writes the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). “ED can be a total inability to achieve an erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections.” We used to call it impotence, “but that word is being used less often so that it will not be confused with other, nonmedical meanings of the term.”

Your doctors will probably start by suggesting the least invasive treatment:

1. Lifestyle changes, like quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, losing excess weight, and increasing physical activity will help some men.

2. Then, perhaps some medicine that you are taking is the culprit. A blood pressure medication is a likely suspect. Maybe a lifestyle change will make it unnecessary. If not, your doctor might switch your blood pressure prescription.

3. For some people psychotherapy and behavior modifications might be a good idea.

4. Next could be an oral or locally injected drug, a vacuum device, or a surgically implanted one.

5. Only in rare cases will a doctor recommend surgery involving veins or arteries.

Men are not alone in experiencing sexual problems. The NIDDK says that one study found that 42 percent of women with type 2 diabetes experienced sexual dysfunction. Probably the most common problems are decreased vaginal lubrication and uncomfortable or painful intercourse. But a visit to a doctor can help a woman who has sexual problems just as it can help a man.

Sexual problems are all too common for both men and women who have diabetes. But unlike many of the complications of this disease, we have good ways of dealing with this complication that can stand in the way of living life fully. Enjoy!

This article is based on an earlier version of my article published by HealthCentral.

Never Miss An Update

Subscribe to my free newsletter “Diabetes Update”

I send out my newsletter on first of every month. It covers new articles and columns that I have written and important developments in diabetes generally that you may have missed.

Previous Post Next Post

You Might Also Like These Articles

  • Gwen Roberts at

    Before me and my husband got married we had this great sex life that i enjoyed every time we made love and this was one of the many million reasons why i loved him. This great sex life was soon taken away from us when the embarrassing problem of weak erection and premature ejaculation came in, and due to this reason i was unable to conceive for 5yrs after marriage because my husband was temporarily impotent and his sex drive and performance was affected by this problems. Over the years we tried a lot of drugs but to no avail, and i told my self that i can no longer bear the pain. I was very lucky to come across a post and how several people were cured permanently from ED, i had no much option and i contacted Dr Hillary and that one of the best decisions i have ever made in life and that was all. We received the medication and since then the great sex life is back in my husband, we have 2 kids and we are so happy. For any related problem just contact him on ([email protected])

  • Reuben at

    Wow! This is an amazing article on the connection between sexual dysfunctions and diabetes. Erectile dysfunction is rampart mainly because of lifestyle and obesity which can lead to diabetes is one of the causes.

    The alarming statistics presented by various studies point to and warn against living recklessly.