Drugs and Erectile Dysfunction
Let me give you yet another reason to stay healthy: drugs can kill your sex
life and lead to erectile dysfunction. Of course, it's common sense and
common knowledge that most illegal drugs can be erection killers. Barbituates,
amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and almost all drugs can take take your
penis right out of action. The drugs of "polite society", including
moderate to heavy drinking and cigarrette smoking, can do the same as well.
What is
not as well known is the fact that many commonly prescribed pharmaceutical and
over-the-counter drugs are just as potent, or should I say impotent, to your
erectile strength.
One example important example, which I cover below, are anti-depressants:
researcher now estimate that
10% of the U.S. population is now using
antidepressants during any given year. That is almost double the usage of a
decade ago. This is a huge swath of the American public and is undoubtedly
representative of other countires as well.
And what many users of anti-depressants don't realize is that they can affect
erectile function and, therefore, is critical to monitor and work with your
doctor regarding.
Again, the effect of drugs on erectile function is another reason to stay healthy: a lot of these drugs are
prescribed because of decades of abuse from metabolic disorder, diabetes,
autoimmune disorders and other issues that result from not following the
underlying principles on this web site. In other words, after decades of
abuse, one has to go to the doctor out of desperation only to find that the
prescribed medications have led them down the path of erectile dysfunction.
In other words, most drugs today are about as gentle as a Daisy Cutter and, while
they do help you survive very serious underlying conditions, they very often
take out your sex life as collateral damage. There's no free lunch in the
world of pharma one might say.
Let me give some of the most prominent
examples:
1. Antihypertensives. If you let your arteries clog and
your Nitric Oxide production wane, you'll end up with
High Blood Pressure.
Because
High Blood Pressure is deadly and is a leading cause of stroke, erectile
dysfunction and many other ills, you doctor will almost immediately put you on various medications to
lower your blood pressure. You should be aware that many of these have a
history of erectile dysfunction as a side effect. In other words, the cure
may take out your sex life. Please read my link on
Blood Pressure and see
what you can right now.
2. Estrogen and Chemotherapy. It is not too
suprising that either one of these would take out your sex life. Of
course, if you have cancer, erectile dysfunction is probably the least of your
worries, but just realize that these agents can directly affect the penis.
To protect yourself, please read my link on
Prostate Cancer and Broad-Based
Cancer Protection.
Do you know the foods and drinks that increase erection-boosting
Nitric Oxide? Check out the
Peak Erectile Strength Diet where I show
you how to dramatically and naturally improve your erectile strength.
3. NSAIDs. Be very careful with pain-killing drugs such as ibuprofen,
Motrin, Advil, etc. Several studies have linked these with decreased
Nitric Oxide
output, which is bad news for all males, especially those trying to improve existing
erectile dysfunction. If
you're a significant NSAID user, you may be able to improve your erectile
dysfunction simply by laying off of this drug class. For example, one Finnish
study found that heavy users of NSAIDs to have a doubled rate of
erectile dysfunction compared to nonusers. [2] They are also notorious
for causing serious gastrointestinal issues. Estimates are that between
15-30% of regular users have ulcers and between 3,000 and 25,000 will die from
sudden blood loss.
They
are also extemely hard on the stomach by the way. Most men that take these
regularly do so because of autoimmune issues, i.e. arthritis, and I highly
recommend that you read my link on
Inflammation and
Immunity. Lowering Inflammation
and Boosting Immunity
will take care or ameliorate most of these auto-immune related diseases. So,
again, if you develop an auto-immune or inflammatory condition, your doctor will
immediately put you on medications that may drastically effect your sex life.
It is obviously much, much better to avoid that sitution in the first place.
NOTE: Almost all the opiate and narcotic painkillers can also kill your
erections.
4.
Antihistamines. Many antihistamines can have a side
effect of erectile dysfunction. Again, as with many NSAID-related issues,
allergic responses can often be dramatically helped through
Lowering Inflammation
and Boosting Immunity.
5. Heart Medications.
Again, years of tough living can wreak havoc on your heart and the medications
that doctors will prescribe can lead to erectile dysfunction.
Lipid-lowering drugs, Norpace (anti-arrythmia), Norflex (discomfort aid) and so
on can all aggravate or initiate impotence.
6. CAUTION: Many more
"neutral" types of medications can also have a side effect of impotence
including various drugs for nausea and GI problems (Tagamet, Zantac,
Pepcid, etc.), anti-psychotics, anti-depressants and so on.
For a more detailed listing of medications that can effect your erections, see
this Medline List of Erectile Dysfunction-Related Drugs.
