Erectile Dysfunction Service

Once you are registered you can come in for a repeat supply of 4 tablets at your convenience; Price from £25

PROFESSIONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

An annual assessment will be required

Between 5-20% of men have moderate to severe Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile Dysfunction Flyer.pdf

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is very common. About half of men between 40 and 70 get ED at least once.ED can be distressing. It is often simple to treat.Anything that interferes with the circulation or with the nervous system can lead to ED.Most men with ED are in reasonable health.

ED can have physical and psychological causes, including:Heart disease and high blood pressure (hypertension),Diabetes and high cholesterol,Hormonal problems including under active thyroid,Some medications (GPs or Pharmacists can advise if regular medication is the cause),Stress, anxiety, depression and relationship problems,Abdominal and prostate surgery and spinal and head injury,Deformity of the penis, Peyronie’s disease (severe angulations of the penis),Lifestyle, obesity, smoking, alcohol and tiredness and recreational drugs.Sometimes, ED occurs only in certain situations. This suggests the underlying cause is likely to be psychological. Iferections do not occur under any circumstances, the underlying cause is likely to be physical.Anxiety usually makes ED symptoms worse.

When to see a GP

Men should see their GPs if ED lasts more than a few weeks. GPs will assess the general state of health. ED can bea sign of problems such as heart disease or poor circulation.GPs will ask about symptoms, overall physical and mental health, sex life, alcohol consumption, drugs, and anymedication.A physical examination may be needed to look for a deformity of the penis known as Peyronie’s disease where thepenis is markedly bent to one side.Glucose, cholesterol and thyroid tests may be needed. More extensive tests are not usually required in men over 40years in whom ED is common.

Treatment of erectile dysfunction

Where there are underlying conditions these should be treated. This does not always help the symptoms of ED.Changes in lifestyle can sometimes reduce EDLosing weight (if overweight),Giving up smoking,Moderating consumption of alcohol,Not using illegal drugs, andTaking regular exercise.How to take ED tabletsViagra, Cialis and Levitra work by temporarily increasing the blood flow to the penis. They work only when sexualarousal is also present. If there is no arousal there is not an erection.Usual starting doses are Viagra 50mg, Cialis 10mg or Levitra 10mg.

Your Pharmacist may recommend half doses tostart with. It may be necessary to increase doses to obtain the best results. The maximum single dose for Viagra is 100mg,and for Cialis and Levitra, 20mg as a single dose.Tablets should be taken about 60 minutes before their action is needed. Levitra starts to work a little morequickly than the others and can take as little as 20 minutes to become active.

Taking ED medication with food candelay the onset of action to 2 hours.Viagra works for about four hours, Cialis for 36 hours and Levitra for 12 hours. Tablets should not be taken morethan once in 24 hours.

Cautions and warnings and side effects

You MUST read the ‘Patient Information Leaflet’ supplied with tablets.Serious side effects are rare. Possible side effects include: headaches, hot flushes, indigestion, a blocked, orrunny, nose, back pain, and temporary disturbances of colour vision.

There are a few serious side effects requiring immediate medical help:Loss of vision or hearing (Rare)Chest pain with nausea and discomfort (Possible heart pain, rare)Continuous painful erection lasting 4 or more hours (Priapism, rare)Alternatives to ED medicationED sometimes improves without the need for treatment.

Briefly, other treatments include:Hormone therapy (Occasionally used in men with measured hormone deficiency),Penis pumps and penile implants (Mechanical devices which stiffen the penis),Alprostadil (A medication injected directly into the penis, or a small tablet placed inside the penis usuallyproducing an erection that lasts for between 5-30 minutes),Surgery (usually reserved for special cases),Psychosexual counselling (A form of relationship therapy where sexual, or emotional issues are discussed),Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT is based on the principle that the way we feel is partly dependent onthe way we think about things).

ED treatment on the NHS

Most men with ED are not eligible for treatment on the NHS. Where men are eligible for NHS treatment a fewtablets a month only are allowed.Men with the following are sometimes eligible; diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, poliomyelitis,prostate cancer, severe pelvic injury, single gene neurological disease, spina bifida, or spinal cord injury or menreceiving dialysis for renal failure or where there is a history of radical pelvic surgery, prostatectomy (includingtransurethral resection of the prostate), or kidney transplant were receiving Caverject®, Erecnos®, MUSE®,Viagra®, or Viridal® for erectile dysfunction, at the expense of the NHS, on 14 September 1998 or in mensuffering severe distress as a result of impotence (prescribed in specialist centres only)Treatment for ED is not usually covered by private medical insurance.