Impotence

Im 30 years old and I have had trouble achieving an erection most of my life  I have had problems with an erection in all three cases.  I use to masterbate 3-4 times a day and now I can not get hard.  I sometimes wake up with an erection but it usually goes away quickly.  I have been to the doctor and he has given me viagra but it always doesn't work and I often ejaculate prematurely.  He ran some test and said I should be able to achieve and erection but Im not to sure.  What should I do?

[Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D.]

    You should go to a specialist for a second opinion. If they say that you are physically able to get an erection, you should try some viagra , caellis or Levitra- depending on whether or not your doctor says it is safe for you to do so. If you get an erection on these drugs ( and you probably will) it might mean there are psychological problems that are making it difficult for you to maintain an erection--and that would suggest going to see a therapist to see what is stressing you out. Sometimes it is just experiencing erectile failure, getting worried about that, getting more worried about it, and the cycle of apprehension starts to make erectile failure inevitable.  A good therapist can get you out of that cycle and back to easy erections.