Hey all,
I'm posting my recovery story here in this thread, because I don't think there is a more recently commented one on the the topic of LF and this thread definitely provided me with a lot of insight during my own struggle with LF. I didn't really document journal style what I was going through, so my apologies if things seem out of order or written haphazardly. I just wanted to share what happened to me, in case someone may find it useful.
Backstory:
I'm 38 years old, athletic, would surely be classified as "fit". My penis is about 8" long, 6" girth, circumcised. Around the middle to the end of June or so, I was engaged in a clamping & edging session (5 mins on, 5 mins off, porn stimulus) and admittedly, I believe that the pressure applied during this session was most likely too much, so user error for sure, no denying that. At one point during the session, I went from being solidly erect to completely flaccid, in probably under 10 seconds or so. Startled, I removed the clamp, took a time out, gave myself some time to recoup and then I decided to test the waters to see if I could get erect again, as I was definitely paranoid that I had caused major damage. I was able to get erect and decided to masturbate to orgasm in order to determine how everything was functioning. Here's what I recall:
1. I immediately noticed decreased sensitivity in my penis upon touch, in particular, the glans.
2. I was able to get erect, but my penis didn't feel as "solid" as it normally would be. It felt somewhat rubbery, fluffy.
3. During masturbation, it felt as if though my penis was somewhat disconnected/disjointed from my body. This is a tough sensation to describe, but it's almost as if though it was in limbo - like 75% connected to my body, but 25% off somewhere else.
4. The pleasure response derived during masturbation felt "muted", that is, it felt like I had to work a lot harder to get and pleasure from rubbing, sliding, jerking, etc.
5. Upon ejaculation, the pleasure sensation was extremely diminished/muted. I was able to cum, but it didn't "feel" right. It felt like I was receiving 50% less pleasure (if not more) from ejaculation.
6. The ejaculation itself was very weak, as in, the ejaculate dribbled out, as opposed to forcefully shooting out. I was never one who went for distance to begin with, but this was definitely abnormal.
After all this, I cleaned up, tended to my penis with a warm towel compress and decided to just calm down. Later on, when I went to pee:
7. I found that my penis was hanging lower than it usually does. I'm typically a grower, not a shower, so this was of note.
8. I found that I was unable to intensify the force of my urine stream, like I usually could. It was a mild increase in force, 10-20% if that. Whereas before, I would be able to visibly, see and feel a difference.
9. My kegels were incredibly weak. Normally, I would be able to see my penis pumping at the base when flaccid and could get my penis to swing after enough kegels. I was unable to make that happen as I usually could.
10. Oddly enough, my sneezes and my coughs felt weird. Usually when I sneezed or coughed, I could feel my pelvic muscles contract, but at this point, my sneezes and coughs felt "weak".
After all this, for about a week I decided give myself a rest and stop masturbating and stopped watching porn. I had decided to masturbate about a week or so later, and still experienced the same symptoms. I had intercourse several times after that, about a week or two after and the symptoms were still there. This was particularly distressing as without that final "push" or "oomph" of the ejaculatory response upon climax, finishing with a partner was most definitely not the same.
All the while, I had been doing my online research and I came across this thread via Reddit. After reading through everything, I was feeling relieved that I was actually able to find some info on what was going on, but I still didn't have a full course of action laid out. I had considered looking for a pelvic floor specialist, revisiting my urologist, etc. I decided that while I searched for a urologist and/or pelvic floor specialist that would have this kind of special knowledge, I would focus on the things I could control, i.e., exercise, rest, diet, etc. That being said, this is what I did, in no special order. Again, my apologies for the haphazard report.
Time period covers the beginning of July till now:
- I ceased all masturbation and porn watching (haven't masturbated for close to a month now)
- I practiced Yoga via my P90X video at least once a week - with a particular focus on the "Happy Baby", "Cobra" and "Frog" stretches
- I soaked in 2 epsom salt baths, during which, I gave myself an anal massage - Of special note here, is that I noticed that this also felt odd. I've given myself an anal massage prior to my injury and at that time, there was a clenching of the anal sphincter that wasn't there this time. I also massaged my perineum while in the bath.
- I regularly took (and still take) the following supplements
L-Arginine
L-Citrulline
Zinc
Mens Multivitamin
Ashwagandha
Vitamin B-12
- I did kegels/reverse kegels daily, and routinely noticed that reverse kegels felt "odd", as if though my pelvic floor wasn't "expanding" as it should.
- I took Psilocybin twice during this time period, and gave myself an anal massage both times. This is of note for me, as Psilocybin tends to generate activity and sensations in my pelvic area. Not saying this is a thing for everyone, but just for me historically.
- Maintained a relatively healthy diet and workout routine.
- Continued to moisturize my penis with Shea Butter
- Being circumcised, I have a silicone cap that I routinely wear on my penis. To apply, I tuck my penis in to the remaining foreskin and put the cap over it. I believe it's similar in function to the "Manhood" penis sheath, of which I also own, but haven't used since implementing the silicone sleeve.
- Improved my sleep schedule
- Throttled down on sexual activity
* I will update this if anything else comes to mind*
As of 2 weeks ago, I was still having the same issues as if though it were day one. Kegels were still weak, although, after doing a significant number of them, my penis would temporarily get to a point where it was able to "jump" a bit more (flaccid), but not like it used. I could still make it jump while erect, but that was also significantly weaker.
Then about a little over a week ago, I started to feel little pulses/vibrations in my perineum. They weren't like electric shocks, not quite full on muscle spasms, but definitely sensations of note. The initial pulses were immediately followed by, what I can only describe as an "ahhhhh" feeling, because at that moment, I feel like I was able to legitimately FEEL my pelvic muscles being reactivated. So I ran to the bathroom to pee, cause I wanted to see what kegels would look like and immediately, I noticed that my initial "pump" was significantly stronger than it had been since the incident. I was able to increase the intensity of my urine stream and my cough returned to normal.
Last week Friday was the first time I had intercourse since feeling my those pulses/vibrations and I have definitely noticed that my penis and ejaculatory performance is getting back to what it once was prior to the incident. Sensitivity in the glans is back, my normal flaccid length is returning to what it was before the incident as well. I feel as if though not everything is back to 100% pre-incident, as I imagine that I am still healing, but I'm just happy to be able to feel things alive again.
I haven't masturbated since I stopped, as I just want to focus on giving myself time to heal. I definitely don't want this to come off as some "anti-PE" post, because it's definitely not. This was about poor technique and protocol on my part. I just wanted to put this out there, because finding this thread, definitely gave me a lot of insight and helped me focus my energies during healing. So I wanted to make sure that I didn't just take, but also give.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know. I know that some of you have been dealing with this for months and years, and that my case is probably minor compared to many of you, but I'm hoping that something I said might be useful to you. I hope that I can keep recovering and I wish the same for anyone going through this.
Thanks all and be well.
I'm posting my recovery story here in this thread, because I don't think there is a more recently commented one on the the topic of LF and this thread definitely provided me with a lot of insight during my own struggle with LF. I didn't really document journal style what I was going through, so my apologies if things seem out of order or written haphazardly. I just wanted to share what happened to me, in case someone may find it useful.
Backstory:
I'm 38 years old, athletic, would surely be classified as "fit". My penis is about 8" long, 6" girth, circumcised. Around the middle to the end of June or so, I was engaged in a clamping & edging session (5 mins on, 5 mins off, porn stimulus) and admittedly, I believe that the pressure applied during this session was most likely too much, so user error for sure, no denying that. At one point during the session, I went from being solidly erect to completely flaccid, in probably under 10 seconds or so. Startled, I removed the clamp, took a time out, gave myself some time to recoup and then I decided to test the waters to see if I could get erect again, as I was definitely paranoid that I had caused major damage. I was able to get erect and decided to masturbate to orgasm in order to determine how everything was functioning. Here's what I recall:
1. I immediately noticed decreased sensitivity in my penis upon touch, in particular, the glans.
2. I was able to get erect, but my penis didn't feel as "solid" as it normally would be. It felt somewhat rubbery, fluffy.
3. During masturbation, it felt as if though my penis was somewhat disconnected/disjointed from my body. This is a tough sensation to describe, but it's almost as if though it was in limbo - like 75% connected to my body, but 25% off somewhere else.
4. The pleasure response derived during masturbation felt "muted", that is, it felt like I had to work a lot harder to get and pleasure from rubbing, sliding, jerking, etc.
5. Upon ejaculation, the pleasure sensation was extremely diminished/muted. I was able to cum, but it didn't "feel" right. It felt like I was receiving 50% less pleasure (if not more) from ejaculation.
6. The ejaculation itself was very weak, as in, the ejaculate dribbled out, as opposed to forcefully shooting out. I was never one who went for distance to begin with, but this was definitely abnormal.
After all this, I cleaned up, tended to my penis with a warm towel compress and decided to just calm down. Later on, when I went to pee:
7. I found that my penis was hanging lower than it usually does. I'm typically a grower, not a shower, so this was of note.
8. I found that I was unable to intensify the force of my urine stream, like I usually could. It was a mild increase in force, 10-20% if that. Whereas before, I would be able to visibly, see and feel a difference.
9. My kegels were incredibly weak. Normally, I would be able to see my penis pumping at the base when flaccid and could get my penis to swing after enough kegels. I was unable to make that happen as I usually could.
10. Oddly enough, my sneezes and my coughs felt weird. Usually when I sneezed or coughed, I could feel my pelvic muscles contract, but at this point, my sneezes and coughs felt "weak".
After all this, for about a week I decided give myself a rest and stop masturbating and stopped watching porn. I had decided to masturbate about a week or so later, and still experienced the same symptoms. I had intercourse several times after that, about a week or two after and the symptoms were still there. This was particularly distressing as without that final "push" or "oomph" of the ejaculatory response upon climax, finishing with a partner was most definitely not the same.
All the while, I had been doing my online research and I came across this thread via Reddit. After reading through everything, I was feeling relieved that I was actually able to find some info on what was going on, but I still didn't have a full course of action laid out. I had considered looking for a pelvic floor specialist, revisiting my urologist, etc. I decided that while I searched for a urologist and/or pelvic floor specialist that would have this kind of special knowledge, I would focus on the things I could control, i.e., exercise, rest, diet, etc. That being said, this is what I did, in no special order. Again, my apologies for the haphazard report.
Time period covers the beginning of July till now:
- I ceased all masturbation and porn watching (haven't masturbated for close to a month now)
- I practiced Yoga via my P90X video at least once a week - with a particular focus on the "Happy Baby", "Cobra" and "Frog" stretches
- I soaked in 2 epsom salt baths, during which, I gave myself an anal massage - Of special note here, is that I noticed that this also felt odd. I've given myself an anal massage prior to my injury and at that time, there was a clenching of the anal sphincter that wasn't there this time. I also massaged my perineum while in the bath.
- I regularly took (and still take) the following supplements
L-Arginine
L-Citrulline
Zinc
Mens Multivitamin
Ashwagandha
Vitamin B-12
- I did kegels/reverse kegels daily, and routinely noticed that reverse kegels felt "odd", as if though my pelvic floor wasn't "expanding" as it should.
- I took Psilocybin twice during this time period, and gave myself an anal massage both times. This is of note for me, as Psilocybin tends to generate activity and sensations in my pelvic area. Not saying this is a thing for everyone, but just for me historically.
- Maintained a relatively healthy diet and workout routine.
- Continued to moisturize my penis with Shea Butter
- Being circumcised, I have a silicone cap that I routinely wear on my penis. To apply, I tuck my penis in to the remaining foreskin and put the cap over it. I believe it's similar in function to the "Manhood" penis sheath, of which I also own, but haven't used since implementing the silicone sleeve.
- Improved my sleep schedule
- Throttled down on sexual activity
* I will update this if anything else comes to mind*
As of 2 weeks ago, I was still having the same issues as if though it were day one. Kegels were still weak, although, after doing a significant number of them, my penis would temporarily get to a point where it was able to "jump" a bit more (flaccid), but not like it used. I could still make it jump while erect, but that was also significantly weaker.
Then about a little over a week ago, I started to feel little pulses/vibrations in my perineum. They weren't like electric shocks, not quite full on muscle spasms, but definitely sensations of note. The initial pulses were immediately followed by, what I can only describe as an "ahhhhh" feeling, because at that moment, I feel like I was able to legitimately FEEL my pelvic muscles being reactivated. So I ran to the bathroom to pee, cause I wanted to see what kegels would look like and immediately, I noticed that my initial "pump" was significantly stronger than it had been since the incident. I was able to increase the intensity of my urine stream and my cough returned to normal.
Last week Friday was the first time I had intercourse since feeling my those pulses/vibrations and I have definitely noticed that my penis and ejaculatory performance is getting back to what it once was prior to the incident. Sensitivity in the glans is back, my normal flaccid length is returning to what it was before the incident as well. I feel as if though not everything is back to 100% pre-incident, as I imagine that I am still healing, but I'm just happy to be able to feel things alive again.
I haven't masturbated since I stopped, as I just want to focus on giving myself time to heal. I definitely don't want this to come off as some "anti-PE" post, because it's definitely not. This was about poor technique and protocol on my part. I just wanted to put this out there, because finding this thread, definitely gave me a lot of insight and helped me focus my energies during healing. So I wanted to make sure that I didn't just take, but also give.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know. I know that some of you have been dealing with this for months and years, and that my case is probably minor compared to many of you, but I'm hoping that something I said might be useful to you. I hope that I can keep recovering and I wish the same for anyone going through this.
Thanks all and be well.
