3 Hidden Causes Of Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile Dysfunction is no laughing matter. It can hit any man, of any age, but of course, is much more prevalent among older men. 

Once you hit forty, you’re increasingly likely to suffer from ED. It’s important to understand, however, that not every case of sexual dysfunction is an ED problem. 

Sooner or later, every man faces the occasional performance problem. When it

happens, you’re going to feel bad about it. 

You’re going to feel like a failure, and let’s face it, like less of a man, but unless it’s happening consistently and over a period of time, it’s not ED.

Here are some of the more common causes of erectile dysfunction:

Diet, Exercise, and Lifestyle

The sad truth is that in a significant number of cases, erectile dysfunction is a condition we bring upon ourselves. 

Even when these things aren’t the outright cause of ED, they’re almost certain to be contributing factors that make your condition worse. 

This is a big, expansive category that covers a lot of ground, but in a nutshell, here’s what you need to know.

Eating lots of leafy greens, whole grains, oysters, watermelon, and blueberries (most any fruit will work, really) will help you give your body all that it needs to improve the quality of your erections, while cutting out processed foods, cigarettes and alcohol will provide further benefits. 

Add in a healthy dose of exercise at least three times per week, and you’re well on your way t

o better sexual health!

The Meds You Take

You’ve almost certainly seen various medications advertised on TV. The funny part about those ads is that they spend almost as much time talking about the side effects of their latest “wonder drugs” as they do about its supposed benefits. 

Unfortunately, many of the drugs on the market today that are designed to treat various conditions, have side effects that include the degradation of male sexual performance. The most common of these are blood pressure medications, but there are many others. 

The good news is that in many cases, there are often (but not always) alternatives to the meds with these side effects. If that’s the case, your doctor can prescribe you an alternative to help alleviate the problem.

Your Big Brain Working Against Your Little Brain

Many of the causes of erectile dysfunction are actually psychological. Understand that this is not the same as saying that it’s all in your head, because it’s not. 

Psychological issues can easily lead to a variety of very real physical ailments. If that surprises you, it shouldn’t. 

Stress can lead to heart disease, so why can’t other psychological issues lead to ED? It’s a pretty common, fairly well understood phenomenon.

Stress is, in fact, one of the leading causes of ED, which makes it a particularly nasty condition (because it also can lead to heart troubles, so it hits you twice). 

Long before stress kills you though, it will impact your sex life in a major, and entirely negative way.

Our modern society is filled to the point of overflowing with stress triggers. We work too many hours. We don’t take enough vacations, and even when we do, we tend to bring our work with us, thanks to the advent of the smart phone, which is both a blessing and a curse. 

Yes, it lets us keep in touch with friends and families no matter where we are in the world, but it also means that we have the tendency to never unplug. We need that. We need time to decompress and relax. Sure, you can run at top speed for a while, but if you do it too long, you’ll burn yourself out. 

If you keep going much beyond that, your problems will only worsen with time. Why would you want to do that to yourself? It simply makes no sense.

Depression

Depression is another common cause of ED, and let’s face it. When you’re depressed, sex is about the last thing you’re thinking of. 

Stress is a particularly nasty cause of ED, because most of the antidepressant medicines available only make ED worse.

Depression is insidious on another front as well, because it’s easy to get caught in a negative, self-reinforcing feedback loop trap. 

What we mean by that is that when you’re depressed, your self-esteem is (by definition) low. If you try to have sex, your low self-esteem may lead to performance issues. Then, when you fail to perform, sexually, it lowers your self-esteem further, which makes future sexual performance issues even more likely. 

Once you’re caught in that trap, it can be notoriously difficult to get out of it.

One thing you’ll note that isn’t on the list is "performance anxiety." That’s because while performance anxiety can lead to a lack of sexual performance in certain specific situations, these are generally isolated, one-off events. 

The risk, however, is that a failure to perform sexually can sometimes lead to depression, which can cause ED.

Are The Meds You Take Harming Your Erections? 

There are a stunning variety of things that can cause or worsen erectile dysfunction (ED).  Some are psychological.  Others are diet or lifestyle choices.  

Others still though, are medicines your doctor may have prescribed to you in order to treat other health conditions you may have.  Some of them are pretty well known and understood, but some of the things on this list might surprise you.  

Read on, and if you see anything on this list that you’re currently taking, consult your doctor to see if there might be an alternative that might accomplish the same goal, but without the ED-related side-effects.

Blood Pressure Medications

This is the big one.  If you have high blood pressure, which is quite common among people with CAD (Coronary Artery Disease), then you’re almost certainly on some kind of blood pressure medication.  

The problem with these medications is that they work perhaps a bit too well.  As your blood pressure drops, it becomes correspondingly more difficult to get and maintain an erection.  

If you had ED before you started taking blood pressure meds, they will almost certainly make matters worse.  If you didn’t have ED before, they can often cause the condition to develop.  Fortunately there are (a few) alternatives you may be able to try.

Antidepressants

There are more than a dozen antidepressants that can cause or worsen erectile dysfunction.  This can be a tricky issue to resolve, because depression itself can cause the condition, and the drugs they give you for it can make it worse.  

Talk to your doctor.  There may be an alternative you can try, but the best bet would be to find a way to treat your depression that doesn’t call for a prescription.  

Of course, this is not always possible.  In any case, don’t just stop taking your medication.  Always seek the advice of a medical professional.

Antihistamines

Allergies are no fun.  They can make life pure misery.  Of course, an inability to have sex can also make your life pretty miserable, so again, this one is something of a two-edged sword.  

Fortunately, there are lots of pretty effective ways to mitigate, or even eliminate allergy symptoms, so this may be something you can cure naturally and slowly wean yourself off of your allergy medicine.  

Honey, from a local source near where you live, for instance, is a great way boost allergy immunity. Note that honey does carry some health risks for young children, so again, this is not a decision you want to make on your own and without a consultation from your doctor.

Non-Steroidal, Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Pain killers like Naproxen and Indocin can often make ED worse.  These drugs will seldom actually cause the condition, but if you’ve already got it, you’ll notice a big difference when taking them.  

Note that muscle relaxants like Flexeril and Norflex are also big contributors, but in these cases, they can actually cause erectile dysfunction in some men.

Antiarrythmics

If you take a drug called Disopyramide (also known as Norpace), it could make your ED worse, and can, in some cases, cause it.

Histamine H2 Receptor Antagonists

These are medicines like Tagamet, Axid, and Zantac. If you take any of these for stomach or digestive issues, they could worsen your ED.  These medications will seldom actually cause the condition, however.

Medications For the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Almost all of the major medications currently in use to treat Parkinson’s Disease, including Biperiden, Benztropine, Trihexyphenidyl, Procyclidine, Bromocriptine, Levodopa, and their generic equivalents can frequently cause erectile dysfunction.  

There are few alternatives here, so in these cases, you may be forced to take ED medications to help offset the effects of these drugs on your sexual performance but again, always check with your doctor before making any decisions about that.  

The pace of advancement in the medical industry is blinding, and there may be some new or emerging treatment options available.

Prostate Cancer Medications

If you take Flutamide, Eulexin, Leuprolide, or Lupron, you’re probably going to notice problems with your sexual performance.  If you had ED before taking these, it will almost certainly worsen the condition.  

Note that this is also true of chemotherapy drugs like Busulfan, Myleran, Cyclophosphamide, and Cytoxan.  These drugs are absolutely critical to your health, however, so it’s unlikely that you’ll have many options here, save for seeing if your doctor can recommend an ED medication in addition to these.

As you can see, the sad reality is that there are numerous drugs for serious medical conditions that either contribute to the worsening of ED, or that can cause it outright.  

The good news is that there are, at least in many cases, alternatives your doctor can prescribe.  In cases like these though, never make any changes to your prescriptions without first consulting with your doctor.