Helped Over 500,000 patients with 98%+ satisfaction.

Connect & Get Personalized 1-to-1 Answers from Expert Doctors

DoctorSpring > Question Home

I have been having trouble achieving and maintaining an erection.

Resolved Question:

Hi, I am a 24 year old white male who is relatively fit and active, former military. I stay up to date on medical checkups and am in "near perfect" health. I have been with the same partner for many years and we have enjoyed an amazing sex life. But, about a month ago I lost my erection during sex(has never happened before). Ever since that particular night, I have been having trouble achieving and maintaining an erection. I used to wake up with an erection(I rarely do anymore) and have zero trouble getting an erection . I have not mentioned this to my doctor but recent blood work did not point to anything that would cause this. I know that stress and anxiety can cause these types of issues, but I can't think of anything in my life that has changed that would cause this. I am just looking for non-generic causes and suggestions for this issue. Thank you.

Category: Sexologist

Ask Your Own Question

Category: Family Physician-GP
 32 Doctors Online

Thank you for asking your query.

I would not call your problem Erectile Dysfunction (even though technically that's the medical term available.). I see at least 10 patients / month with a similar problem in my practice. Young and healthy adult male - all of a sudden having decreased sexual urge and erection. And most of the times there is no precipitating factors. But the good thing is that over a period of time (on average 4-6 weeks) everything comes back to normal without much intervention.

Now the cause for this temporary erectile dysfunction can be broadly classified into organic (associated with your body) and inorganic problems (like anxiety, stress). Since you do not have any physical symptoms of any other illness and the recent blood work being normal, the chance for a organic problem is remote. This could be something to do with your mind (stress, anxiety) or environment (too much work? peer pressure ?). And often there is nothing you can think of. Yes, no identifiable cause. Whatever be the case the key to tide over this phase are the following:

  1. Awareness and Acceptance Know that this a commonly occurring problem, more like passing phase. And there is nothing fundamentally wrong with your body.
  2. Stay active Physically
  3. Take a break Mentally and emotionally
  4. Whatever keeps you cool and relaxed pursue that for some time (even if you are not experiencing any apparent anxiety or stress)
  5. Discuss with your partner Talk your partner. Do not keep this secret and blow it out of proportion. Its important NOT to establish a negative feedback loop. Negative feeback loop occurs when you approach this problem with secrecy and . So each time during sex you will be thinking whether it will go up? and putting your mind through a stress. This acts kind of negative feedback. Once this keep happens a vicious cycle can occur and can act as a negative feedback loop. So the best thing is to be open. You should keep trying. May be should try non penetrative sex – (oral, mutual masturbation etc) for some time and see how it goes.

Hope this helps.

Thank you


Dr. John Monheit
Category: Family Physician-GP
Experience: 
Residecny: North Colorado Family Medicine
Medical School: The Chicago Medical Center
Dr. John Monheit and 4 other Medical Specialists are ready to help you

Users who read this, also read:

Make informed and better medical decisions.

Join the 500,000 people who found a smarter, quicker way to get Answers, Recommendations & Expert Opinions.

Expert Doctors at fingertips

Recommendation on next step. Second-opinion.Multi-specialty.

Save Time

Average time for answers: 6 hours.

Save Money

$35 for typical specialist consult vs. $120 for a local appointment.

Free Follow-ups

Clarify, ask further questions for free in private conversation.

100% Satisfaction

Money back guarantee for the 1st reply. MEDNET Quality Board.

Start My Consultation

CHAT NOW

About DoctorSpring.com

Doctor Spring is a novel online Doctor consultation platform where you can get your medical questions answered by leading Doctors. Just Submit your question and rest assured that you will consult a Doctor easily. Once you submit the question, the Doctor from the concerned specialty will reply within hours. You can always ask more questions or add details with follow-up question options and make it an online doctor chat. You may use this service to consult a specialty or for getting medical second opinion. All paid services come with a MEDNET quality assurance and 100% money back guarantee.

DoctorSpring in news