Premature Ejaculation Meds For Treating PE & ED in Men

Premature Ejaculation (PE) is the most common male sexual disorder, which occurs in 4% to 39% of men. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PE is a persistent/recurrent early ejaculation on minimal sexual stimulation. Men with PE ejaculate before or shortly after vaginal penetration. PE sufferers have no good control over their ejaculation, which can leave them and their partner in distress.

Experts say that men with an intra-vaginal ejaculatory latency time, or IELT, of less than a minute are considered to have “definite” premature ejaculation. And men with IELT from 1 to 1.5 minutes have “probable” premature ejaculation, according to NIH. Although the cause of PE in most men is idiopathic, experts believe men with PE have a high degree of sexual anxiety. Some men are believed to have an altered sensitivity to neurotransmitters.

As mentioned earlier, about 4% of men have no control over their ejaculation. They ejaculate very early, which is, during sexual stimulation or soon after penetration. If early ejaculation becomes consistent and distressful, men are diagnosed with premature ejaculation. Thankfully, there are a variety of treatments available for men who are clinically diagnosed with PE. In some men, sex therapy works well.

Fast Facts & Stats on Erectile Dysfunction

• Performance anxiety, emotional issues, and sexual inexperience commonly cause premature ejaculation in men. Men who have not had sex for a while may ejaculate prematurely.
• There are two types of PE. One is “lifelong PE” and the other is 'acquired (secondary) PE.'
• In lifelong PE, men experience it since their first sexual encounter.
• In secondary PE, men may have previous sexual experiences without ejaculatory issues but later they might have developed it.
• PE is an incurable condition, but it can be managed with effective techniques and medications.
• At least 1 in 3 men say they experience PE at some point in their lives.

Potential Causes of PE

Experts have made several attempts to explain the causes of PE, which includes a range of physiological (biological) and psychological factors. Unfortunately, most of the proposed causes are not based on scientific evidence but are speculative. There is little evidence to link between PE and the factors that cause it. However, there is some evidence to suggest that “lifelong PE” is based on genetically-determined physiological variables, and “acquired PE” can be caused by extreme sexual anxiety, erectile dysfunction, or urinary tract infections.

Psychological Hypotheses: Most experts say that PE is more of a psychological problem, which could be due to the effect of sexual inexperience, poor sexual conditioning, anxiety, depression, stress, poor sexual technique, inadequate frequency of sexual activity, and other psychodynamic theories.

Biological Explanations: Physiological causes of PE may include penile oversensitivity, increased sensitivity of certain neurotransmitters and receptors, degree of excitement, poor ejaculatory reflex, and inadequate sex hormones.

Performance Anxiety: This has been considered one of the potential causes of PE. Studies have suggested that anxiety is the reason why the nervous system overreacts, which may eventually reduce the ejaculatory control and threshold, making men ejaculate real soon. Research has shown that the higher the levels of anxiety, poor is the control over ejaculation. Performance anxiety or fear of satisfying a woman may affect arousal and ejaculatory control.

Erectile Dysfunction (ED): Recent studies have demonstrated that more than half of the men with erectile dysfunction also experience premature ejaculation. Men with ED may intentionally ejaculate soon to prevent premature loss of their erection, as they fail to sustain an erection long enough for satisfactory intercourse. Coupled with performance anxiety, ED can make things worse.

Diagnosis of PE

Men can see their primary care physician (PCP) or their urologist if they think they have poor control over their ejaculation. There is no diagnostic tool to diagnose premature ejaculation. A detailed medical history with a physical exam is what a doctor needs to diagnose PE. PCPs or urologists will ask you about how long does it take you to ejaculate and how often it happens. They will also ask you about how much it has been bothering.

Doctors may advise further testing only if they think your problem is due to some underlying medical conditions. PE is diagnosed if:

• you always ejaculate unintentionally within a minute of vaginal penetration
• you have been experiencing this problem for more than six months
• your early ejaculation is very distressing
• there is no other underlying medical problem or cause

Medically, you are not diagnosed with premature ejaculation if it only happens occasionally, and if it happens if you have not had sexual intercourse for a long time. It is considered normal when you become aroused more quickly when you do it for the first time and reach orgasm much faster than expected.

There could be other things that could affect your control over ejaculation, such as prostatitis (prostate inflammation) and urinary troubles. Some men with ED may hurry up and ejaculate due to the fear of losing an erection; in such a case, ED is the main issue.

Treatment of PE

Your doctor may recommend various PE treatment options and the decision will be up to you because getting the condition treated is a personal matter.

Specific Techniques: There are a few special techniques to help you to have good control over your ejaculation. One of the best techniques is the stop-squeeze technique, which includes stopping the intercourse and squeezing the penis just before you feel like ejaculating. You can repeat this technique several times while making love.

Medications: There a variety of oral and topical medications to delay your ejaculation. Topical includes applying numbing agents or anesthetic creams to the penile organ, delaying ejaculation by reducing the sensitivity. Oral medications include antidepressants, such as dapoxetine, duloxetine, and fluoxetine, analgesics, and PDE-5 inhibitors, such as sildenafil, tadalafil, or vardenafil.

Sex Therapy: Specially trained medical providers aim to give men and their partners more confidence through counseling so they can overcome fears of sexual inadequacy. Relationship issues may also be discussed if men ejaculate early during sex.

Others: Indulging in prolonged foreplay, practicing Kegel exercise, wearing a climax-control condom, and masturbating before sex have been found effective at delaying ejaculation in men.