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Email a friendDrug May Provoke Painful Nighttime Erections
Newspaper Columns, Pharmacy Q&A August 13, 2007
Q. During sleep I am awakened five or six times a night by erections. I'm 53 years old and take Flomax, venlafaxine, fosinopril, trazodone and vitamin B12. Can any of these medications cause this problem?
A. Men frequently experience erections during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This is normally when dreams occur. The erections have nothing to do with the content of the dreams but are a physiological reaction to this stage of sleep.
The antidepressant trazodone (Desyrel) has been linked to prolonged painful erections (priapism). This can occur during sleep or even during the daytime.
Flomax can also trigger this reaction. Both drugs together might make matters worse. A prolonged erection can be damaging and requires medical intervention.
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon holds a doctorate in medical anthropology and is a nutrition expert. Their syndicated radio show can be heard on public radio. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
© 2007 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Reader Comments
I read the above article, concerning waking up 4 or 5 x's a night with erections, with keen interest. I am 67 yrs old, and I can't remember when I experienced even having a
erection--it's been so long!
Good luck to the chap, for he does not realize how lucky
he--as well his wife--is, to experience such a problem.
Posted by: ZANE NEILSEN | August 18, 2007 10:12 AM
My partner and I are pretty tired of the comments... "Consider yourselves lucky". These erections are not enjoyable, and in fact my partner descibes them as very "uncomfortable".
Posted by: Elaine | August 24, 2007 8:17 PM
Hi I'm 38 years young and have been woken every singl night for the last two years at least once or mainly twice but sometimes four or five times by a painful erection and you are right there is nothing lucky about it!
I've had a cystocopy and urodynamics testing aswell as ultrasound scans because origionaly we thought it was connected to an infection but its not. The research ive done on the internet tells me that "night time recurrent priapsm" is rare and a lot of blokes are too embarrassed to see a doctor so there isn't too much research into it. Anyway I'm waiting to see an erection specialist at the urology clinic at the hospital so ill keep you posted.
One thing I've heard tells me that as a cyclist I could have damaged my superficial dorsal vien (between the scrotum and rectum) and it can be fixed with a stent but it carries a risk of impotency but I'm told that over time these painful erections will lead to impotency anyway because the extra hardness is damaging the blood vessels. A bit of a catch 22.
It would be interesting to hear from some more fellas out there who are going through this or indeed who have been through it and have been sorted out.
cheers and best regards from Ian in Leeds.
Posted by: I.P. | September 1, 2007 5:52 PM