Sexual performance after removing 1 kidney

Options
Mackey
Mackey Member Posts: 5
in Kidney Cancer #1

HI,

 

This is a very personal topic for me and difficult to talk about. I am a 54 year old man in decent shape and 90 deys ago had my left kidney removed with a large tumor.

Now I find my self having sexual performance issues.

Difficulty keeping an errection and taking longer or inabilty to climax.

Can anyone shed some light on this and what can be done ?

Comments

  • APny
    APny Member Posts: 1,995 Member
    #2
    Options
    Not a man but the way I saee

    Not a man but the way I saee it is that your body went through major trauma. Give it time to recover. It's basically assault even though you weren't conscious through it. Think of what they do to all your organs, flinging them here and there while they do the surgery. It's not surprising that it's taking a while to recover from it.

  • DreamOnDeb
    DreamOnDeb Member Posts: 112
    #3
    Options
    I found this online:

    I found this online:

    Men who have a radical nephrectomy (complete kidney removal) are about 3.5 times more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) than men who undergo partial nephrectomy (partial kidney removal), according to American researchers.

    The retrospective study, published online in July in the British Journal of Urology International, followed two groups of men who had surgery for renal tumors between January 1998 and December 2007.

    A total of 432 men participated in the study. One group of 264 men had a radical nephrectomy; the remaining 168 men had a partial nephrectomy. The two groups had similar demographics and comorbidities. The mean age of the men was 58 years.

    Before and after each surgery, the researchers used the International Index of Erectile Function, a self-reported questionnaire, to assess the men’s erectile function. The men’s progress was followed for at least six months, with a mean of 5.8 years.

    Almost 30% of the men who had a radical nephrectomy developed de novo cases of ED. About 10% of the men who had a partial nephrectomy developed new cases of ED after the surgery.

    Phosphodiesterase inhibitors, oral medications commonly prescribed for ED, helped 63% of the men who developed ED, regardless of the type of surgery they had.

    In a press release, senior author Dr. Ithaar Derweesh said, “This is the first study in medical literature to suggest that surgery for kidney removal can negatively impact erectile function while partial kidney removal can protect sexual function.” Dr. Derweesh is an associate professor of surgery at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and a urologic surgeon at UC San Diego Health System.

    His colleague, lead author Ryan Kopp, MD added, “The primary argument for kidney-sparing surgery over total kidney removal has been to preserve the kidney filtration function. However, we are also beginning to understand that total kidney removal may also increase the risk of metabolic diseases and significantly decrease quality of life.” Dr. Kopp is the chief resident of the Division of Urology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

    Researchers were affiliated with the University of California San Diego Medical Center, Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.

  • Mackey
    Mackey Member Posts: 5
    #4
    Options
    DreamOnDeb said:

    I found this online:

    I found this online:

    Men who have a radical nephrectomy (complete kidney removal) are about 3.5 times more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) than men who undergo partial nephrectomy (partial kidney removal), according to American researchers.

    The retrospective study, published online in July in the British Journal of Urology International, followed two groups of men who had surgery for renal tumors between January 1998 and December 2007.

    A total of 432 men participated in the study. One group of 264 men had a radical nephrectomy; the remaining 168 men had a partial nephrectomy. The two groups had similar demographics and comorbidities. The mean age of the men was 58 years.

    Before and after each surgery, the researchers used the International Index of Erectile Function, a self-reported questionnaire, to assess the men’s erectile function. The men’s progress was followed for at least six months, with a mean of 5.8 years.

    Almost 30% of the men who had a radical nephrectomy developed de novo cases of ED. About 10% of the men who had a partial nephrectomy developed new cases of ED after the surgery.

    Phosphodiesterase inhibitors, oral medications commonly prescribed for ED, helped 63% of the men who developed ED, regardless of the type of surgery they had.

    In a press release, senior author Dr. Ithaar Derweesh said, “This is the first study in medical literature to suggest that surgery for kidney removal can negatively impact erectile function while partial kidney removal can protect sexual function.” Dr. Derweesh is an associate professor of surgery at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and a urologic surgeon at UC San Diego Health System.

    His colleague, lead author Ryan Kopp, MD added, “The primary argument for kidney-sparing surgery over total kidney removal has been to preserve the kidney filtration function. However, we are also beginning to understand that total kidney removal may also increase the risk of metabolic diseases and significantly decrease quality of life.” Dr. Kopp is the chief resident of the Division of Urology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

    Researchers were affiliated with the University of California San Diego Medical Center, Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.

    Thank you and I saw this

    Thank you and I saw this article online but still have one good functioning kidney. 

    I think this article is about men with no kidneys at all, not sure ?

  • APny
    APny Member Posts: 1,995 Member
    #5
    Options
    No, there's nothing in the

    No, there's nothing in the article to indicate that both kidneys were removed.

  • sblairc
    sblairc Member Posts: 585 Member
    #6
    Options
    Make an appointment with a urologist

    I would see one for sure. I know of men that had to take prostate medication afterwards to relax their prostate, for various reasons. It's possible an evaluation can find a solution. Best to you. 

  • Mackey
    Mackey Member Posts: 5
    #7
    Options
    sblairc said:

    Make an appointment with a urologist

    I would see one for sure. I know of men that had to take prostate medication afterwards to relax their prostate, for various reasons. It's possible an evaluation can find a solution. Best to you. 

    Thank you

    Thank you

  • Mackey
    Mackey Member Posts: 5
    #8
    Options
    Thank you

    Thank you

  • CRashster
    CRashster Member Posts: 241 Member
    edited August 2017 #9
    Options
    Flomax

    I'm 52, had mine removed about a year ago. My doc put me on Flomax and that messed things up for a while. Hopefully, it comes back.

  • Jan4you
    Jan4you Member Posts: 1,330 Member
    #10
    Options
    So sorry for what you are

    So sorry for what you are going through. Have you called your doctor about this?

    And often it can be other things, or medications. On any new meds since your surgery?

    Hope you get answers soon! I know this is so important.

    sending you healing hugs,

    Jan

  • Mackey
    Mackey Member Posts: 5
    #11
    Options
    Jan4you said:

    So sorry for what you are

    So sorry for what you are going through. Have you called your doctor about this?

    And often it can be other things, or medications. On any new meds since your surgery?

    Hope you get answers soon! I know this is so important.

    sending you healing hugs,

    Jan

    Yes,  I actually called today

    Yes,  I actually called today and set up an appointment.

    I'm not on any meds.

    On the brightside just got my first post surgery scans back, chest, abdominal and pelvic and no metastatic disease found.

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #12
    Options
    20 years older

    Mackey.

     

    I am 20 years older than you and 15 years post neph. Let me know when you find the majic bullit.

     

     

    Icemantoo

  • Skagway Jack
    Skagway Jack Member Posts: 224 Member
    #13
    Options
    Full Recovery

    Radical nephrectomy recovery time is lot longer than 90 days.  I would say it was almost 2 years until I felt entirely effects free from my nephrectomy. Just takes time, and lots of excersise.

  • Jan4you
    Jan4you Member Posts: 1,330 Member
    #14
    Options
    Glad you got a good report

    Glad you got a good report and no other signs of cancer, YAAAY!!

    Again, we're not doctors, but hopefullyl someone here will come and share their experience. 

    Not everything is related to kidney cancer or surgery but this "trauma" (the surgery" can be the instigator of other issues. At least you already have a urologist as this is his area of expertise.

    Keep us informed as to how you are doing.

    We're here for you!

    Jan

  • todd121
    todd121 Member Posts: 1,448 Member
    #15
    Options
    Unpleasant Side Effects

    It takes a long time to heal. I really think it was a year or more before my body was fully healed. I had all kinds of weird health issues the first year. I had blood pressure issues (where I never had them before the nephrectomy) after the surgery. How's your blood pressure?

    Depression is a very common thing after a cancer diagnosis. Stress. Neither of those is good for this situation.

    Then there's the lovely age aspect...men over 50 have way more problems in this area than younger men.

    Hope you get it tracked down and addressed. Or at least find something that works. I tried one of the drugs marketed for this, but it had a side effect of having a bad headache after taking it. I decided the headache wasn't worth it.

    Agree with others that talking to a urologist would be a good idea.

    Best wishes,

    Todd

     

Discussion Boards