Training with Viagra and Cialis post prostatectomy. Should I be continuing my training on those meds?

[robcow]

Post-prostatectomy, and I have been on both Viagra and Cialis for the past month and a half. The effect on performance is interesting, and no one at the surgeon’s office seems to know whether it’s a good idea to continue with any training. My heart rate stays pretty much at 130 to 140 the whole time, with the rate rising slightly towards the end. I haven’t had any heart issues, and have ridden outside for over an hour before with no issues. I’ve read that these meds lower heart pressures and apparently blood pressure too, so I can see why they both would be banned substances, But are those two meds potentially going to cause anything that I don’t want to have happen?

Thanks…

[TrekTales]

Viagra and Cialis can affect blood pressure and heart rate, so combining them with intense exercise might be risky. It’s important to consult your doctor to ensure it’s safe to continue your training and to monitor how you feel during exercise.

[robcow]

The funny thing is that not unlike the bone doc for my hip replacement, the urologist is more into old men, like older than me.

The orthopedist said that they usually have men who’s only exercise is getting up to change a diaper or change the channel. With the urologist, it’s kind of the same thing, but there are more ‘younger’ men coming in with prostate issues supposedly.

So ‘Should I be training on those’ is likely to get the same blank look I got when he said You can continue riding’ and I said ‘At the level I was pre-op?’ and he paused for a second and said ‘Yep. No problems’.

The only surgeon that knew what I was doing pre-op was the ortho doc who I swear checked out my Strava account…

So I’m trying to decide if it’s the meds, my time off, my age, or what…

[Graybeard]

I would talk to an internal medicine physician. I would explain to them what type of riding you do so no one assumes that you just want to go ride around the block at a cadence of 40. Before one of my operations I told the surgeon about how I do VO2max workouts so she would know the kind of workouts I was thinking about.

[The_Conductor]

Are you taking this as needed for sex or on a three-time daily schedule? If the former, the duration of action for blood pressure is <8 hours and the peak is 1-2 hours after taking the med. Consequently, if you’re using it in the evening, by the time you wake up, you won’t have any untoward effects on your exercise performance. If you take it prior to exercise, there are some data to suggest that you may augment performance, though this is limited to high-altitude/hypoxemic settings or to patients whose hemodynamics are altered in some way.

[robcow]

@Graybeard

I told the surgeon about how I do VO2max workouts so she would know the kind of workouts I was thinking about.

And I and my wife explained the riding I do, and it’s possible he misunderstood, hard to say. This is my ride just last night compared to the same routine I did September last year. And AI FTP dropped my FTP from 199 to 196.

I take those at night, BTW…

@The_Conductor

Are you taking this as needed for sex

It’s for ‘penial rehab’ for post-op ED. (80%+ recover?) I was told a lot of things to expect post-op, and most of it hasn’t happened. Sex is a zero, ED seems to be the thing mostly. Mild urinary incontinence too. It’s a brutal surgery, and I keep thinking it could be worse, but am grateful that so far I haven’t had any major complications. (I do think it’s funny to have ‘numb junk’ and still have ED)

But comparing the two rides quoted above, the heart rate is similar, but the health status is quite different. I’m one of those that over analyzes things, so trying not to do that in this whole experience. Hoping I don’t have to give up cycling, hoping I can ‘build back better’… (How can I ride farther with lower power on the same ‘course’)

As to the medical experience, it’s been interesting. The hip replacement, because of my ‘fitness’, and need for endorphins driving me to ride sooner, and the surgeon being rather uninformed on ‘athletes’ and recovery (mainly because of his older normal clientele I’d imagine). He once said that he ‘learned a lot’ though my ‘experience’. I recovered faster than he thought, and, he said, came back stronger too. (It’s like physicians and nutrition, they often are rather clueless) and on this latest excursion to the OR, the surgeon seemed rather clueless, once equating his ‘beach cruiser’ to what I’m doing. Yeah, no? But this all could just take time, and I’m being impatient… But the meds have me concerned.

So once again, I feel lost to a disconcerting degree. Being honest here. Trying to avoid being depressed too. Getting old isn’t for sissies, for sure.

[jfranci3]

You’re not wearing your HRM during special time and comparing your HR during other special times are you? That wouldn’t be normal.

Those drugs were originally intended to be a blood pressure medication. IIRC they work by dilating the arteries. You can probably look up concerns about exercising on any vasodilator. In general, you’re probably going to go.

[robcow]

@jfranci3

probably going to go

Good to go? Well, I’m not dead yet…

[jpolchlopek]

It’s definitely harder

[robcow]

Well, it seems that using these drugs for workouts is becoming more common but there are some side effects, according to this article in Men’s Health.

side effects include “headaches, abnormal heart rates, and even heart attack from decreased blood flow/pressure. And increased nasal congestion.

And according to that oracle of wisdom, WebMD, exercise is better than Viagra!

And the Cleveland Clinic says:

Researchers found that cyclists taking sildenafil, the medicine marketed as Viagra, improved cardiac output and exercise performance at higher altitudes. Another study focused on Mount Everest trekkers showed that sildenafil increased exercise capacity at high altitudes.

And the National Institute of Health says that physical activity can work better than Viagra to fight ED.

Recommendations of PA to decrease ED should include supervised training consisting of 40 minutes of aerobic exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity 4 times per week. Overall, weekly exercise of 160 minutes for 6 months contributes to decreasing erectile problems in men with ED caused by physical inactivity, obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and/or cardiovascular diseases.

So I guess using it isn’t going to kill me and I will have to evaluate whether it’s worth it to continue on this type of rehab. (My idiot brother, Ford love him, says ‘all you need is a bunch of porn, a handful of Viagra, and a couple nights in a hotel’ . (And family wonder why he’s still single? )) If it’s nerve damage, post-op, I don’t know what the use is for the meds.

I’ll leave this for posterity, in case it might help others in the future…