In this episode of the Sexual Health for Men podcast, Dr. Anne Truong explains why only about 70% of men experience a successful erection with PDE5 inhibitors such as Viagra or Cialis. She argues that the medication acts as a temporary band‑aid when the underlying causes of erectile dysfunction (ED) are not addressed. Dr. Truong outlines the primary physiological and psychological contributors to ED—poor blood flow (high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity), nerve damage (diabetes, spinal injury, back pain), hormonal deficits (low testosterone), and mental factors (trauma, anxiety, depression). Lifestyle factors—smoking, excessive alcohol, porn consumption, poor sleep, and obesity—are also highlighted. She stresses the importance of proper diagnosis through comprehensive blood work (CBC, CMP, fasting glucose, HbA1c, total and free testosterone, SHBG) before starting treatment. Practical tips for medication use (empty stomach, morning dosing) are given. The episode then moves to non‑pharmacologic interventions: Mediterranean diet, regular aerobic exercise, adequate sleep, and cessation of smoking/alcohol/porn. Dr. Truong promotes two paid pathways for men ready to invest: the in‑office "Get Hard Protocol" (stem cells, shockwave, Botox, hormone therapy, lifestyle coaching) and the online "Modern Man Club/NoEDMan.com" community offering coaching, diet plans, and a 90‑day ED reversal roadmap. Throughout, she frames ED as a medical condition comparable to hypertension or diabetes, urging men to seek professional evaluation rather than self‑diagnosing.
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Popping an ED pill and hoping it works. Guys ask me this constantly. Doc, my medication is hit or miss.
Why?
Here's the truth. Only 70% of men actually respond to ED medication. The rest aren't broken. They're using a Band-Aid instead of fixing the actual cause. Today, I'm breaking down exactly why and what to do instead.
This podcast is for you, the modern man. I'm Dr. Anne Truong, your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor and bestselling author of the book Erectile Dysfunction Fix. I'll do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get started and be sure to visit my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and resources from the show. See you on the inside.
If I'm taking ED meds and hit or miss, what's the next step? That's a great, great question. If you're a man, you have ED, most likely first thing you're going to take is ED medications such as Viagra or Cialis. Most of you guys end up taking it without even knowing why you have ED or even blood work. For that matter, no blood work and just say, "Wow, you have ED here to bed." Well, that's the last thing you want to do, right? Because you want to kind of find out why you have ED so you can fix the root cause of why you have it instead of just popping a pill at this point. And so, if you are popping a pill and it's hit or miss, remember only 70% of men with ED respond to the medication. Period. Why? It's because. It's due to the cause of why you have ED. So if you don't treat the cause and you just take a medication, it's like a Band-Aid on a problem and it doesn't address the reason why you have ED in the first place. It just put a Band-Aid on and yeah, you may have erection. Yeah, I mean, 30% doesn't respond, but the 70% that does have erection is temporary and it's going to fade out over time. What if everything you've been told about fixing performance issues, it's backward? No pills, no surgery, just a medically proven path to getting your confidence and edge back for good. Discover what thousands of men are doing inside the private brotherhood of the Modern Man Club. Go to NoEDMan.com. I'll see you there. So sometimes you hit or miss it because you're not addressing the root cause of ED. Oftentimes, root cause of ED is due to poor blood flow or nerve damage, hormone problem, or psychological. Those are the main causes. And poor blood flow is due to high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity. Those are poor blood flow. Hormones are due to low testosterone. Nerve damage, it could be from diabetes or even nerve damage from back pain or nerve damage from Spinal cord injury. And then the psychological component, it's a small percentage of all ED, about 10%, is either due to trauma, depression, anxiety. So you have hit or miss. So you have to know that the reason why it's hit or miss, because you're not addressing the root cause of your ED. And that's the reason why it's hit or miss. And that if you are taking the medication, are you taking it on an empty stomach? You should take it on an empty stomach. And also because the absorption depends on The food that you eat. And most of the time, men have a higher testosterone level in the morning than it is at night. Sometimes taking it in the morning may be beneficial. And so is it hit or miss? There's likely a psychological as well as a physical component related to your ED. And it's a miss because maybe your ED is due to low testosterone. Maybe your ED is also from psychological. Maybe your ED is also due to nerve damage. Maybe you have ED for a period of time and now you start having scar tissue in your penis and it's unable to expand and engorge with blood to have an erection. So it's most likely because there's a cause that is not responding to the medication. Cialis or Viagra, what it does is that it increases nitric oxide in the penis. And that's what helps with the erection. But if your nitric oxide enzyme is depleted or not working, then that's not going to work. Or if you have scar tissue in the penis and it's not allowing you to expand, the medication is not going to work. Or if you have nerve damage, not going to work. Or if you have low testosterone, then it's not going to work as well. If you have diabetes and it's causing inflammation in the muscle and the nerve, that's not going to work. So the short answer to your question, if you have hit or miss from the medication, is because you're not addressing all the root causes of ED, and maybe it's from your diabetes. And addressing the cause of diabetes is mainly diet and exercise. If you have adult onset diabetes, it is reversible with diet and exercise. This is adult onset, when you start acquiring diabetes when you're an adult, and not because you don't make insulin, which is onset more when you're a child. Quick note before we go any further. If you're a high-income man, usually the age between 45 to 85, and you're ready to invest to fix your ED without relying on pills or surgery, I have the Get Hard Protocol, an in-office program where we treat you in Virginia. We combine stem cells, shockwave, Botox, hormones, and lifestyle to help restore natural erection. It's not for everyone. You must be able to travel to Virginia and be comfortable investing around $16,000 for your health. If that's you, pause this video for a moment, click the link down below in the description that says Get ED Breakthrough with Dr. Anne and complete the application. If you're not in that position yet, No problem. Keep enjoying this video and check out our Modern Man Club at NoEDMan.com. And most of the time, one of the most common cause of ED, believe it or not, is smoking and alcohol. More lifestyle, smoking, alcohol. So you have to kind of moderate your alcohol content or stop smoking. And also porn. Watching porn affects your arousal in your brain, and that will affect your erection as well. So the bottom line is that it's hit or miss because you're just putting a bandaid with the medication. You're not addressing the root cause of why you have ED. Only 70% of men respond to the medication. The other 30% don't. And there are causes of ED, mainly poor blood flow, nerve damage, hormone, and psychological, the main group right there. And the other one is poor lifestyle, which is you smoke, you vape, you do porn, and also inadequate sleep. If you're not sleeping at least 7 hours a night, So those are the other causes, the reason why medication is hit or miss for you. My recommendation, of course, you have to know that this is educational only. And my recommendation in that scenario when you have hit or miss is number one, go get blood work done with your doctor. If you have ED, guys, listen, you have ED, go get blood work done. Don't try to figure it out yourself. You have ED, it's like having a heart attack. Would you Google?
No.
I know this is a personal thing. I know this could be embarrassing. I know it's uncomfortable, but ED is a medical condition. It's no different than high blood pressure, no different than diabetes, no different than high cholesterol. Go see the doctor. Even if you see your primary care and that person is not a specialist in ED, it's okay. Get your blood work done. Getting a CBC or complete blood count, called chemistry 14, which is looking at your kidneys, your liver, your blood sugar. Fastened blood. And also you want to get your testosterone levels checked, your total testosterone, your free testosterone, and hormone-binding globulin, SHBG. And you want to get that measured. You want to get blood work, find out maybe you have diabetes, maybe you have high cholesterol, maybe you have inflammation as well. And also you have low testosterone. So you will get answers from doing the blood work. I can't tell you how many times I see patients in the office. For ED, and I diagnose them with having diabetes at the same time. Because you don't do blood work, you may not know what your fasting blood sugar is or your hemoglobin A1c is. Okay? So number one, to get your blood work done, find out how things are. Number two, if you're smoking, stop. You're watching porn, stop. You're vaping with nicotine, stop that as well. And evaluate your sleep schedule. You're sleeping 7 hours at nighttime between 10 PM to 6 AM. And then also look at your weight. What is your weight? If your weight If over a BMI of 30, then you probably need to look at losing some of that weight by getting on the Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean diet helps with increasing better blood flow, and it also decreases inflammation. And then adding exercise, such as like walking 30 minutes every other day or 150 minutes a week, is good for your erection, good for your heart. Doesn't have to join a gym or anything, just move. So studies have shown that diet and exercise So those are the steps you should be doing before you pop an ED pill. So you can get the Mediterranean diet, go to eat4noed.com, get the Mediterranean diet. And if you have ED, don't suffer in silence. Don't try and figure it out yourself. Join our Mighty Man Club. They will give you a roadmap to get out of ED within 90 days, period. You are in a supportive community. You have access to me and to my coaches. And I'm going to add one more thing. Everything that you need as support to get out of ED on your own. I truly believe that if you have ED, you can really get yourself out of ED by doing a lot of the stuff at home as well. Probably maybe ED less than 5 years. The earlier you start, the better it's going to be reversed. You don't want to wait until you have a heart attack and a stroke, then try to work on your ED. All right. You want to start early and you want to start when you're even taking medication. The point that I want to make is If you have ED, do not suffer in silence. 50% of men over 50 have ED. If you're over 50, 50% of your pals have ED. I don't care what they say. Don't take a medication. You can reverse it if you start early. You start early, you can reverse it. And sometimes it's as simple as moving a little more and you could definitely reverse it. Don't wait until ED medication doesn't work anymore because when that happens, The damage is a lot, and that's when you're gonna need a lot more to work on. And if you want to get out of ED quicker with a quicker boost with using the latest technology, that's when you come to my office for treatment. However, if you start early, I believe that with the Modern Man Club, you can restore your erection again. Okay, modern man, if you're struggling with weak erection, low energy, the food you eat Could be the big part of the problem. One of the best research-backed ways to boost circulation, support healthy testosterone, and improve sexual performance is the Mediterranean diet. It's packed with food that open up your blood vessel, lower inflammation, and fuel your hormone naturally. I've seen men notice real improvement in both energy and erection within weeks when they shift To this style of eating. So check out the Mediterranean diet link right here below and get that as soon as you can. Stronger testosterone and better erection.
Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever you post. And be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode. And what you'd like to hear in the future. That will help me know what's great for you, and I would love to give you the most incredible free gift designed to help you improve performance quickly. Go to my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com to get the book *The Five Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When Facing ED*. I would appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and. Just know that you can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you. Until next time.
