Anne Truong:

This podcast is for you, the Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne

Anne Truong:

Truong, your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor

Anne Truong:

and best selling author of the book, Erectile Dysfunction Fix.

Anne Truong:

I'll do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how

Anne Truong:

it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get

Anne Truong:

started, and be sure to visit my website at

Anne Truong:

sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and

Anne Truong:

resources from the show. See you on the inside.

Anne Truong:

Hello there, Modern Man. In today's episode, we have Ken

Anne Truong:

Schafer, and I'm going to interview him about what it's

Anne Truong:

like to have ED and live with ED, and what's he done about it.

Anne Truong:

Because I want to have real conversation and bringing this

Anne Truong:

out of the closet and discuss this in prime time, because

Anne Truong:

these are real issues that affect a lot of men. 50% of men

Anne Truong:

over 50 have ED, and that's pre covid, and I believe that is a

Anne Truong:

lot more. So this is a very common problem that men have,

Anne Truong:

that I want to reassure him that he's not alone, but there are

Anne Truong:

solutions for ED that you don't have to take that little blue

Anne Truong:

pill. So Ken, welcome to the show.

Ken Schafer:

Happy to be here.

Anne Truong:

Okay, so let me ask you this, what did you first

Anne Truong:

notice something wasn't right about your sex life?

Ken Schafer:

Well, what I first noticed is that my erections in

Ken Schafer:

the morning weren't. I used to have erections in the morning

Ken Schafer:

and they were very sustainable. I didn't have to really try to

Ken Schafer:

keep the erection. And I noticed that they were becoming

Ken Schafer:

unsustainable. And it happened very rapidly. Within a few

Ken Schafer:

weeks, maybe a couple months, I was having trouble getting an

Ken Schafer:

erection at all.

Anne Truong:

How old were you then?

Ken Schafer:

I was 47. Roughly 47.

Anne Truong:

And what occurred in your mind at that time when

Anne Truong:

that happened?

Ken Schafer:

Yeah, well, I couldn't believe it was

Ken Schafer:

happening to me, and I was extremely embarrassed about it.

Ken Schafer:

So this was like nearly, I want to say 15 years ago, if I'm

Ken Schafer:

doing the math right. And I think 15 years ago, there wasn't

Ken Schafer:

as much information out there, and it wasn't as accessible. And

Ken Schafer:

I made the same mistake a lot of guys make. I went to my doctor,

Ken Schafer:

who was a GP, and he referred me to a urologist, and I I made the

Ken Schafer:

mistake of assuming that they knew what they were doing, and

Ken Schafer:

all they did was test my testosterone and throw a Cialis.

Ken Schafer:

At first, it worked great, but then after a while it stopped

Ken Schafer:

working, and that's when I really had to start digging in

Ken Schafer:

to figure things out.

Anne Truong:

Okay, let me ask you this. What did you think at

Anne Truong:

that time, when you first found out, you said it was pretty

Anne Truong:

quick. What did you think was causing under performance? At

Anne Truong:

that time, did you know it was Ed?

Ken Schafer:

I think deep down, I knew it was ED. I wanted to

Ken Schafer:

believe that it was just like a temporary dress or whatever, but

Ken Schafer:

after a while, I began to realize it was ED, and it was a

Ken Schafer:

pretty severe case of ED. So, yeah, I mean, I was in denial

Ken Schafer:

for a while.

Anne Truong:

Okay, like you said, What was the first feeling

Anne Truong:

that you had when you found out they said ED? You said it was a

Anne Truong:

shame. And what else denial? What else?

Ken Schafer:

I was just very ashamed. I didn't realize at

Ken Schafer:

that time how common it was. I thought I was alone. I thought

Ken Schafer:

there were very few. I mean, I knew other guys had ED, but I

Ken Schafer:

thought the numbers were quite small. So I went to the extent

Ken Schafer:

of I created a special Google account to do my research so

Ken Schafer:

that no one would know what was going on. I was being paranoid

Ken Schafer:

about it, but I went to that extreme.

Anne Truong:

Wow, wow. So what were the emotion that you felt

Anne Truong:

that you didn't tell anyone that you were embarrassed about? I

Anne Truong:

mean, did you tell your wife at that time?

Ken Schafer:

Oh, my wife knew. My wife at the time knew she

Ken Schafer:

wasn't particularly supportive. That's a whole other

Ken Schafer:

conversation to have. But she wasn't very supportive. She knew

Ken Schafer:

what was going on. Fortunately, the band aid of using Cialis, it

Ken Schafer:

worked well for, quite well for a while, and I never thought to

Ken Schafer:

look for anything beyond Cialis. It never even occurred to me

Ken Schafer:

that there were other treatments available.

Anne Truong:

Okay, so when you took Cialis, did you think your

Anne Truong:

ED was gone? You don't have to worry about anything. I mean,

Anne Truong:

you took Seattle, you're just like, Oh, I'm good. I'm 100% is

Anne Truong:

that what it made you feel?

Ken Schafer:

No. I mean, I wasn't happy about having to

Ken Schafer:

take Cialis, but it did work. It had the desired effect.

Anne Truong:

How long did it work for?

Anne Truong:

It worked until I was in my mid, early 50s, and then it kind of

Anne Truong:

worked okay for a while, and then eventually it just stopped

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working.

Anne Truong:

So how did ED affect your confidence, not just in the

Anne Truong:

bedroom, but in your life?

Ken Schafer:

That's a good question. I don't know. I think

Ken Schafer:

it didn't affect my life too much, outside of the bedroom and

Ken Schafer:

outside of my marriage. I had this inner sense of being less

Ken Schafer:

than a man because I needed to use Cialis, but I don't recall

Ken Schafer:

like it affecting my work or anything else. This was a while

Ken Schafer:

ago, so I don't really have clear memories of all that.

Anne Truong:

Okay, so how did it affect your relationship with

Anne Truong:

your wife, with your ED?

Ken Schafer:

My wife at the time, it wasn't a very good

Ken Schafer:

relationship to begin with, and this was kind of like the nail

Ken Schafer:

in the coffin, one of several nails, but, yeah, it was not a

Ken Schafer:

good situation, but it is what it is. It's over now.

Anne Truong:

Got you, so did you think, and we do know that when

Anne Truong:

there's relationship tension, that also affects sexual

Anne Truong:

function. So was it the relationship sentence, or was it

Anne Truong:

more physiological part that you think may have contributed to

Anne Truong:

the ED 17 years ago?

Ken Schafer:

I think not feeling supported definitely did affect

Ken Schafer:

me. My ED was severe enough where I was going to have ED

Ken Schafer:

regardless of whether or not I had support, but it just added

Ken Schafer:

to the pressure and to the anxiety and to everything else.

Ken Schafer:

So it didn't help. I'm not sure how much it directly affected.

Anne Truong:

Gotcha. So the relationship ended. That was

Anne Truong:

your ex wife?

Ken Schafer:

Yes. That ended. And yes.

Anne Truong:

Rght. So the ED, kind of like you said, kind of

Anne Truong:

like one of the component that kind of pushed it over, that

Anne Truong:

ended their relationship. Well, I'm sorry about that. I'm sure

Anne Truong:

that's happened, but what you're selling me is not unusual. I

Anne Truong:

hear that, unfortunately, most often than not, when I treat

Anne Truong:

patients in your office, that the ED either affected their

Anne Truong:

marriage or is now like the wife is giving them do something

Anne Truong:

about it. So it affects two people. ED is a two person

Anne Truong:

problem. If you're in a relationship. If you're a

Anne Truong:

married, you're in a relationship, it's a two person

Anne Truong:

problem. That at one. And we do know that a supportive partner

Anne Truong:

is actually a treatment for ED as well. It's one of the

Anne Truong:

treatment for ED, and then conversely, not a supportive

Anne Truong:

partner, it contribute to ED. So partner relationship with the

Anne Truong:

component of treatment for ED. So something to consider about

Anne Truong:

and hope that in a future show that I like to have a man and a

Anne Truong:

woman that are in a relationship with ED and have them discuss

Anne Truong:

about this and share this as well. And I would love to do

Anne Truong:

that another show. So you said you tried Cialis. What

Anne Truong:

frustration did you have with the Cialis or the traditional

Anne Truong:

treatment?

Ken Schafer:

Well, at first, my frustration was just the limited

Ken Schafer:

availability. I was given four pills a month. At that time,

Ken Schafer:

there was no generic Cialis. So unless you wanted to pay a lot

Ken Schafer:

of money out of pocket, you were limited to four uses. That was a

Ken Schafer:

big frustration. Another frustration, most of my

Ken Schafer:

frustrations developed once the cilis stopped working.

Anne Truong:

Gotcha. So why did it only give you four a month at

Anne Truong:

that time, that was what insurance covers?

Ken Schafer:

That's what insurance covered, right.

Anne Truong:

Right. I think at that time, Cialis its about $65

Anne Truong:

a pill. It was quite expensive.

Ken Schafer:

I remember it as being more than that, but it was

Ken Schafer:

expensive. And, yeah, if you wanted to have sex more than

Ken Schafer:

once a week, you were going to pay out of pocket.

Anne Truong:

Yep. So that's what insurance company think, right?

Anne Truong:

You should only have sex once a week, and you have more, you got

Anne Truong:

to pay for it as well. And that no insurance company or no one

Anne Truong:

should dictate how often you should have intimate relations.

Anne Truong:

You brought up a good point. I didn't even think about that,

Anne Truong:

because now Cialis is generic, so it's cheaper, but not

Anne Truong:

necessarily is the best. When did you find out that

Anne Truong:

traditional treatment weren't really helping you that much,

Anne Truong:

and you needed to seek other options.

Ken Schafer:

Yeah, so I got divorced and remarried, and I

Ken Schafer:

began to notice with my new wife that it was working quite well

Ken Schafer:

at first, and then over time, it was working, but it wasn't

Ken Schafer:

working like it used to. And then eventually it just stopped

Ken Schafer:

working. I was in panic mode. I was in a relationship with, you

Ken Schafer:

know, good relationship, and I didn't want anything to risk

Ken Schafer:

that. So I start that. That's really what got me started down

Ken Schafer:

a long path of trying to find alternatives to these

Ken Schafer:

traditional treatments that as. As you've pointed out, they only

Ken Schafer:

treat the symptoms. They don't really treat the underlying

Ken Schafer:

cause.

Anne Truong:

And that's the thing with ED medication. I've

Anne Truong:

been saying this over and over again, is that it's like putting

Anne Truong:

a band aid on an infected wound. It doesn't treat the cause of

Anne Truong:

why you have ED. And it may just be that time, maybe high blood

Anne Truong:

pressure or stress or overweight, or diabetes, a high

Anne Truong:

cholesterol, sleep deprivation, there's multiple common factor.

Anne Truong:

That's why ED is so common, guys. Like the commonest thing

Anne Truong:

affect you, like sleep, smoking, not exercising, overweight,

Anne Truong:

those things can affect you as well. So that's why ED is more

Anne Truong:

common than you think. What finally did you decide? You know

Anne Truong:

what? Okay, pill doesn't help, and most guys will go, Well,

Anne Truong:

let's try trimix or try implant. What made you feel like you need

Anne Truong:

to achieve other alternative besides, you know, implant? Was

Anne Truong:

that offered to you at that time?

Ken Schafer:

No, I went to my GP, and she referred me to a

Ken Schafer:

urologist, and to his credit, I was talking about an implant, he

Ken Schafer:

was like, we're not there yet. To his credit, however, he

Ken Schafer:

failed to impress me as a doctor. He gave me a

Ken Schafer:

testosterone test, which is normal for men with ED. I looked

Ken Schafer:

at the results and I could see that that was a problem. And

Ken Schafer:

before I talked to him, I started digging through the

Ken Schafer:

scientific literature to verify that that what I suspected was

Ken Schafer:

true. He looked at the results, and because they fell within the

Ken Schafer:

normal range, he felt there was no problem, even though my free

Ken Schafer:

testosterone was right at the very edge between normal and

Ken Schafer:

below normal. And I I knew at that point that I didn't respect

Ken Schafer:

his knowledge on this subject, and I ceased seeing him for

Ken Schafer:

treatment. I then went to an endocrinologist who specialized

Ken Schafer:

more in diabetes treatment. She wanted to help, but she she

Ken Schafer:

didn't understand the nuances of TRT. And I think I'm drifting

Ken Schafer:

away from your question here, am I staying on track, or am I

Ken Schafer:

drifting?

Anne Truong:

No, no, I think you're there. But let's move on

Anne Truong:

to the next one is that I know you have mentioned this before,

Anne Truong:

that you feel that traditional treatment was urology was not

Anne Truong:

addressing what you really needed. What did you mean by

Anne Truong:

that?

Ken Schafer:

Well, I wanted to find out what the root cause

Ken Schafer:

was. I went into the urologist thinking, you know, I want tests

Ken Schafer:

to find out what the root cause is. Even at that point, I

Ken Schafer:

understood that there are many possible causes for ED and more

Ken Schafer:

treatable than others, and if mine was going to be easy to

Ken Schafer:

treat, I wanted to know that. And if it was going to be

Ken Schafer:

difficult to treat, I wanted to know that as well. He had

Ken Schafer:

absolutely no interest in in doing he just wanted to give me

Ken Schafer:

Viagra or Cialis.

Anne Truong:

I see, what were you afraid of before? Like,

Anne Truong:

starting taking Viagra, were you, I mean, or Cialis, you

Anne Truong:

said, were you afraid of anything before you started

Anne Truong:

taking

Ken Schafer:

No, no. I probably should have been, but I wasn't.

Ken Schafer:

I just thought that. I just accepted what my doctors were

Ken Schafer:

telling me. I didn't really, and I don't know what was publicly

Ken Schafer:

available. I didn't realize what the side effects were so I

Ken Schafer:

wasn't afraid, but I probably should have been right.

Anne Truong:

So you said, Well, I stopped working. You went to

Anne Truong:

your urologist, and your numbers were just at the bottom, but not

Anne Truong:

yet insurance qualify as being low. So you weren't qualified

Anne Truong:

for insurance coverage for testosterone replacement

Anne Truong:

therapy. What was your journey? What did you do to kind of start

Anne Truong:

taking over what you needed to do for your sexual performance

Anne Truong:

again?

Ken Schafer:

So at that time, my understanding of ED was much

Ken Schafer:

more limited, but I strongly suspected that my testosterone

Ken Schafer:

levels were the cause. I now know that that that wasn't the

Ken Schafer:

soul class. It may have been a contributing cause, but and I

Ken Schafer:

was looking for doctors who understood how to treat guys

Ken Schafer:

with testosterone deficiency and understood that just because

Ken Schafer:

you're within the normal range, that doesn't mean you're

Ken Schafer:

healthy. I read a book by Dr Abraham Morgenthaler, which

Ken Schafer:

confirmed a lot of my suspicions. In fact, I had

Ken Schafer:

looked at a lot of the same studies he mentioned in the

Ken Schafer:

book. I actually went to the clinic he founded. He had

Ken Schafer:

retired from the clinic, but I went to the clinic in Boston

Ken Schafer:

that he founded, and that was my first real bout with TRT. I was

Ken Schafer:

able to get the testosterone I needed.

Anne Truong:

But you pay for it. Insurance didn't pay, didn't

Anne Truong:

cover it.

Ken Schafer:

No, it was all out of pocket. It was a concierge

Ken Schafer:

type service, actually, I take that back. They I was able to

Ken Schafer:

get insurance to cover some of the costs, but not all of it.

Ken Schafer:

Most of it was out of pocket.

Anne Truong:

Right. So did that help with your ED, taking

Anne Truong:

testosteron?

Ken Schafer:

Oh, no, no. I got very frustrated, because at the

Ken Schafer:

clinic, they were very good about helping guys with low

Ken Schafer:

testosterone, but they were only offering traditional treatments

Ken Schafer:

for ED. So they wanted to push Cialis and Viagra, or tri mix,

Ken Schafer:

and if all else failed, they would recommend an implant. I

Ken Schafer:

was a bit frustrated, because I felt like they also were if the

Ken Schafer:

root cause wasn't testosterone, they weren't any better prepared

Ken Schafer:

than the other urologist I had seen to recommend treatment.

Anne Truong:

So when you started testosterone like you still were

Anne Truong:

having some ED issues. What was your next step?

Ken Schafer:

This is about the same time I met Dr. Rachel Ross,

Ken Schafer:

who you've interviewed on this podcast previously, and she was

Ken Schafer:

doing weekend intensives, and I didn't really know who she was,

Ken Schafer:

but just listening to the kind of treatments she was talking

Ken Schafer:

about, I was very intrigued. You know, they're very similar, very

Ken Schafer:

similar to the kind of treatments I that you recommend.

Ken Schafer:

And so I was very intrigued. And I went to the weekend intensive,

Ken Schafer:

and then I started to work with her as a patient for a little

Ken Schafer:

over a year after that.

Anne Truong:

Gotcha, you kind of, your eyes were open to other

Anne Truong:

alternative than implant and medication. What was the first

Anne Truong:

thing you did that you've learned from that?

Ken Schafer:

Well, you know, just simple things like your

Ken Schafer:

health, you need to address your health problems, okay? And

Ken Schafer:

although I wasn't particularly unhealthy, there was a lot of

Ken Schafer:

room for improvement. You need to enjoy. I mean, that's basic,

Ken Schafer:

and it's not rocket science. It's exercise, diet, sleep, all

Ken Schafer:

the standard things that you learn throughout your life. You

Ken Schafer:

really need to take that seriously. And then there is a

Ken Schafer:

lot of things you can do at home, like pumping and Kegels

Ken Schafer:

and in some cases, prostate massage and things like that.

Ken Schafer:

There's things you can do on your own that are treatments for

Ken Schafer:

ED and you know that it's not that expensive to do these

Ken Schafer:

things.

Anne Truong:

Yeah, absolutely. And oftentimes it's too good to

Anne Truong:

be true, is what I call it.

Anne Truong:

Okay, Modern Man. If you're struggling with weak erection,

Anne Truong:

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Anne Truong:

problem. One of the best research pathways to boost

Anne Truong:

circulation, support healthy testosterone and improve sexual

Anne Truong:

performance is the Mediterranean diet. It's packed with food that

Anne Truong:

open up your blood vessel, lower inflammation, and fuel your

Anne Truong:

hormone, naturally. I've seen men notice real improvement in

Anne Truong:

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Anne Truong:

style of eating. So check out the Mediterranean diet link

Anne Truong:

right here below, and get that as soon as you can. Stronger

Anne Truong:

testosterone and better erection.

Anne Truong:

So listeners, you know, if you have ED, sometimes, just

Anne Truong:

changing your diet to a Mediterranean diet, and check

Anne Truong:

out the link below for the link to the Mediterranean diet and

Anne Truong:

walking 30 minutes a week. Just move, move around, just at least

Anne Truong:

30 minutes at a time. You know, four times a week. Sleep,

Anne Truong:

getting adequate sleep, at least seven hours of sleep, whether

Anne Truong:

daytime or nighttime. Because I know, Ken, you work nighttime.

Anne Truong:

And then stress management, and I know sometimes that's hard for

Anne Truong:

men, because men are not expressive people. You know,

Anne Truong:

they internalize their feelings, and they don't express emotions

Anne Truong:

and feelings like women are but oftentimes that kind of increase

Anne Truong:

your stress without you really knowing it. And when your stress

Anne Truong:

level is high, it produces a hormone called cortisol, which

Anne Truong:

then affect the erection, which then kind of affect the nerve

Anne Truong:

that create an erection. That's how stress affect erection. But

Anne Truong:

oftentimes stress is not something that we measure

Anne Truong:

objectively, and sometimes we don't even know that we're

Anne Truong:

stressed as well. But stress shows up if you have one of

Anne Truong:

this, like, you know, Apple Watch, or those, those monitors,

Anne Truong:

stress shows up at increasing heart rate variance, which is

Anne Truong:

the heart rate variability that you can see with stress. Even

Anne Truong:

now, you're going to wear an Aura ring. Aura ring like this,

Anne Truong:

to monitor your stress level. And they'll tell you if you're

Anne Truong:

stressed or not as well. And I wear this every day. And

Anne Truong:

oftentimes it'll say, tell me, are you stressed right now? Your

Anne Truong:

heart rate is high. I don't even feel I'm stressed. So that's

Anne Truong:

when I feel like I have to take a moment to breathe and to be in

Anne Truong:

a meditative state. So you started doing, instituting

Anne Truong:

lifestyle, you know, changes in your body. What did you notice?

Anne Truong:

And of course, doing the penis pumping. I'm a big proponent of

Anne Truong:

penis pumping, testicle massage, doing Kegel and breathing. What

Anne Truong:

did you notice? And this is without Cialis, I assume.

Ken Schafer:

Yes, I was actually not getting great results for a

Ken Schafer:

while. I was a little bit panicked by it, because I was

Ken Schafer:

expecting to start seeing results that I wasn't seeing. Dr

Ken Schafer:

Rachel Ross then recommended that I go to another doctor to

Ken Schafer:

receive shockwave treatment with the P shot and Botox. That was a

Ken Schafer:

turning point for me. Within hours of receiving the sonic

Ken Schafer:

wave treatment or acoustic wave treatment, within hours I was

Ken Schafer:

getting erections. I mean, it was dramatic. It was a dramatic

Ken Schafer:

change, and that that was the turning point.

Anne Truong:

So you got shockwave Botox and the P shot,

Anne Truong:

which is platelet-rich plasma injection into the penis. You

Anne Truong:

got all three at the same time?

Ken Schafer:

Over the course of two weeks. I don't remember

Ken Schafer:

exactly, but I think I received four shockwave treatments, or

Ken Schafer:

acoustic wave treatments, and, yeah, that sounds right. I can't

Ken Schafer:

remember if it was more than one, but at least 1p shot. I

Ken Schafer:

don't remember if it was multiple. And the Botox was just

Ken Schafer:

once. And that was over, that was a course of treatment that

Ken Schafer:

went over two weeks.

Anne Truong:

Right now. That's awesome, because that is my Get

Anne Truong:

Hard System of treatment is doing injecting your own stem

Anne Truong:

cell would come from your blood, which is the P shot, using your

Anne Truong:

own blood to help you rejuvenate the penis. And using shock wave,

Anne Truong:

we use focus shock waves. I don't know if you if you had the

Anne Truong:

focus shock. There are two shock wave, focus, shock wave and

Anne Truong:

radio shock wave. Radio shock wave is more acoustic. Focus

Anne Truong:

shock wave is extra corporal shock wave therapy, which is

Anne Truong:

more strong.So we use focus shockwave, Botox and P shot in

Anne Truong:

combination. And then we also now do electrical nerve

Anne Truong:

stimulation to the pelvic muscle that similar to doing Kegel. So

Anne Truong:

we do all the treatment in the office and have patient actually

Anne Truong:

take the Kegel stimulator machine home to do at home every

Anne Truong:

day. And then I always stress after the treatment. I always

Anne Truong:

stress penis pumping, testicle mature pelvic muscles, as well

Anne Truong:

as doing box breathing and instituting the diet, the

Anne Truong:

exercise and stress management. And that's one of the reason why

Anne Truong:

we have the modern man club to really help men give them a

Anne Truong:

roadmap. And now we in the modern man club, we have

Anne Truong:

nutritionist, we have you helping with the exercise. And

Anne Truong:

now we're going to have a mindset coach that will help

Anne Truong:

with meditation and that calming, that performance

Anne Truong:

anxiety, so that way your erection can appear again.

Anne Truong:

Because the more you are stressed, the erection will be

Anne Truong:

harder to get. So I'm glad you got that, and getting that

Anne Truong:

treatment is what kind of you know, help the erection return

Anne Truong:

again, right?

Ken Schafer:

It was amazing, because I had, literally, I was

Ken Schafer:

going to go to this treatment. It wasn't cheap. I had to stay

Ken Schafer:

in Philadelphia for two weeks, so put out a lot of money. And I

Ken Schafer:

thought, if this doesn't work, I'm going to start looking into

Ken Schafer:

an implant. Fortunately, fortunately, it worked. But it

Ken Schafer:

worked great. It was a dramatic change.

Anne Truong:

And how long ago was that?

Ken Schafer:

I want to say, three years

Anne Truong:

Okay. Three years ago, okay. And what maintenance

Anne Truong:

have you been doing since three years ago?

Ken Schafer:

Well, I am on TRT. I pump regularly. I probably

Ken Schafer:

should pump a little bit more often, but I do pump regularly,

Ken Schafer:

Kegels meditation, watch my diet and exercise and sleep. Because

Ken Schafer:

I work night, sleep is issue, but I do the best I can.

Anne Truong:

Of course, you do the best. How old are you now,

Anne Truong:

Ken?

Ken Schafer:

I'm 62. I'll be 63 in January.

Anne Truong:

Okay, well, 62 then, you're not quite January

Anne Truong:

yet. So let me ask you this question, what does it feel like

Anne Truong:

now to know that you're able to perform in the bedroom?

Ken Schafer:

Well, it feels great. It's been a relief. It's

Ken Schafer:

just a relief, and there's room for improvement. Not everything

Ken Schafer:

is perfect that way. I mean, I wish I was performing like a 20

Ken Schafer:

year old, but that's not going to happen, but it's just one

Ken Schafer:

less source of stress when you can't perform. Even if you don't

Ken Schafer:

have a partner, you still have this constant nagging thing in

Ken Schafer:

the back of your head, like you can't get an erection, you can't

Ken Schafer:

have sex when you want to. You can't get into a relationship

Ken Schafer:

because it's, it's not going to work out because of the, you

Ken Schafer:

know, you have all these things making you feel like you're less

Ken Schafer:

than a man.

Anne Truong:

Interesting, very interesting. And what you said

Anne Truong:

is very powerful to really understand what goes to a man

Anne Truong:

thinking at that time. So what do you wish that you knew

Anne Truong:

earlier? That you're finding out now, what did you wish that you

Anne Truong:

knew earlier when you first had ED?

Ken Schafer:

I wish I knew that most doctors do not know how to

Ken Schafer:

treat ED. That would have saved me a huge amount of time and

Ken Schafer:

given me a head start. I don't know what things were like 15

Ken Schafer:

years ago when I first got ED, because I I didn't look past

Ken Schafer:

what the doctors were telling me. But I think even then, there

Ken Schafer:

was more. I mean, I think people pretty much knew you could

Ken Schafer:

probably answer this. People pretty much knew how to treat

Ken Schafer:

ED, the ones who who were like you, who looked into it, but

Ken Schafer:

most doctors simply don't look past symptom management.

Anne Truong:

Well, it's because they're not taught that, not

Anne Truong:

because they don't want to, because they're not taught that

Anne Truong:

traditional medical training in the US is more of disease focus,

Anne Truong:

rather than disease prevention and not lifestyle prevention.

Anne Truong:

We're focused on this is the disease, what medicine to fix it

Anne Truong:

and the surgery to fix it, right? And believe me, I come

Anne Truong:

from that fact. I came from that training. I came from the

Anne Truong:

training that I need. I'm a pain management doctor by specialty,

Anne Truong:

and I came from the training. But patient have pain, give them

Anne Truong:

opioids, give them thyroid injection, if not, then send

Anne Truong:

them to surgery. That was the mindset that I was trained on.

Anne Truong:

And because doctors are not trained on sexual health, it's

Anne Truong:

not even discussed upon during our training. There's no

Anne Truong:

specialty that is sexual health alone that is a board

Anne Truong:

certification. So like urologist do it, but then Family Medicine

Anne Truong:

do it, OBGYN do it. And so it's kind of like a mixed specialty.

Anne Truong:

Unless you're really interested in it, you have to seek your own

Anne Truong:

information. So that is one and then two. It's also just

Anne Truong:

uncomfortable subject. Sometimes, you know, it's

Anne Truong:

uncomfortable for patients to talk about it, and it's

Anne Truong:

uncomfortable for doctor to talk about it as well. And it also

Anne Truong:

that aspect, and it does. The third part is that it's that

Anne Truong:

just, they're just not aware of it. It's not awareness in our

Anne Truong:

training that, you know, ED is so common, and that the way

Anne Truong:

we're thinking, Well, here's the medicine take that. I can't tell

Anne Truong:

you how many patients I treat, they take a medicine for

Anne Truong:

diabetes, and they're thinking, their diabetes can't I don't

Anne Truong:

have diabetes. All right, they will say, I don't have diabetes.

Anne Truong:

I take Metformin. So that's not true at all. The medication just

Anne Truong:

help you not get the long term side effects of the disease. But

Anne Truong:

most disease we have now are really acquired, like high blood

Anne Truong:

pressure is acquired, diabetes is acquired, and high

Anne Truong:

cholesterol is acquired, and all those conditions can be gone

Anne Truong:

with diet and exercise if you start on it early, and most

Anne Truong:

patients don't realize the diet and exercise, you can get rid of

Anne Truong:

all those medication if You just lose about 10% of your weight,

Anne Truong:

and those conditions also contribute to ED as well. And so

Anne Truong:

that was where I was leading. That is that doctor church are

Anne Truong:

not trained. They're not aware of that like even now, what

Anne Truong:

opened up my eyes was maybe, because I'm Asian, I was

Anne Truong:

interested in learning acupuncture, and when I learned

Anne Truong:

about acupuncture, it opens up my eyes on how the body heals

Anne Truong:

and how the body operate, and there are other alternative to

Anne Truong:

treatment, rather than just medication and surgery alone.

Anne Truong:

And that's what went I went down the path of more functional,

Anne Truong:

holistic healing. So Ken, thank you for sharing that, Ken. So if

Anne Truong:

a man is watching this that has ED and is struggling alone, what

Anne Truong:

would you want to say to him right now?

Ken Schafer:

Do not just go to any doctor. You really got to

Ken Schafer:

spend some time researching doctors who specialize in sexual

Ken Schafer:

health or they are very knowledgeable about it. And if

Ken Schafer:

you have low testosterone, lower than average, I would say you

Ken Schafer:

need a doctor who understands the nuances of TRT and when it's

Ken Schafer:

appropriate and when it's not appropriate. But that will be

Ken Schafer:

the hardest part of your journey, is finding the right

Ken Schafer:

doctor.

Anne Truong:

You're absolutely right, because there's no like

Anne Truong:

directory for that. And oftentimes, even if you find a

Anne Truong:

clinic that does sexual health, it may not have the whole

Anne Truong:

comprehensive of testosterone replacement therapy and the P

Anne Truong:

shot and the focus shock and the Botox all that together, you

Anne Truong:

kind of have to piece meal together and be a really an

Anne Truong:

advocate for yourself, like what you did. But that journey is a

Anne Truong:

long one, right? And it didn't just come overnight, and you

Anne Truong:

have to be very persistent at it, so that that was one of the

Anne Truong:

reason why I created the Modern Man Club, to give. Then a

Anne Truong:

roadmap of what they need to do and be a resource for them,

Anne Truong:

because I truly believe ED, when is aadressed early, can be

Anne Truong:

totally reversed for life. You don't need the medication, and

Anne Truong:

now you crave Viagra, Cialis, like opioids or pain medication,

Anne Truong:

you just get addicted to them. They become a crutch until they

Anne Truong:

stop working. Then you're worse off than you were when you're

Anne Truong:

four. You started. And I truly believe that if you have ED, if

Anne Truong:

you're a man, you have ED one to two years, stop taking that

Anne Truong:

medication. Work on lifestyle changes that can really make a

Anne Truong:

big impact. And when we talk a lot that we'll talk about taking

Anne Truong:

your diet, your Mediterranean diet, start walking, moving more

Anne Truong:

and sleep, and then do stress management. So that's why our

Anne Truong:

Modern Man Club, we have all the resources for you to do this, as

Anne Truong:

well as giving you clarity on what you need to do to get out

Anne Truong:

of ED, because Ken here have to figure it out himself. He had

Anne Truong:

to, kind of piecemeal things. We're hoping to be a resource

Anne Truong:

for you. So what would you tell a man who are afraid to ask for

Anne Truong:

help?

Ken Schafer:

Well, that I think is become the most difficult

Ken Schafer:

this has been a problem that I've really been focused on

Ken Schafer:

lately is why are so few men actively reaching out for help.

Anne Truong:

What do you think that is?

Ken Schafer:

I don't know, because it's so different. I'm

Ken Schafer:

the kind of person that if I have a problem, I'm going to

Ken Schafer:

exhaust every possibility to solve that problem. I'm not

Ken Schafer:

willing to let things go. Now, sometimes the problem isn't

Ken Schafer:

solvable, but I'm going to try my best, and I'm getting the

Ken Schafer:

sense that that is not typical, or at least typical anymore,

Ken Schafer:

among men, and this is something that I think is a problem, and

Ken Schafer:

I'm not really sure what the cause is or what to do about it,

Ken Schafer:

but it's definitely something I'm interested in understanding

Ken Schafer:

better.

Anne Truong:

I agree with you, and like I said, some of it is

Anne Truong:

just embarrassed denial, and there's just saying you don't

Anne Truong:

know what you don't know. And I love that phrase. It's so true.

Anne Truong:

You don't know what you don't know, or most men don't know

Anne Truong:

that they don't have to take the pill that you know that they can

Anne Truong:

just maybe change your diet. Stop eating pizza and hamburgers

Anne Truong:

every day. Well you can eat that, but don't eat it every

Anne Truong:

day, or french fries every day. Maybe that will also help your

Anne Truong:

erection as well. For men, your erection the warning light in

Anne Truong:

your car, the engine light, is warning you there's something

Anne Truong:

going on, and if you fix it, then, and not only does it help

Anne Truong:

with your sex life, it will also help with living longer and

Anne Truong:

heart health as well. So it's also Mother Nature that if you

Anne Truong:

are healthy, you can have an erection, then you can

Anne Truong:

procreate. You can continue your DNA. If you're not healthy, then

Anne Truong:

maybe your DNA shouldn't be continued. It's one thing to

Anne Truong:

think about, and so let's end with this. What is the one myth

Anne Truong:

about EDthat you have believed in the past that turned out to

Anne Truong:

be wrong?

Ken Schafer:

Now I think that is primarily a problem with

Ken Schafer:

testosterone. I know testosterone contributes to the

Ken Schafer:

problem, and it contributes to your overall health, and so it

Ken Schafer:

should be if you have low testosterone, that should be

Ken Schafer:

part of the treatment. But I thought early on that if I just

Ken Schafer:

fixed my testosterone levels, everything was going to fall

Ken Schafer:

into place and my ED would be cured. And that's just not the

Ken Schafer:

case.

Anne Truong:

And you said you're 62 and if you do the math, you

Anne Truong:

said that this started about 17 years ago. So it started kind of

Anne Truong:

like in your 40s, which is pretty early for a man in his

Anne Truong:

40s at that time. And you didn't know what you didn't know,

Anne Truong:

right? You didn't know that, Hey, maybe if I change my diet,

Anne Truong:

maybe I exercise more and sleep, lose stress of that, you know,

Anne Truong:

as well. But I'm really glad that you mentioned that ED is a

Anne Truong:

compilation problem. Compilation of problems that is common in

Anne Truong:

ED, it could be hormones, it could be your stress, it could

Anne Truong:

be your sleep, it could be smoking, could be porn, could be

Anne Truong:

no diabetes, your high blood pressure, your activity level,

Anne Truong:

just a lot of things that contribute to that. And that's

Anne Truong:

when I say you have ED stop and just kind of like do an

Anne Truong:

introspection, just kind of do an inventory of yourself, be

Anne Truong:

real with yourself. First thing is, I advocate, if you have ED

Anne Truong:

go get blood work. Definitely get blood work. Check out your

Anne Truong:

blood sugar, your cholesterol level, your liver function, your

Anne Truong:

kidney function, because most men don't feel like they have

Anne Truong:

high cholesterol or even pre diabetes until they get blood. I

Anne Truong:

can't tell you how many times I see patients in my office for

Anne Truong:

ED, we do blood work, and it shows that they're pre diabetic

Anne Truong:

and they have high cholesterol and they haven't had blood work

Anne Truong:

in like years as well. That's not men. You know, men don't go

Anne Truong:

to a doctor. They go to doctor because their wife make them go

Anne Truong:

to the doctor. I know my husband is like that. He won't go unless

Anne Truong:

I make him go. And he had pre diabetes, he had high

Anne Truong:

cholesterol, he had two steps in his heart, and that's what kind

Anne Truong:

of got me into ED myself. What's happened with my husband? So I

Anne Truong:

have lived through that as a partner with a husband that has

Anne Truong:

cardiac issues as well. So having said that, we know the

Anne Truong:

challenges that men face, and we are a resource for you guys.

Anne Truong:

Check out our Modern Man Club if you're far away. And I'm here to

Anne Truong:

help in my office. We do you know everything we do, the

Anne Truong:

hormone replacement therapy and the shock wave and the Botox and

Anne Truong:

the stem cell like the P shot as well to more of an integrative

Anne Truong:

approach to restore function again. And like Ken, you know,

Anne Truong:

he had ED in his 40s, and he's now functioning, and is a

Anne Truong:

smarter man about his sexual health. And I know that part of

Anne Truong:

your mission is to empower men to take control of their sexual

Anne Truong:

health and to help them where you are now, without spending 10

Anne Truong:

years or so trying to be your health advocate.

Ken Schafer:

Absolutely, you know, I, I was passionate enough

Ken Schafer:

about it to write a book called A Practical Guide to Managing

Ken Schafer:

Erectile Dysfunction, and it's the synthesis of everything I

Anne Truong:

And we'll make sure to put that link on Amazon for

Anne Truong:

learned and experienced over about of 10 to 12 year period.

Anne Truong:

that book as well too. So having said that, Ken, thank you for

Anne Truong:

being here and sharing your story, your journey, and I hope

Anne Truong:

all men feel good about listening to our conversation.

Anne Truong:

And this is not something you should be ashamed of. This is

Anne Truong:

very, very common. We're just not talking about, let's start

Anne Truong:

talking about, let's raise awareness of this. Just know

Anne Truong:

there are solutions about this as well. You don't have to take

Anne Truong:

that pill. Yes, you have to do the work, I'll be honest. You

Anne Truong:

have to do the work, but there is a light at the end of the

Anne Truong:

tunnel. So thank you Ken for being here. And men, just know

Anne Truong:

that we're here to help and we're here to get you out of ED

Anne Truong:

into restoration again. Check out the Modern Man Club at

Anne Truong:

NoEDMan.com and we'll see you in the next episode.

Anne Truong:

Okay, Modern Man, you are not alone and you don't have to

Anne Truong:

suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even

Anne Truong:

defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of

Anne Truong:

not feeling like yourself is exhausting. But here's the

Anne Truong:

truth, you are not broken. You are not alone. You don't have to

Anne Truong:

figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost Program

Anne Truong:

is your step by step, path to sexual confidence and

Anne Truong:

restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and

Anne Truong:

error, just real solution, real result and the confidence you

Anne Truong:

deserve. It's time to take back your power on your term. Let's

Anne Truong:

get this journey started together. Check out the course

Anne Truong:

at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there.

Anne Truong:

Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men Podcast.

Anne Truong:

If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your

Anne Truong:

phone and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever you post,

Anne Truong:

and be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode

Anne Truong:

and what you like to hear in the future. That will help me know

Anne Truong:

what's great for you and I would love to give you the most

Anne Truong:

incredible free gift designed to help you improve performance

Anne Truong:

quickly. Go to my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com to

Anne Truong:

get the book, The Five Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When

Anne Truong:

Facing ED. I would appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on

Anne Truong:

Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. And just know that you

Anne Truong:

can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you until

Anne Truong:

next time.