Tadalifil/cialis leg aches/ incontinence

Hi Mike. It's very much early days regarding erections. The dose of Tadalafil you are on is really a rehab dose rather than an event dose. The fact that you are getting a semi at this stage is promising though. The most common  side effect with this drug can be acid reflux. I'm not aware of leg aches being a typical side effect, nor incontinence. I always found that continence recovery was not linear. It was quite often three steps forward then two back. I imagine you are just experiencing a blip in the recovery. Keep using the pump as it's great for rehab regardless of whether you are going to use it for erections. Personally I never managed to master the constriction rings so I just used it for rehab.

The primary use of tadalafil is to ensure the blood flow to your penis is enough to ensure the tissue remains healthy, and the pump does the same and also ensures the bits that need to stretch during an erection can still do so. So both are worth persisting with.

In both cases it will be several months before you get a real impression of how good your recovery is, 7 weeks feels like a long time but considering the trauma your body has been through there is a lot of recovery still to come.

I have never heard of leg problems related to tadalafil. I don't know how active you are, it may simply be a reaction to a forced period of relative inactivity. When I have suffered musculoskeletal aches in the night (probably attributable to age!) I have found a couple of ibuprofen at bed time stops them happening.

Hi Pablozzz, 

I’m just behind you at 5 weeks post op. 

I was out on Tadalafil after the catheter removal appointment at 2 weeks post op.

If I recall correctly the CNS was very clear with her instructions to stop the Tadalafil if I ever got leg pains.

You might want to check back in on this. 

Hi fernie 

Leg aches dissappeared after about a week or so I think.

I've actually stopped taking it for 3 weeks as I felt like it was making my incontinence worse and I'm on holiday at the moment and wanted to enjoy the time. Will start again soon.

As for erections don't be worried in the short term as I think this is a long process. Having said that after about a week/ten days I definitely noticed a change and was able to get a semi but nothing useable. Tell him not to stress about it as that definitely does not help and see how it goes month by month.

Having come off the drug for this period there is definitely less movement down there and I'm using a pump to help.

Fingers crossed!!

There are two types of side effects from the PDE5 inhibitors (Sildenafil, Tadalafil, Vardenafil, Avanafil).

Firstly, PDE5 is used in other places in the body that use similar smooth muscle to the penis, and they are also impacted. The side effects caused by this are common to all the PDE5 inhibitors, but you can still find one works better than another for the desired effect, rather than the undesired side effect.

Secondly, none of them are only PDE5 inhibitors, they all also inhibit some other PDEs, of which there are around 22 types numbered 1-11 with some subtypes too. However, which other PDEs they also inhibit varies for each one, so these cause different side effects.

Acid reflux unfortunately falls into the first category, so all the PDE5 inhibitors can cause it. Your esophagus and lower esophageal sphincter are smooth muscle which use PDE5 to contract, so PDE5 inhibitors reduce their effectiveness at contracting and can cause stomach acid to leak back into the esophagus. Acid reflux isn't good for your esophagus and can cause esophageal cancer over a long period. This side effect usually only happens in people who tend to get acid reflux anyway. You could try a lower dose of Tadalafil. Both the main doses 5mg and 20mg are made in half doses for the purpose of reducing unacceptable side effects, 2.5mg and 10mg.

The muscle pain mentioned earlier is in the second category and is because Tadalafil is also a potent PDE11 inhibitor, and PDE11 is used in lots of places in the body. Actually, it's remarkable Tadalafil is a usable drug due to this, whereas it's actually the most effective of all the PDE5 inhibitors. Muscles use PDE11, and this is why you can get muscle pain. Sometimes a lower dose avoids this side effect while still being sufficiently effective for the desired effects - this is particularly the case with Tadalafil.

Edited by member 26 May 2025 at 13:27  | Reason: Not specified