Pentoxifylline For Peyronie's Disease
These days, using Pentoxifylline for Peyronie's seems to be the most preferred oral treatment among men with the Peyronie's disease.
In this article, I will explain what Pentoxifylline is, the benefits and potential side effects of using it with references to the relevant scientific studies.
What Is Pentoxifylline?
Pentoxifylline is the generic name of prescribed medicine that improves blood flow in people with circulation problems. Well-known brand names for Pentoxifylline are Trental, Pentox, Pentoxil and Flexital.
Pentoxifylline decreases the viscosity (thickness / stickiness) of the blood and allows it to flow more easily through the body.
Pentoxifylline is commonly used to help with the blood circulation in arms and legs, i.e. reduce aching, cramping and tiredness. It can also help with the blood circulation to the brain and as such is used for vascular dementia.
How Does Pentoxifylline Work For Peyronie's Disease?
Pentoxifylline for Peyronie's is assumed to work in similar way as L-Arginine, i.e. it may prevent scaring and improve erection quality through improved blood circulation. In addition, it may also help reducing the calcification of the plaque (which L-Arginine seems not do).
Pentoxifylline for Peyronie's patients should always be prescribed by a doctor. Recommended Pentoxifylline dosage for Peyronie's is 400 mg three times a day.
What Are The Pentoxifylline Benefits?
Pentoxifylline to treat Peyronie's disease is convenient, just swallowing a tablet three times a day. It is also available as a generic drug, which gets the price down without affecting its' effectiveness.
What Are The Pentoxifylline Side Effects?
Pentoxifylline seems to be generally well tolerated. Most common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, insomnia and drowsiness.
Taking Pentoxifylline with meals usually helps to keep the stomach upset down.
Is There Any Risk Involved
In Pentoxifylline Treatment For Peyronie's Disease?
Pentoxifylline is considered fairly safe drug but it can interact with various other medications. The list is long and even includes common OTC drugs like Ibuprofen. It is therefore important to advice your doctor about all medication you are taking prior to starting your Pentoxifylline Peyronie's treatment.
You should also advice your doctor if you are suffering from any kidney or liver disease, or from any condition where there is a risk of bleeding, e.g. recent stroke. Furthermore, men with recent cerebral or retinal hemorrhage should not use Pentoxifylline, nor should men that have previously exhibited intolerance to it or methylxanthines such as caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine.
The Results Of Using Pentoxifylline To Treat Peyronie's
There have been some indications that Pentoxifylline may improve scarring and reduce the calcification of plaques in men with the Peyronie's disease.
If you read through some Peyronie's forums you are likely to see more men satisfied with the result of using Pentoxifylline than with most other oral Peyronie's treatments. There are though not all that are happy with their result, some have had to discontinue their Pentoxifylline for Peyronie's treatment due to side effects or because it seemed not to be working for them.
This is just like with any other Peyronie's treatment. Pentoxifylline seems to work well for some men with Peyronie's but not for all.
Pentoxifylline is not approved medication for treating Peyronie's disease and some men have experienced problem getting their doctors to prescribe it for them. It can be the case of the doctor not being familiar with its effect on some men with Peyronie's disease.
If that is the case with your doctor, tell him about the scientific studies (see below) that have been conducted on this drug for treating Peyronie's disease.
Scientific Support
For Pentoxifylline Treatment For Peyronie's Disease
There are some recent studies on the use of Pentoxifylline to treat men with Peyronie's.
The most widely referred study is the Iranian double-blind placebo-controlled study of the efficacy and safety of using Pentoxifylline in the early chronic Peyronie's disease.
The treated group showed modest but statistically significant improvements compared to the placebo group. Overall, 36.9% of patients who received Pentoxifylline (PTX-SR) reported positive response, compared to only 4.5% in the placebo group. The improvement in penile curvature and plaque volume was also significantly greater.
Their conclusion was:
“PTX-R was moderately effective in reducing penile curvature and plaque volume in patients with early chronic PD. Further studies with different treatment regimens are needed to better elucidate the beneficial effects of PTX-SR in PD” (BJUI - 2010 )
Another Pentoxifylline study (2010) concluded that men that used Pentoxifylline were much less likely to have a subjective worsening of their clinical condition and that Pentoxifylline treatment appeared to stabilize or reduce the calcium content in the Peyronie's plaques. They concluded:
“A randomized controlled trial is warranted to further explore this effect” (Asian Journal of Andrology - 2010 )
This controlled study used Pentoxifylline with other antioxidants (Multimodal Therapy). Their conclusion was:
“Our results showed that multimodal treatment with PTX associated with antioxidants and topical Diclofenac is significantly effective in treating PD. Treatment outcomes obtained in the treatment-group A are statistically more significant than those achieved in group B. Pentoxifylline is more effective when the treatment program includes both routes of administration: oral + perilesional injection” (Omics Group 2014 )
While this study evaluated the effect of Verapamil compared to Pentoxifylline in Peyronie's disease. Their conclusion was that:
“There was no significant difference between two groups using verapamil or pentoxifylline, but there was a significant improvement in combination therapy group. Due to our results we propose that combination therapy can improve results and should be considered as a choice in treatment of Peyronie's disease” (Glob J Health Sci. 2014 Sept )
My Personal Experience
And Opinion Of Using Pentoxifylline For Peyronie's
I have no personal experience of using Pentoxifylline for Peyronie's disease. Because when I was researching Peyronie's treatment options in 2007 it did not come up as a treatment option.
Based on what I have learned since then, I think I might have tried it, not least if I had been experiencing any erection problems.
However, I would also use a stretching device as I'm personally not too keen on taking medication longer than I absolutely have to. And some men have reported in Peyronie's forum, that their condition seems to have gotten slowly worse when they stopped using Pentoxifylline.
Anyway, I like the idea of fighting the Peyronie's disease from as many angles as possible and as soon as possible.
Dr. Levine, one of the best-known Peyronie's specialists in the world today, recommends Three Approach Nonsurgical Treatments for his patients that include the use of Pentoxifylline and L-Arginine in conjunction with Verapamil injections and using penis traction device.
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