Hi Timster and thank you for posting

I am sorry to learn that you have had radiotherapy and hormone treatment which I assume was for prostate cancer. This must be a difficult time.

Recovery from erectile dysfunction (impotence) will vary and will depend on several things such as; your age (impotence is less likely if you are under 65), whether you have other health conditions, whether you had erection problems before the treatment, if you have hormone therapy before or after the radiotherapy, whether you have internal radiotherapy as well as external radiotherapy.

For some men, it can take months after treatment has finished for other men longer, and unfortunately for some men things may never go back to normal as they were before treatment.

This can be very upsetting. If you can't get an erection at all the best person to discuss this with would be your specialist or specialist nurse (CNS) as they know your situation and what treatment you have had and they will be able to advise you. 

We have information about ways to manage erection problems there is also information on Prostate Cancer UK which may be helpful.

I hope the information above is helpful to you. Please feel free to contact us if you need more information or support.  You may find it helpful to give one of the nurses on our helpline a call.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

take care, all the best

Jemma