What it’s like to be chemically castrated

A Massachusetts woman learned that her 62-year-old husband had been having sex with prostitutes for the past eight years. The man decided he was a sex addict and sought treatment from a psychiatrist, Dr. Renee Sorrentino. She began treating him with Lupron, a drug that works by “turning down the sexual volume of the mind." New York magazine interviewed the man about what his life was like with Lupron. He said "it’s absolutely fantastic. I haven’t had an erection in over a year."

Can you remember your first injection?

Sure. It was in the butt. I was surprised that I could feel the chemical stinging as it slowly went in. It hurt. It took at least two shots before I noticed my sexual thoughts slowing down. And I could still get an erection for a couple of months.

And then?

I completely lost the ability to get it up. The thoughts happened, but much less frequently and there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn’t going to go and try to have sex when I was in that state. So I guess it physically stopped me right away. But I was still in a dark place because the thoughts were impacting my work. Then the thoughts started to fade away. Before I went on Lupron I was thinking about having sex with a prostitute over 30 times a day. After six months I would only have the thoughts a few times a day.

Image: Shutterstock