I managed to shake my drug habit but now I’m reliant on Viagra

DEAR DEIDRE: AFTER taking your advice I have managed to stop using cocaine and my life has improved beyond all recognition.

But now I have a different problem – erectile dysfunction.

I’m 28 and when I wrote to you before, I was in a real mess.

You pushed me in the right direction and I got some good help. Now I only indulge in cocaine about once a month, if at all.

I’ve met a really lovely woman who is 25. She’s so sweet and kind.
But when we went to bed for the first time, I couldn’t get an erection.

I lied and blamed it on the alcohol we’d had. The next time, it happened again.

I’ve bought some blue pills off the internet and now I don’t have a problem. But if I don’t take a pill, I’m back to square one.

Do you think it’s because of my previous drug addiction or am I overthinking everything?

DEIDRE SAYS:  It could be either.

Long-term cocaine use can cause erectile dysfunction because of decreased blood flow to the penis. But becoming anxious can lead to performance anxiety.

This means you think about your erection failing and it happens again.

If you have early morning erections, it is a good sign everything is working as it should.

If not, talk to your doctor, who may be able to run some tests.

Please don’t take pills bought from the internet as they are potentially very dangerous.

Talk to your new girlfriend about taking things back to basics when it comes to intimacy.

Try some sensate focus exercises, which means kissing and caressing to build up feelings of arousal again.

My support pack Sex Play Therapy explains more.

Give yourself the best chance by coming off cocaine for good.

Pictures posed by models.