The prescription he already had wasn't working anymore

Mark's story is the quiet middle chapter nobody writes about. Getting a prescription the first time took courage; admitting it had stopped working consistently felt like starting over.

“I kept telling myself it was stress, or the timing, or the wine at dinner,” is how men in Mark's position often put it. For months he simply used it less, which his wife read as him being less interested. The medication problem had quietly become a relationship problem.

The conversation he'd been avoiding

What changed things wasn't a breakthrough — it was a telehealth intake form. Typing honest answers to direct questions turned out to be easier than saying the words. A licensed provider reviewed his history, asked follow-ups about what “stopped working” actually meant, and talked him through options — including adjusting his existing treatment and, given his history, whether a different format made sense for him.

Where he landed

Mark's provider changed his plan. What mattered more, he says, was learning that inconsistent response is common and adjustable — not a verdict. His advice to men in the same chapter: “Tell someone qualified exactly what's happening. The form doesn't judge you.”