A Student Asked Me About Priligy—Why I Took Him to Look at His Health Check Report First

Last Wednesday at ten in the evening, I was still cooling down at the gym when a student who had been training with me for two years, A-Hong, walked over and said in a very low voice: "Coach, have you heard of Priligy? I saw it online recently and wanted to ask what you think." I didn't answer right away. Instead, I finished putting away my yoga mat and asked him: "Is this because you've hit a plateau in training today, or because something else is keeping you up at night?" He paused for a moment, then said he'd been under some stress with his wife lately, felt like his performance wasn't what it used to be, and when he looked things up online he kept seeing this name—the more he searched, the more confused he got. I told him this wasn't a question I could answer for him, but I could help him break the problem down and first figure out what he was really concerned about.

I asked him not to rush toward an answer, but to take a piece of paper and write down three specific situations: when this feeling started, what his sleep and work situation was like at the time, and whether what he hoped to change was his "body" or his "relationship." At first A-Hong wrote very vaguely, just "I just feel like I can't perform." I reminded him that this kind of description doesn't help anyone make a judgment, including himself. We narrowed it down to the past three months, and he realized he often scrolled on his phone until the early hours even after training, felt terrible the next day, and zoned out easily in meetings. I couldn't say for certain how these clues related to intimacy, but at least it was a starting point he could face honestly.

The next day he messaged me asking whether he should just go buy it. I said, not yet. I asked him to do two things: first, find his most recent health check report and see if anything was flagged; second, make a list of everything he was currently taking, including whey protein, multivitamins, and any health supplements friends or family had given him. He asked why it had to be so complicated. I explained that many people think the problem is only about one specific part, but sleep, stress, chronic conditions, and medication can all intertwine. Without help from a professional, it's easy to misjudge things based on fragmented information online.

On the weekend we sat down in a corner of the gym, and he spread out his health check report. I asked him to pay attention to a few basic numbers—not so he could diagnose himself, but so he could understand that the body is a whole. As he looked, he suddenly said: "So I shouldn't just be asking whether Priligy works, right?" I nodded and said the question itself wasn't wrong, but the more important thing was: why do you want to ask it? Is it because you want a quick answer, or because you want a reason to communicate properly with your wife? He was silent for a moment, then said it was actually the latter. In that moment I understood that what he really needed wasn't a product name, but an entry point for a conversation that would let him stop being anxious alone.

I then walked him through a simple verification exercise. I asked him, when searching online, not to look only at individual experiences in forums, but to first confirm three sources of information: what category this thing falls under in Taiwan's regulations, whether the channels for obtaining it are legal, and whether the packaging has complete labeling and a license number. I didn't give him any specific conclusions, because I'm not a pharmacist or a doctor either—I was just helping him build a sequence for checking things. He asked me, what if the information he finds contradicts itself? I said, then write down the contradictions and take them directly to a professional, rather than picking the answer you like best.

Later he actually made an appointment at a pharmacy near his home and went with that list to ask the pharmacist. He came back and told me the pharmacist didn't give him any promises, only asked him to first confirm whether he was taking any other medications, and suggested that if he really wanted to understand further, he should go to a clinic and discuss it with a doctor. I thought that was great, because throughout the whole process, no one was being sold anything, and no one was being scared. A-Hong said he originally thought his coach would just tell him "yes" or "no," but what I gave him was a map, so he could learn to read the signs himself.

This made me think that many students, when they come to ask me questions beyond training, actually carry a sense of embarrassment. They feel that asking is like admitting something is wrong with them. I usually first let them know that being willing to ask is a form of responsibility. But I also remind them that no matter how much information is online, it can't replace an in-person professional assessment. You can do your homework, you can organize your questions, but don't let search results make decisions for you. Especially when the issue involves your body and your relationships, you need to slow the pace down even more.

Now A-Hong still comes to train as usual, and occasionally chats with me about how things are with his wife. He hasn't told me what choice he ultimately made, and I haven't pressed him. I'm only sure of one thing: he no longer treats that question as a secret he carries alone, but is willing to bring it into his life and face it in a healthier way. If you're also struggling with something similar, I'd suggest you first find a piece of paper, write down the three things you really care about, and then take that paper to a professional. The answer won't be in the gym, and it won't be in some discussion thread, but it can gradually become clearer once you're willing to speak up.