Buy viagra online
Viagra is an oral tablet treatment for erectile dysfunction. It is a blue diamond shaped pill made by Pfizer, and is available in three doses: 25mg, 50mg and 100mg. You take the pill ‘on demand’, or as and when required. It’s usually best to take it 30-60 minutes before you plan to have sex. It stays active in the body for up to five hours.
There are several different treatments for ED available. Viagra was the first to come onto the market in 1998, and is probably the most well-known.
Who gets erectile dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction is a condition most people tend to associate with older men. But while it can be exacerbated by health issues that are more common with age, it’s a condition that often affects younger men too. As well as physical factors like hypertension, diabetes and obesity, ED can in many cases be caused by psychological factors as well.
Nervousness or ‘performance anxiety’ in a new relationship is a common reason for erectile dysfunction, as well as stress, or emotional issues. Lifestyle habits can also have an impact on it; men who drink too much alcohol, smoke, take recreational drugs, don’t exercise or follow a poor diet can be more predisposed to ED.
Most men get erection problems at least once in their lives, or occasionally. If you’re wondering whether you have ED, it’s said to be present if a man repeatedly has problems getting and keeping an erection over a significant period.
You can read more about the definition of the condition on our What is ED? page.
What does Viagra do?
Sildenafil is the active ingredient in Viagra. In short, it helps men get stronger and better lasting erections by enabling blood flow to the penis.
Erections happen when men become aroused due to a chemical reaction in the body. This causes blood vessels near the genitals to dilate, so that blood can fill the smooth muscle (corpus cavernosum) in the penis; making it hard.
In ED, these vessels remain tight, and don’t let enough blood through, making it more difficult to get and stay hard. The name of the enzyme that causes these vessels to become restricted is PDE5.
Sildenafil is a PDE5 inhibitor. This prevents the PDE5 enzyme from acting on these vessels, allowing them to open up and let blood flow in and out of the penis, making for better erections.
What dose should I use?
Your prescriber will be able to point you in the right direction. You should stick to what they advise, and never try to adjust your dose yourself. If you’re concerned about the dose you’re using or think you may benefit from changing, speak to your prescriber.
Starting on Viagra 25mg or Viagra 50mg
Most men will normally start on 50mg, which is also available as Viagra Connect. Because it’s an initiation dose and it was recently reclassified as a pharmacy medicine, you don’t need a prescription for smaller quantities of Viagra Connect (four or eight tablets). But you will still need to answer a few questions about your health, so that the pharmacist issuing the medicine can make sure it’s safe for you to use.
Viagra 25mg tends to be prescribed if someone is likely to be more sensitive to side effects because they have a medical condition, or are taking treatment for another medical condition. You can find out more about who is at a higher risk of contraindications by reading the product information for Viagra.
Increasing to Viagra 100mg
If the 50mg dose is well tolerated but doesn’t work quite as well as it should, a doctor or pharmacy prescriber might put you up to 100mg. It’s never issued as a starting dose, because a lot of men find the median dose works well enough for them. But it’s an option if you take the 50mg and find it isn’t strong enough.
Is there a generic version of Viagra?
Yes. Sildenafil is the name of the non-branded version, also known as Generic Viagra. It will look different and will come in different packaging, but is ‘bioequivalent’ (meaning that in clinical terms, it should be just as effective as the original).
How effective is Viagra?
The majority of users should find it works the first or second time. It can take longer to have an effect if you take it after a big meal.
In clinical trials, 74 percent of men using the 50mg achieved an erection strong enough for successful sexual intercourse; compared with 63 percent using the 25mg dose and 82 percent using the 100mg dose.
For men who take Viagra and find it doesn’t work as well as they would like to, there are alternatives available such as Cialis. This works in the same way in the body as Viagra but contains a different active ingredient, so some men may discover that it works better for them.
