Sildenafil treats erectile dysfunction by increasing blood flow to the penis during sexual stimulation. This increased blood flow can cause an erection. Sildenafil treats PAH by relaxing the blood vessels in the lungs to allow blood to flow easily.
Daily Use of Sildenafil
It is considered safe and effective and, for most people, it causes only mild side effects. Those side effects could include headaches, dizziness and rashes, among other symptoms. If you experience any side effects, it's a good idea to talk to a healthcare provider.
Sildenafil usually lasts for approximately four hours, giving you a large time window in which you can have sex with optimal erectile function. This medication — called a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor — basically inhibits an enzyme in your blood vessels, helping to relax and dilate (open up) those blood vessels.
Viagra helps to maintain the erection after ejaculation and reduces the refractory time before a second erection can be obtained.
Sildenafil (brand name Viagra, or affectionately nicknamed “the little blue pill”; see Important Safety Information) is a highly effective medication to treat erectile dysfunction. However, there is something it can't do. Viagra does not make your penis bigger. No pill does.
A penile erection can normally last anywhere from a few minutes to about half an hour. On average, men have five erections a night while they're sleeping, each lasting about 25 to 35 minutes (Youn, 2017).
It's possible to develop long-term side effects from sildenafil treatment. In clinical trials,* long-term side effects, such as vision loss and hearing loss,† occurred at any time during treatment. However, the exact reason why these side effects occurred is not fully known.
Swallow tablets whole with a drink of water or juice (but not grapefruit juice). For erectile dysfunction, it's best to take sildenafil on an empty stomach. It may take longer to work if you take it with food.
Minor differences in packaging aside, brand name Viagra and its generic counterpart sildenafil are exactly the same medication. If you have erectile dysfunction, both medications should produce noticeable improvements in your erections and sexual performance. The key difference, as we mentioned above, is price.
Vardenafil (Levitra) is almost 10 times more biochemically potent than sildenafil, therefore a lower dose is needed to facilitate the penile erection, potentially resulting in less side effects. Selectivity is the ability of the drug to attach to the specific enzyme PDE 5 found in penile tissues.
However, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there have been reports of myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, irregular heartbeat (arrhythmias), and even death in people taking Viagra.
Sildenafil also interacts with alcohol, grapefruit juice, and medications that affect liver proteins. This can result in a worsening of side effects like dizziness, headaches, and flushing.
Our results showed that both sildenafil and vardenafil were equally effective with respect to improvements in sleep quality when used with purpose of treating ED in HD patients. The exact mechanism is not clear at the time; however, both direct and indirect effects may have a role.
Some guys experience many erections each day, whereas others may not experience any. Hormones fluctuate with age, sexual maturity, level of activity, and even the amount of sleep a guy gets. Unless your erections are causing you discomfort or pain, don't worry about how many you get.
You may be more likely to experience symptoms such as dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, flushing, headache, and heart palpitations. You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol while being treated with sildenafil, and use caution when getting up from a sitting or lying position.
When used in women, Viagra is thought to raise blood flow to the genitals so that there's more sensitivity and stimulation. Studies have shown that Viagra may provide a benefit for women having difficulty with sexual arousal — since it may help them respond better to sexual stimulation.
In women it's thought that Viagra could increase blood flow to the female genital area, increasing lubrication and aiding orgasm.
Viagra does not stimulate you sexually, it can only help you get an erection once you're already aroused. Because Viagra only helps you to get an erection by improving blood flow to the penis, it doesn't force you to get an erection, so it won't work unless you're sexually stimulated.
have a serious heart or liver problem. have recently had a stroke, heart attack or a heart problem – your doctor should carefully check whether your heart can take the additional strain of having sex. have low blood pressure (hypotension) have a rare inherited eye disease, such as retinitis pigmentosa.
Nothing much would happen if someone without erectile dysfunction took Viagra, although they might think they feel better psychologically. But it would make a difference if you took it along with other drugs. Cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, alcohol, nicotine, crystal meth - they all can cause erection problems.