Viagra – indications, dosage, side effects and price

Proven content

Viagra is a legendary blue pill, a popular drug containing sildenafil. The action of Viagra causes blood to flow into the penis by blocking the phosphodiesterase type 5 enzyme. Under conditions of sexual arousal, the effect of nitric oxide on smooth muscles is increased, which, by relaxing, lead to blood flow to specific penile structures and, consequently, to erection.

What is Viagra?

Viagra is one of the most popular drugs that is used to treat erectile dysfunction in adult men. It is a drug that stimulates potency, but only in the case of sexual arousal. It is a preparation that was introduced to the medical market in 1998. It is worth noting that Pfizer is the first pharmaceutical company to market a potency drug.

What is worth knowing about erection pills? Check: Erection pills – action, safety, use

Basic information about Viagra

Viagra is a drug manufactured by a large American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, with its headquarters in New York. Apart from Viagra, Pfizer is famous for such medicinal products as Sortis, Diflucan, Zithromax and Polocard. In addition, it is worth mentioning that after the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, Pfizer and BioNTech produced a vaccine against coronavirus – Tozinameran.

Viagra is a prescription medicine and is available as small blue film-coated tablets with an active ingredient content of 25 mg, 50 mg or 100 mg. One package of Viagra can contain 2, 4 or 8 tablets.

Viagra – composition and action

Viagra is a drug whose main ingredient is sildenafil. This substance is classified as type 5 phosphodiesterase inhibitors. This means that it is an enzyme found in the corpus cavernosum of the penis and in the pulmonary circulation.

One Viagra film-coated tablet contains 25 mg, 50 mg or 100 mg of sildenafil as citrate, respectively. The excipients in Viagra tablets are: microcrystalline cellulose, anhydrous calcium hydrogen phosphate, croscarmellose sodium, and magnesium stearate. The tablet coating, on the other hand, contains hypromellose, E 171 titanium dioxide, lactose monohydrate, triacetin, indigotine and E 132 lake.

The mechanism of action of sildenafil is quite a complicated process. In conditions of sexual arousal, nitric oxide is released in the corpora cavernosa of the penis. In contrast, nitric oxide activates the enzyme guanylate cyclase, which in turn increases the concentration of cyclic guanosine monophosphate. This complicated-sounding process causes the smooth muscles in the cavernous bodies to relax, allowing blood to flow into the penis. The consequence of this process is an erection.

Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is broken down in the corpora cavernosa by Viagra’s active ingredient, sildenafil. Inhibition of the activity of this substance results in an increase in the concentration of cGMP, which in turn leads to contraction of smooth muscles in the corpus cavernosum, blood flow and erection. It is worth remembering that sildenafil does not increase the production of cGMP, but only inhibits its breakdown. Therefore, Viagra can only get an erection when you are sexually aroused.

It is worth mentioning that in people diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, sildenafil increases the concentration of cGMP in the smooth muscle cells of the pulmonary vessels and causes them to relax, which may lead to their dilatation.

How to increase potency at home? Check: Are there any home remedies for potency?

Viagra – indications for use

Viagra will help those men who develop erectile dysfunction caused by a complete inability to maintain or obtain erectile dysfunction. For Viagra to work, you need to be sexually stimulated.

If you want to delay your erection, you can also reach for such erotic gadgets as:

1. Maximize Ring – Marc Dorcel’s flexible penis ring,
2. Adjust Ring – Marc Dorcel adjustable circuit ring,
3. Erection lasso – JBoa model 304.

When to use Viagra?

Why are men forced to reach for Viagra? The most common sexual dysfunction in men is erectile dysfunction. The causes of erectile dysfunction are varied and specialists point to a few of the most recognized ones:

1. psychological background – erectile dysfunction may result from stress, exhaustion, depression or anxiety;
2. addictions harmful to health, especially alcohol and drug abuse;
3. patient age, e.g. andropause;
4. diabetes – neuropathies and angiopathies;
5. neurological diseases – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tetraplegia, multiple sclerosis;
6. heart disease and arterial hypertension;
7. surgical procedures;
8. spinal cord injuries and diseases;
9. endocrine disorders – hyperthyroidism, hypogonadism, acromegaly;
10. malformations of the genital organs, e.g. phimosis;
11. the use of certain drugs – neuroleptics, antihypertensive drugs, diuretics or anti-cancer drugs.

What can help with potency? Check: How to restore lost potency? Products to help you with this

Viagra – contraindications to use

The famous blue tablets cannot be used by all men who would need it. The use of Viagra is contraindicated in people who are simultaneously treated with nitric oxide releasing preparations and nitrates.

This drug should also not be recommended for people for whom sexual activity is inadvisable. This applies to people with severe cardiovascular disease, such as unstable angina or severe heart failure.

Viagra is not recommended for men who have liver disease such as cirrhosis. However, if the use of Viagra is necessary, then the lowest dose – 25 mg can be used and gradually increased to the maximum dose of 100 mg.

The decreased clearance of sildenafil may be a contraindication to the use in patients suffering from renal insufficiency. It is clear that men who are allergic to sildenafil or any of the excipients should not use Viagra.

Viagra should also not be used in men who have had a stroke or heart attack. Viagra should also not be used in cases of inherited degenerative changes in the retina.

What popular herbs can help with erection problems? Check: Herbs for potency – a natural and safe way to improve sexual performance

Instead of Viagra, you can also try the Pro-Long Pjur ratio prolonging spray, which delicately anesthetizes. It can be used many times if a single application does not give satisfactory results.

Viagra – special precautions

See Viagra’s package insert for a list of special precautions to keep in mind when taking this medicine.

Special precautions should be taken in patients with:

1. there are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The use of Viagra can cause a heart attack, unstable angina, cerebrospinal hemorrhage, hypertension, hypotension, and in extreme cases even sudden cardiac death;
2. diagnosed with anatomical deformities of the penis, such as angulation, cavernous fibrosis or Peyronie’s disease;
3. you have prolonged painful erection without sexual stimulation
4. there may be a negative interaction with other drugs – the simultaneous intake of alpha-blockers may lead to pressure drops;
5. diagnosed with coagulation disorders;
6. active peptic ulcer disease was diagnosed.

Viagra should not be used in parallel with ritonavir and other drugs from the group of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors. If you experience any sudden disturbance after taking Viagra, you should contact your doctor immediately. It should also be remembered that Viagra is not a drug intended for women.

When using Viagra, you must not forget about the additional ingredients of the drug. Therefore, the drug should not be used by people with rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, primary lactase deficiency and glucose-galactose malabsorption.

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Viagra – dosage

Viagra should be taken by adult men at a dose of 50 mg once daily approximately one hour before sexual intercourse is planned. If needed, the dose can be increased to 100 mg (this is the maximum daily dose). The Viagra dose can be lowered to 25 mg.

You should not take Viagra more than once a day. It is also worth remembering that the use of Viagra during a meal may delay the onset of its action.

Always consult your doctor about starting the drug. For example, in people with severe renal or hepatic insufficiency, the doctor may suggest a lower dose of the drug. This dose can be gradually increased at a later time.

The recommended dose should not be exceeded, because it does not increase the effectiveness of the drug, and it can only harm the health and life of the patient.

What is worth remembering when taking medication? Check: How to take medications effectively?

Can Viagra be overdosed?

If you take a higher dose of Viagra than indicated in the leaflet or doctor’s instructions, it does not mean that the drug’s effectiveness will increase. If you take more medicine or Viagra overdose may increase the risk of the drug’s side effects getting worse. Sildenafil overdose is usually associated with unnaturally long erections, which in extreme cases may last up to 6 hours and are often painful. Consult your doctor about any overdose of Viagra.

What should you know about the side effects of medications? Read: Adverse drug reactions

Viagra – warnings

Using Viagra can cause headaches and dizziness, as well as visual disturbances. If you experience these symptoms, you should refrain from driving after taking Viagra.

Viagra – interactions with other medications

While taking Viagra, you should not use preparations that release nitric oxide and relax the smooth muscles of the blood vessels, as this may lead to arterial hypotension. Men taking Viagra should also not take alpha-blockers at the same time, as there is a risk of a drop in blood pressure. This also applies to drugs taken for heart diseases, used after strokes or myocardial infarctions, in the case of coagulation disorders. Concomitant use of ritonavir with other phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors is not recommended.

Viagra – side effects

The most common side effects of Viagra are headache, dizziness, and blurred vision. Occasionally your nose may feel blocked. Less common side effects such as drowsiness and fatigue, fainting, tinnitus, palpitations, vomiting, haematuria, the appearance of blood in the semen or a cerebrovascular accident. Very rare side effects of Viagra use include myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and hypotension.

Additionally, side effects such as:

1. transient ischemic attack; 
2. seizures;
3. recurrent seizures;
4. non-arterial anterior ischemic optic neuropathy;
5. closure of the vessels of the retina;
6. visual field defects;
7. ventricular arrhythmia;
8. unstable angina;
9. sudden cardiac death;
10. Stevens-Johnson syndrome;
11. toxic epidermal fluid necrosis;
12. priapism;
13. prolonged erection.

Viagra and alcohol consumption

Many patients who decide to use Viagra wonder that this drug can be combined with alcohol. The more that sexual intercourse is often preceded by a romantic dinner, during which you drink wine or other alcohol. It is recommended that you do not drink large amounts of alcohol before taking Viagra. This recommendation is related to the fact that alcohol makes it harder to get an erection.

What to remember when drinking wine? Check: Favorite lamp of red

Is Viagra effective?

Viagra’s effectiveness in men with erectile dysfunction is estimated at 50-70%. It should be remembered, however, that this preparation is not an aphrodisiac and will work against a reduced libido. Viagra is effective for the following excitement that is not accompanied by an erection or erection. It is also worth remembering that Viagra should work properly half an hour or an hour after swallowing a tablet and washing it down with a glass of water.

To increase the effectiveness of Viagra, you should give up alcohol, fatty foods, grapefruit and grapefruit juice, as they can weaken and delay the effects of sildanefil.

When can a man experience erection problems? Check: Erection problems – it could be the fault of the prostate

What instead of Viagra?

Viagra is the most frequently chosen and most popular potency drug. Not surprisingly, since Viagra was first introduced in 1993, it has also been found to be the most counterfeit drug. Pfizer’s competition has introduced drugs to the market that exhibit similar effects to Viagra.

Bayer has produced a drug called Levitra, the active ingredient of which is vardenafil. Polpharma has launched Maxigra, the active ingredient of which is, similar to Viagra, sildenafil. On the other hand, Liily Elly produced Cialis, a drug whose main ingredient is tadalafil.

How Much Does Viagra Cost?

Price of Viagra depends on the size of the package and the content of the main ingredient, i.e. sildenafil. Viagra’s average prices are as follows:

1. Viagra – two coated tablets 100 mg – PLN 110;
2. Viagra – four 100 mg coated tablets – 210 zlotys;
3. Viagra – eight 100 mg coated tablets – 320 zlotys;
4. Viagra – two coated tablets 25 mg – PLN 80;
5. Viagra – four 25 mg coated tablets – 150 zlotys;
6. Viagra – two coated tablets 50 mg – PLN 90;
7. Viagra – four 50 mg coated tablets – 180 zlotys.

Before use, read the leaflet, which contains indications, contraindications, data on side effects and dosage as well as information on the use of the medicinal product, or consult your doctor or pharmacist, as each drug used improperly is a threat to your life or health. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.Now you can use e-consultation also free of charge under the National Health Fund.