10 Things About Erectile Dysfunction
1. Why Did This Happen?
Erectile dysfunction is super common as men get older.
The most common reason that people develop this is usually due to cardiovascular (or heart) disease. The same issues that happen to the blood vessels in the heart essentially take place in the penis and affect the quality of the erection. Conditions like high blood pressure (or hypertension), diabetes and high cholesterol all are risk factors for ED.
2. Anything else that may play a role?
There are many other conditions that can also affect your erections and contribute to erectile dysfunction.
Diseases like BPH (or enlarged prostate), depression and nervous system disease can also play a role. Even your medications that you take for these conditions can affect the quality of the erections. Specifically, certain medications that you take for blood pressure, depression, or enlarged prostate.
3. Is erectile dysfunction a big deal?
Well that depends.
It depends on your desire to have sex or masterbate and how much that affects your quality of life.
However, even if that isn’t something that interests you, ED can sometimes be the first sign of developing heart disease. So if you are developing ED, it’s important to check in with your primary care physician for a full physical to make sure your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. is doing ok.
4. Why does it matter if I have been prescribed nitroglycerin?
You never know if you need to take nitroglycerin. That is a medication that you put under your tongue if you are having chest pain. If you combine that with the oral medications for ED, you can have a catastrophic drop in your blood pressure. This is why oral medications are not allowed when you have this on your medication list.
5. Why did my urologist ask if I get any erection at all?
The oral medications don’t work if you don’t get an erection.
They only make what erection you have stronger and last longer. If you don’t get an erection at all, don’t waste your money on oral medications.
6. Ok so I want treatment, what’s the first-line option?
Oral medications. The drug class for this is called a phosphodiesterase 5-inhibitor.
There are numerous options, and each has its own niche as to how it is different.
There are no studies that state that one of the pills is better than the other. So I can’t tell you if Viagra is better than Cialis or that Cialis is better than Levitra or vice versa. It’s kinda like Coke or Pepsi. You may like Coke. I may like Pepsi. But at the end of the day they are both good colas.
If you wanna learn about each drug more in detail click over here. If the pills aren’t working and you are being recommended penile injections, then click over here and I’ll show you exactly how to get the best result with the injection treatment.
7. What is the difference between Viagra and Sildenafil?
Essentially nothing.
Sildenafil is the generic form of Viagra.
8. What is the best way to take Viagra?
Let’s go over dosing. The lowest dose is 20 mg and the highest dose is 100 mg.
Viagra works best on an empty stomach. It’s ok if you have food in your system, but technically it can work better on an empty stomach. So that is around 1 hour before or two hours after you eat.
There is a one hour lead time before it is fully working. So lets say you take it at 4PM and try to have sex at 415PM, well it really hasn’t had time to work.
But the “window of opportunity” is around 8 hours. So if you take it at 4PM and try to have sex at 9PM, it is in your system. However, if you take it at 4PM and try and have sex tomorrow at 11AM, it is not in your system.
Now as a reminder, Viagra is only to be taken if you are planning on having sex.
For full prescribing details for Viagra click over here.
9. What are some of the side effects of Viagra?
Some people get headaches, flushed feeling in their face, upset stomach, nasal congestion and back ache.
Rarely with Viagra people will see a bluish tint to their eyesight.
So after the drug was approved, there is a theoretical but maybe very real but rare risk of developing loss of vision. This is due to loss of blood flow to the nerve for the eye. Technically speaking this could be permanent. It’s not clear if this is truly a risk of not but in theory, it’s possible.
10. What's different with Cialis?
So again, Cialis is in the same category as Viagra, it just works a bit different. The generic form for Cialis is called tadalafil.
For Cialis, it doesn’t matter if you have food in your stomach or not.
However, you need a little more ‘lead time’ and take it at least two hours prior.
On the flip side, it lasts in your system longer and the “window of opportunity” is a day. That means if you take it tonight, it will still be in your system till tomorrow afternoon.
One thing to note, if you have side effects, those too will last longer as well.
The dosing for Cialis is different. The lowest dose is 2.5 mg and the highest is 20 mg.
There can be a difference in how you take Cialis. Cialis can either be taken as needed (or prior to sex) or on a daily basis. Cialis is the only erectile dysfunction pill that is designed to be taken on a daily basis.
With daily dosing, this is a low dose pill, either 2.5 or 5 mg. It does take several weeks for this to get into your system and there are some studies that show a better result with taking this every day rather than other pills that get taken as needed.
For full prescribing details with Cialis, click over here.