January 2010 Archives

Greed may be good, but hard is the best. Add Michael Douglas to our list of Celeb Viagra Users. Or maybe he's a Cialis man?

God bless her that she likes older guys. And some wonderful enhancements have happened in the last few years--Viagra, Cialis--that can make us all feel younger."

Right now we have three ED drugs: Viagra (sildenafil), Levitra (vardenafil), and Cialis (tadalafil). Cialis is supposed to take about the same amount of time to work but to last longer. Levitra is supposed to work somewhat faster than Viagra and its effect lasts about the same amount of time. These are the general characteristics, but each person responds differently, and what you've had to eat and drink can also have a big effect.

There's a new drug on the horizon called avanafil. We don't have the "marketing name" yet; that's the generic name. The company developing this drug, Vivus, is claiming it works in only 15 minutes:

Two-thirds of men who took a 50 milligram dose of avanafil were able to have intercourse within 15 minutes, the company said. The number increased to 69 percent for men who were given a 100 milligram dose and 72 percent for those given 200 milligrams. For men who took a placebo, the rate was 29 percent.

They are aiming to go to market in 2012. We'll see how much room there is for a new drug, especially when Viagra goes generic, lowering its price. It should be fun to watch. We'll keep an eye on this drug as it develops.

How soon before sexual intercourse should I take Viagra?

A good rule of thumb is to take Viagra 45 minutes or an hour before you expect to have sex. After a few hours, its effects lessen considerably, so timing is of a concern.

Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. How quickly Viagra works will depend on how much you have eaten, whether you've had any alcohol, and other personal factors. The best way to find out the answer is through practice, either alone or with a partner. Experiment with the drug, find out how it works on you at a time and in a place where there's no pressure to perform. Then you'll be ready for another situation where time is more of the essence.

 

Here's something new to think about. Some Israeli researches seem to be having success treating some men with erectile dysfunction by blasting them with sound waves:

The treatment, on trial in Israel, uses a mild form of lithotripsy, a technique to treat kidney stones. Waves of sound are beamed through the skin, and although they pass harmlessly through body tissue, they are at just the right pressure to smash up kidney stones into tiny sand-like particles that are then passed out of the body in urine. Several studies show that this form of shock-wave therapy has a beneficial effect on blood vessels.

There can be many physical and psychological causes for erectile dysfunction. Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis don't cure the physical causes, though in some cases they can help resolve psychological issues of confidence.

Treatments like the one described in the article aim to fix the underlying physical causes of some men's erectile dysfunction. This is a more sophisticated approach than the one-pill-fits-all way it is now being treated. We should look forward to more advances like this as the many causes of erectile dysfunction are better understood and doctors devise treatments for each specific cause.

Is it safe to take Viagra along with herbal supplements for erectile dysfunction?

We are not big fans of herbal supplements that purport to treat erectile dysfunction. There have been many press reports over the year of such supplements actually including sildenafil citrate. So, there's a risk if you combine an herbal supplement with a Viagra tablet, you're doubling your dose. That is, to say the least, not advisable.

The other issue is that in combining an herbal supplement with Viagra you are, in effect, mixing drugs. That's never a good idea unless you have discussed it with a doctor or pharmacist first. Drugs may have interactions, and there's no telling what exactly is in the herbal supplement or how potent it is. So it's very difficult to determine ahead of time what kinds of interactions you can expect.

Viagra has been proved safe through its use over the last 10 years by millions of men around the world. It is effective on its own. We don't recommend mixing it with anything.


 

A story is floating around the Internet that some guy in Spain has invented sheets permeated with VIagra:

Spanish genius Pep Torres, 44, has used nanotechnology to infuse the sex drug's arousing ingredient into the fibres of a bed sheet.