Viagra (sildenafil citrate) Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is the world’s most popular drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction, also commonly referred to as ED, or just impotence, is a condition that affects millions of men in the world every year and is characterized by complete or partial inability to obtain an erection. Some men diagnosed with erectile dysfunction are actually able to get erections but they either go away very soon or are not hard enough to have sex. Men can experience inability to obtain an erection due to many reasons, but the important thing is that these factors can lead to the arteries getting blocked as a result of which not enough blood can fill the spongy tissues of the penis (corpora cavernosa), and the mechanism of erection is interrupted. There are currently three oral medicines prescribed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, all of them have similar mechanism of action and belong to the group called phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5 inhibitors). By blocking a specific enzyme (PDE5) responsible for reversing the erection Viagra allows every man to enjoy a longer erection that nevertheless goes away once ejaculation occurs. Viagra is currently produced and marketed by the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer and first became available in 1998, very soon receiving the approval of the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Even though taking Viagra is comparatively safe, as every drug it has a number of contraindications and possible interactions. It is understood that buying Viagra online is the cheapest way of staying sexually active with less money spent, but the first time you are going to take this drug it’s best to talk to a doctor. This is necessary because your health needs to be evaluated for the doctor to be able to prescribe the right dose. Viagra is currently available in doses of 20 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg and how much of it you are supposed to take if often determined by a number of factors rather than just one. For instance, such factors as the drugs you are currently taking, health conditions you have ever been diagnosed with, your age, your habits and lifestyle – all can be important.

It has been estimated that Viagra can cause interactions with 263 drugs, among them 29 major drug interactions, 224 moderate drug interactions and 10 minor drug interactions. There are currently websites that you can visit and check whether the drugs you are taking at the moment are likely to interact with Viagra in any way, or if you are not sure about the name of the medicine you are using or possibility of an interaction you can always talk to your health care provider to find out if there are any risks for you.

There are also drugs that must absolutely not be combined with Viagra as in some cases their simultaneous use may lead to a sudden drop in blood pressure and even death – these are nitrate-based drugs that are prescribed to treat chest pain. They can be also found in the so-called street drugs such as amyl nitrate or nitrite. As for the health conditions that can interfere with the treatment – you are supposed to mention all you ever had, as well as those running in your family history. There are a number of serious side effects of taking Viagra that are nevertheless very rare. However, the fact of having them in your personal medical history can increase the likelihood of developing them again. These side effects include sudden loss of vision and priapism (an abnormally long and painful erection).

Sudden loss of vision is caused by the decreased blood flow to the optic nerve of the eye and can still be treated if you seek emergency medical assistance as soon as you notice this symptom. As for priapism, which is known to last for longer than 4 hours (i.e. after Viagra is supposed to lose its effects), this condition can seriously affect your penis damaging the tissues due to congestion of blood in the arteries. Taking Viagra is also associated with certain mild side effects, but these are quite rare and in most cases just go away after a couple of hours. The most common ones include headache, upset stomach, warmth or redness in your face, stuffy nose and memory problems.

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