man holding his crotch area with his hands

About Erection Pills & PDE5s

Oral medications have been the first line of treatment for ED. The pills & PDE5s include Sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra, Staxyn), tadalafil (Cialis) and avanafil (Stendra). They work by enhancing the effects of nitric oxide, which is a natural chemical that your body generates for relaxing the muscles in the penis. The increases blood flow facilitates an erection.

For most men who struggle with keeping an erection firm enough for sex, pills & PDE5s work well, however, they are not a solution for sexual spontaneity and they have side effects.

Unpleasant Side Effects From Pills & PDE5s

Pills & PDE5s used for reversal of ED like Viagra and Cialis can cause side effects such as headaches or a feeling of sickness.

More specifically side effects might include headache, flushing, dyspepsia (stomach ache), and nasal stuffiness, which are universal in all three drugs, with alterations in colour vision (sildenafil and vardenafil) and muscle aches and pains (tadalafil).

If you too are experiencing the same side effects, then you should look to adjust dosing as well as exploring alternatives.

Are Erection Pills Safe?

There are many varieties of erection or “boner pills” that can be bought online and in sex shops. The problem with these pills is they are generally imported from small unregulated producers. The ingredients listed on the packs have been found in some cases to be inaccurate and not approved by Canadian Regulatory Authorities.

The PDE5 pills supplied by large pharmaceutical companies are reliable and their safety has been rigorously tested. Most of the adverse side effects, while unpleasant, are not serious. A guidance paper from the Canadian Urological Association states that “considering baseline risks in the included studies, out of 1000 patients taking the drug, on average, eight will experience a serious adverse event with sildenafil, seven with tadalafil, and eight with vardenafil.”

Serious side effects like sudden hearing loss or vision have been documented. A recent paper in the Journal of Ophthalmology – JAMA – documents the increased risk of vision-threatening ocular conditions.

When taking Pills & PDE5s for ED isn’t safe ?

At FullMast we suggest patients take any medication for erectile dysfunction only after consulting a medical doctor. Pills & PDE5s for erectile dysfunction might not work or should be avoided if you:

  • Take nitrate drugs that are commonly prescribed for chest pain such as nitroglycerin, isosorbide mononitrate and isosorbide dinitrate.
  • Suffer from low blood pressure (hypotension) or high blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Suffer from severe liver disease
  • Have kidney disease that requires dialysis

A longer term solution that avoids the ongoing costs and unpleasant side effects of pills & PDE5s

The costs of pills and drugs mounts over time. They take away the spontaneity and disrupt the intimacy.

SONICWAVE is a long term therapy so you don’t need to go to the pharmacy or deal with online pharmacies.

If you are using erection pills and are experiencing headaches or they make you feel sick you should explore alternatives. Our patients who find these drugs work but do not like the side effects find that SONICWAVE works. Many men find that having to take the drugs reduce sexual spontaneity.

FullMast advocates non-drug approaches to treating ED. SONICWAVE™ is a physical therapy that causes the nerves and blood vessel in the penis to regenerate. It is non surgical and non drug, with no documented adverse side effects.