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Are ED drugs side effects dangerous or just an annoyance

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Posted 8/5/2010 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
I have taken Viagra a few times (both 50mg and 100mg pills) and I get the following side effects: stuffy nose, dry mouth and something that is kind of weird--a bluish tint to my vision for anything that is normally white. If I take the drug at night the side effects are gone when I wake up.

This is the first time I have ever taken a drug with a noticeable side effect. The side effects aren't that big of a deal, just noticeable

Should I stop taking the drug or can I continue to take Viagra if I don't really mind the side effects.

I have looked online and from what I have seen, it has acknowledged these are known side effects but I have never seen it say "Stop taking the drug and call your physician immediately".

Maybe I will switch to Cialis and see what happens.

Dan
Posted 8/5/2010 10:58 PM (GMT 0)
I get the stuffy head and dry mouth all the time. Have had it since 2002. There is not any way to negate it that I am aware of. Just be careful if you are also taking Nitrates. That can be really serious.

Cialis has different side effects, so does Levitra. So you try them all and decide which one has the least...

Posted 8/5/2010 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
Back in the day a lot of us used to take stuff so we would see bluish tint :-).....I have taken Viagra 100mg practically every night for the last year or more, and I've never gotten the bluish tint. I did have a stuffy nose, and perhaps a litle dry mouth, but those aren't as noticeable anymore. I still get a little "glow' and my eyes seem to be more blood shot late at night, but I guess I'll take the downsides with the upside of Penile rehab.

Arnie in DE

Posted 8/6/2010 1:01 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Arnie...... did you ever try Cialis??  My Doc gave me some last week.... still have to put it to use though.  I'm debating whether I should wait till I'm 6 weeks post op or do it now.
Posted 8/6/2010 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
Vam...i have not tried Cialis, I guess because the muscle aches side effects scared me off. I get good results from Viagra (Manly from All Day Chemist), so I just kept on course. I started the Viagra about 3-4 weeks after treatment (surgery) with Surgeon's blessing, so I would ask your doctor if you shouldn't get underway.

Arnie in DE

Posted 8/6/2010 1:27 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Arnie!
Posted 8/6/2010 2:30 AM (GMT 0)
I tried Vitamin V at 100 mg and got all the symptoms you described: blue tint, stuffy nose, etc. The only thing missing was the wood. I tried Cialis at 20 mg and got exactly the same disappointing results - except for no blue tint.

Jeff
Posted 8/7/2010 2:53 AM (GMT 0)
I started taking Cialis in 2003. Along with Viagra, I would alternate the days for each. I never got the back aches that some complain about, but would get leg cramps if I took Cialis back to back. But it didn't always happen so I never knew what made the cramps happen.

After the PC Surgery, Cialis quit working completely so I stopped taking it.

Posted 8/7/2010 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
I am on 5mg per day Cialis - constant side effects are low back pain (manageable with ibuprophen) and nasal stuffiness/congestion. Stop the cialis, as I did during IGRT, they go away.
For now it is tolerable.
Posted 8/7/2010 3:20 AM (GMT 0)
I have tried them all.  I get the best results from Viagra though.  Taking on an empty stomach works the best and gives me the most side effects.  Currently I try taking 50mg and wait 1/2 to an hour and then take another 50mg.  This maybe the best for me after alot of trials and errors.

Frank

Posted 8/7/2010 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
My doc prescribed 2.5 mg daily of Cialis. Is that enough?

steve

Posted 8/7/2010 9:23 PM (GMT 0)
Can I piggyback on that question... I was given 5 mg Cialis. I dind't think they would prescribe less than that. I have an order in fo 20 mg tabs of Cialis.. I have no reason to think that will be a problem. If it creates problems, i'll cut it in half.
Posted 8/7/2010 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
The cialis tablets are teardrop shape, and not scored, so cutting them into quarters is problematic. I lose a lot to dust - put all that in a pill bottle, and when it looks like a lot, I'll add that with a short quarter. I'm pretty sure my daily dose is never 5 mg. My Rx is for 20mg tablets, because the insurance covers only 8 per month regardless of strength.

Can't say what taking a 20mg every day would do - with the back pain I see at 5mg, I won't even think about trying it.

Have not tried others yet.

Posted 8/8/2010 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
The side affects you describe are just that, side affects. They are not a disease or disorder, including the bluish tint (cyanopsia). The only issue is if they bother you enough to affect other things. When I first took Viagra, my only symptom was a headache, but it was bad enough to affect my driving, and that's what I did for a living. If I had killed myself in an auto accident, I guess my next of kin could have said the side affects of Viagra are what did me in! By the way, I never found a difference between 50 or 100 mg, and it was a lot cheaper to cut them in half.
Posted 8/8/2010 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the responses.

Dan
Posted 8/8/2010 5:20 AM (GMT 0)
Last time I saw my surgeon he gave me viagra 100 mg.he ask me how it works? I told him great,the only complaint was the bluish. he took the prescription and changed for cialis 20 mg.

my doc told me I can get permanet damage in my ayes. shocked

Posted 8/8/2010 6:37 AM (GMT 0)
A very very rare complication of these drugs is sudden loss of vision in one eye which can be permanent:

http://www.adrugrecall.com/viagra/sudden-vision-loss.html

The bluish vision is different. Viagra inhibits an enzyme PDE-5 which is found in the penis, leading to an increase in a substance called cyclic GMP which leads to increased blood flow. Viagra can tickle a related enzyme, PDE-6 which is found in the retina which causes the bluish vision:

http://www.usrf.org/news/030303_PDE5_inhibitors/030303_PDE5_inhibitors.html

Cialis and Levitra don't affect type 6 of phosphodiesterase, so they don't cause blue vision. The blue vision doesn't have anything to do with the rare cases of vision loss.
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