What you should know about PDE-5 drugs
None of the PDE-5 drugs should be taken by men who are taking nitrites (such as nitroglycerin). If nitrates are present, the PDE-5 drugs can cause dangerous drops in blood pressure that could lead to a heart attack or stroke. They can have the same effect if taken with illegal nitrate drugs, which are also known as “poppers” (amyl nitrate or butyl nitrate).
To avoid this risk and other possible drug interactions, make sure your physician knows about all your medications before you receive a prescription for PDE-5 drugs. If you have to go to the emergency department with chest pain or are in any other situation where you may be given nitroglycerin, tell your physician about your use of Viagra®, Levitra®, or Cialis®.
All three of the PDE-5 drugs can cause side effects, including headaches and flushing. Once taken, the drugs affect the whole body, not just the penis. Be sure your physician knows your full medical history so that you can be screened for conditions that may make it dangerous for you to take a PDE-5 drug. Your physician should recommend follow-up visits to make sure the drug is working and not causing you any problems.
Some men have suffered blindness in one eye after taking a PDE-5 drug. The FDA added a warning to the labeling information for these drugs in 2005 after learning of these cases of blindness. If you are taking a PDE-5 drug and notice that you can’t see well out of one or both eyes, you should not take any more of the drug and should call your physician immediately.
Another possible, though uncommon, side effect of the PDE-5 drugs and other treatments for erectile dysfunction is an erection that does not go away. This is called priapism. If not stopped, this condition can cause scarring of the penis that permanently takes away the ability to have erections.
Anyone with priapism should get emergency treatment as soon as he realizes that his erection is lasting too long and no later than 3 hours after developing the erection. Your physician should be reachable without delay and able to provide emergency treatment in case of priapism. If not, you should go immediately to the emergency department of a nearby hospital and explain that you need help.
Important: Remember that the drug companies that manufacture Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis and legitimate medical providers never send out e-mails offering to sell you the drug without a prescription and without a medical examination. There are no “generic” versions of these drugs approved for marketing in the United States. Anyone trying to sell you “generic” or “overseas” or “no prescription needed” versions of the PDE-5 drugs is breaking the law.
Protect yourself by ignoring and deleting these spam e-mails. You should suspect spam even when you see the words “scientifically proven,” or “shown by clinical trials,” which are used to make the spam sound official. If you respond, you may become a victim of fraud or theft (including credit card theft). You may never receive the promised drug after paying money for it. Or you may receive “drug” that has no active ingredient in it, or that contains harmful ingredients that could make you sick.
To obtain a legal, FDA-approved version of a PDE-5 drug that is manufactured according to FDA standards and prescribed with your personal safety in mind, you must see a licensed physician and be medically evaluated.
Also keep in mind that the people who send out spam e-mails are very likely to invade your computer with viruses and other malicious software. To protect yourself, delete the spam and empty your e-mail trashbin without opening any attachments or following any links. Install and maintain commercial firewall and antivirus software on your computer if you haven’t already.
To learn more about how you can protect yourself from Internet fraud, visit the website of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov).