Viagra and Cialis

Right…So I am currently having a bit of trouble keeping it up (as distinct from getting it up, which is a whole different kettle of fish). Basically I am unfit and need to do more cardio, which I am currently doing. Additionally I was advised to use Viagra for a 4sum that I attended a few weeks ago – nervous guys aren’t happy guys. Note that I do not intend to be using Viagra on a long term basis. I see it as a short term fix in my case, and I should be working on the underlying problem – my basic fitness, which has great positive impacts on the rest of my life. Your case might be different. See a doctor even if you can get it from a mate. They should not be mixed with some other drugs / medications. Additionally there can be some interesting side effects to these drugs such as deafness (what ??) and lots of blue in your vision (which is fine if you got the hots for Smurfette). I went to the doctor and asked about getting it, mentioned I was going to the gym and I had not fainted on the cardio bike, its a short term fix etc etc at which point he wrote me a script. A pretty penny later I had a box of 12 blue diamond tablets at 16$ each, which is cheaper than 3 beers and a beer fat *wink wink*. I mentioned Viagra in a chat room and a lady said that Cialis is safer. She also pointed me at the US Food and Drug Administration, which got me thinking about the 2 and so I did some deeper research, rather than my quick fix at Wikipedia. From what I can tell Viagra is about 4 hours worth of bang for buck. Cialis is 36 hours (but not used by me as yet).

When they are not safe Not all men can safely take erectile dysfunction medications. They can be dangerous if you have certain health problems or you’re taking particular medications. Erectile dysfunction medications may not be safe if you have:

• Heart problems, including reduced blood flow (aortic stenosis or left ventricular outflow obstruction), heart pain (angina), abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia) or a recent heart attack
• High or low blood pressure that isn’t controlled
• A history of stroke within the last six months
• Eye problems, such as retinitis pigmentosa, or if you have a family history of certain eye problems
• Severe liver disease, including cirrhosis
• Kidney disease that requires dialysis

Never take Viagra, Levitra or Cialis if you take nitrate drugs to treat heart pain (angina). Like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, nitrate drugs dilate blood vessels. Their combined effects can cause dangerously low blood pressure and loss of consciousness. Medications that contain nitrates include:

• Nitroglycerin (Nitro-Bid, Minitran, others)
• Isosorbide (Dilatrate-SR, Isordil, Monoket, others)
• Illegal drugs such as amyl nitrite or “poppers”

Tell your doctor about any medications you’re taking. A number of other drugs can also interact with Viagra, Levitra or Cialis. They include:

• Alpha blockers
• Antibiotics
• Anti-seizure medications
• Blood thinners
• Anti-arrhythmic heart medication

How they Work Important Note: They work by stopping the thing that makes the stiffy go *down*, not by making it go *up*. Sexual arousal is required before ‘hand’ (he he he he)…. unless you are taking big doses of this shiz in which case linoleum will make you crack a fat. I do NOT recommend doing that – see side effects.
Well what is a stiffy ? Its the inflow of blood into the spongy bits in your willy. These spongy bits are known as corpus cavernosum - remember that phrase for later kids. It will help when you read the PDFs, and it might even get you a BJ. I am going to go into the technical aspects of the whole stiffy process and when these drugs do their thing. Bear with me, it gets interesting, I only use big words where required, and it helps when thinking about the side effects of this shiz. The basic steps are:

1. “Coooor ! I think she wants me” which causes stupidity in both sexes amongst other things…
2. The release of Nitric Oxide (no, not the laughing gas stuff, thats Nitrous Oxide) from nerve terminals and endothelial cells in your John Thomas.
3. The Nitric Oxide then activates the enzyme guanylate cyclase
4. Guanylate cyclase increases the levels of cGMP (cyclic guanosine monophosphate)
5. Lots of cGMP means lots of blood in your willy’s spongy bits. IE you have a stiffy. Got that: cGMP gives you a stiffy.
6. The details of this step I leave up to you but Rock Out with your Spock Out, and send me the pics (females only tah )
7. PDE5 is released and breaks down cGMP…less blood flow, and stiffy is gone. Cialas and Viagra work by inhibiting PDE5. No breakdown of cGMP and ta da you’re still doing push ups with no hands.

Cialas and Viagra are PDE5 inhibitors which is used to break down cGMP and help maintain an erection. At this point I am going to go with Cialis, simply because it interacts with other PDE family members 100 times less than Viagra – check the stats under Mechanism of Action. In my view the less interaction the better.

Side Effects The most common side effects of VIAGRA are headache, flushing of the face, and upset stomach. Less common side effects that may occur are temporary changes in color vision (such as trouble telling the difference between blue and green objects or having a blue color tinge to them), eyes being more sensitive to light, or blurred vision. The most common side effects with CIALIS are headache, indigestion, back pain, muscle aches, flushing, and stuffy or runny nose. These side effects usually go away after a few hours. Patients who get back pain and muscle aches usually get it 12 to 24 hours after taking CIALIS. Back pain and muscle aches usually go away by themselves within 48 hours.

Priapism Getting a boner for more than 4 hours is considered a medical emergency - go to hospital now. Getting it down again involves a needle and in severe cases a scalpel.  Not getting it down leads to scarring and never getting a boner EVER again. Priapism can cause permanent damage to your penis. You might get it from Viagra and Cialis….or by being bitten by a spider (watch that video for how they fix priapism. OMG groin clenching, knee bending, foetal positioning video !). The blood can not get back out of the penis and since there is no new blood getting in, the old blood has reduced oxygen content…. which leads to clotting, and then scarring of the penile tissue – no more stiffies  At this point you can’t get rid of your boner no matter how unsexed up you are feeling. Scared yet… don’t be My experience with Viagra was fine.

Hearing Loss No good as you might not hear your partner coming! :p
No seriously, 17.9% of a group of 11000 guys over 40 said they experienced hearing loss when they used Viagra. OK the study needs some more work to count as really good science but still.

Blue Vision (I could not find a similar vision study for Cialis. Please comment if you do). Combine this shiz with LSD and you will have one smurfy time . But seriously, ramp up the Viagra dosage and ramp up the side effects

• About 3 percent of men taking doses of 25-50 mg
• About 11 percent taking 100 mg doses
• About 50 percent of men taking 200 mg
• Nearly all men taking 600 to 800 mg.

The effects peak 1-2 hours after you have taken the tablet. The FDA reports less than 0.1% for Cialis, and a big fat zero for Viagra… which is at odds with the other study. Bear in mind the FDA is a report, not a study per say. Right just to be clear here. On the FDA site the number of people who reported side effects from using PDE5 inhibitors Viagra and Cialis is 43. This is too small a group to do good science with and so the FDA is still investigating. Fair enough.

Inhibition of other PDE family members This comparison of Viagra VS Cialis relates to how much they inhibit the other PDE family members when compared to how much they inhibit PDE5.

Viagra
>80-fold    PDE1
>700-fold   PDE2, PDE4, PDE7, PDE8, PDE9, PDE10, and PDE11
4,000-fold PDE3 an enzyme found in the heart and blood vessels, involved in control of cardiac contractility.
10-fold       PDE6  which is found in the retina and is responsible for phototransduction pathway of the retina.

Cialis
>10,000-fold PDE1, PDE2, PDE4, and PDE7 enzymes found in the heart, brain, 2 blood vessels, liver, leukocytes, skeletal muscle, and other organs.
>10,000-fold PDE3 involved in control of cardiac contractility.
700-fold          PDE6   which is found in the retina and is responsible for phototransduction.
>9,000-fold PDE8, PDE9, and PDE10
14-fold           PDE11A1 40-fold PDE11A4
Above are two of the four known forms of PDE11. PDE11 is an enzyme found in human prostate, testes, skeletal muscle and in other tissues.In vitro, tadalafil inhibits human recombinant PDE11A1 and, to a lesser degree, PDE11A4 activities at concentrations within the therapeutic range. The physiological role and clinical consequence of PDE11 inhibition in humans have not been defined.

Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate) (pdf)
Cialis (Tadalafil) (pdf)

Other Uses You must read this Wiki page on Viagra. Check out the Altitude Sickness section… and then for a laugh read the Non Medical Uses section….flowers, jet lag, hamsters… need I say more Who ever wrote the Cialis page is boring