Oral Medications For Erectile Dysfunction
This is often the least expensive option.
What is erectile dysfunction (ED)?
On the flip side, sildenafil and Viagra (as well as a specific regimen of Cialis and tadalafil) offer you the choice to take them as needed. So, if you want to spend all day in bed playing video games, you don’t have to worry about missing a daily pill. And if you know that sex is on the horizon, you can take these meds accordingly. You’ll need to take sildenafil/Viagra 30-60 minutes before sex. Some men report that chewables and lozenges kick in faster than pills, but this is not guaranteed.
Care at Mayo Clinic
Viagra’s active ingredient is sildenafil, but you might not know it from looking around at your ED options. Why would Viagra be so much more expensive than sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra)? Why does anyone opt for the more expensive Viagra if both have the same ingredient? Some men familiar with Viagra, having used it before successfully, want to stick with what works. They trust it, and the brain is the largest and most important sex organ after all; psychology can be a potent tool in combating ED. Sildenafil is also the active ingredient in Revatio, a drug designed to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.
- Oral PDE5 inhibitors are taken 30-60 minutes before activity.
- Injections should be used with proper medical guidance.
- Vacuum devices require consistent use for effectiveness.
- Surgical options are generally considered after less invasive treatments.
The drugs are identical in almost every way — they’re even both made by Pfizer — but Revatio is made only in 20mg tablets.
| Product | Dosage | Quantity + Bonus | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levitra Generic | 60mg | 120 + 8 Pills | 372.33€ 354.60€ | |
| Cialis Generic | 2.5mg | 20 Pills | 40.73€ 38.79€ | |
| Viagra Professional | 100mg | 60 + 2 Pills | 146.74€ 139.75€ | |
| Levitra Generic | 10mg | 60 + 6 Pills | 112.98€ 107.60€ | |
| Cialis Generic | 10mg | 20 Pills | 48.23€ 45.93€ | |
| Kamagra Soft Tabs | 100mg | 60 + 4 Pills | 180.59€ 171.99€ | |
| Kamagra Soft Tabs | 100mg | 272 + 12 Pills | 593.42€ 565.16€ | |
| Cialis Professional | 20mg | 90 + 2 Pills | 241.49€ 229.99€ | |
| Levitra Generic | 40mg | 270 + 10 Pills | 561.89€ 535.13€ | |
| Cialis Professional | 20mg | 180 + 4 Pills | 423.11€ 402.96€ | |
| Kamagra Polo | 100mg | 120 + 6 Pills | 327.15€ 311.57€ | |
| Levitra Original | 20mg | 34 + 2 Pills | 188.51€ 179.53€ | |
| Kamagra Gold | 50 mg | 180 + 6 Pills | 371.27€ 353.59€ | |
| Cialis Generic | 5mg | 180 + 10 Pills | 159.65€ 152.05€ | |
| Cialis Generic | 2.5mg | 360 + 10 Pills | 260.03€ 247.65€ |
Many providers that stock generic sildenafil for ED prefer these 20mg tablets because they allow for more dose flexibility from a single stockpile of pills. A doctor can prescribe 20mg, 40mg, 60mg, or 100mg, and the patient simply takes the corresponding number of 20mg pills.
Other Treatments for ED
But a complete understanding of your options requires a little knowledge about the differences between Viagra, generic Viagra, and generic sildenafil. This is the original “little blue pill,” and it’s the most expensive option. Made by Pfizer, Viagra is available in 25mg, 50mg, and 100mg tablets from most providers. We consider Roman the best choice for branded Viagra thanks to their low per-dose pricing compared to Hims ($90 vs. $138).
Other oral agents
This is a generic form of Viagra either made by Pfizer or by an authorized company with which Pfizer has shared their exact formula. It’s identical to branded Viagra in every way except that it won’t say “Viagra” on the prescription label. This is one of the least expensive options, though it’s often pricier than generic sildenafil. This is a formula therapeutically identical to branded Viagra but with discrepancies in inactive ingredients, color, shape, and delivery mechanism. Doses are theoretically supposed to be the same, super p force 200mg but there are caveats. Both branded and generic Viagra come in 25mg tablets, 50mg tablets, and 100mg tablets.
| Treatment | Description | Current Status |
|---|---|---|
| Shockwave Therapy | Stimulates blood vessel growth | Early-stage research |
| Stem Cell Therapy | Regenerates tissue | Experimental |
| Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections | Promotes tissue repair | Limited clinical evidence |
| Gene Therapy | Alters genetic factors | Under development |
If the most common dose is 50mg, then those 100mg doses are going to sit on the shelf, gradually approaching their expiration date and causing providers to lose money.
- Bremelanotide (Vyleesi) injection, approved for women, studied in men.
- Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) as an alternative to shockwaves.
- Sildenafil topical gel formulation for localized effect.
- Carnitine supplementation for possible neuroprotective benefits.
- Addressing relationship conflicts through couples therapy.
- Saw palmetto is not effective for ED and may worsen it.
Like tadalafil, sildenafil doses can vary to greater degrees, especially as delivery mechanisms change.
- Prostaglandin E1 (alprostadil) is the most common injection medication.
- Vacuum device use prior to penile implant surgery to maintain length.
- Tribulus terrestris has no proven benefit for ED in human studies.
- Neuromodulation (tibial nerve stimulation) for neurogenic bladder/ED.
- Adaptogenic herbs (rhodiola, ashwagandha) for stress adaptation.
- Regular monitoring of HbA1c in diabetic patients is critical.
For example, BlueChew’s chewable tablets come in 30mg and 45mg doses, neither of which exist in the typical dose ranges for pills.
Lifestyle and home remedies
8.5mg and 11.2mg doses from Hims We’ll get a little more into complex offerings in the “Combination therapies” section later. Ultimately, you’ll decide with the prescribing doctor which dose and schedule are best for your lifestyle. Here’s a quick visual reference to let you know what kinds of branded and generic tadalafil our top choices carry: The tadalafil landscape has gotten a little more complicated in recent years. While BlueChew was steadily our top choice for tadalafil for years, Hims has caught up and surpassed it slightly, beating BlueChew to a chewable daily tadalafil offering that could undercut BlueChew’s tadalafil pricing if you only needed a low dose. That said, Hims’ low prices on tadalafil only apply to daily versions of those lower 2.5mg and 5mg doses.
More Information
Both BlueChew and Hims lag behind Rocket Rx’s pricing for as-needed tadalafil at 10mg and 20mg doses, however. So, the provider that’s best for you will have a lot to do with the dose you need and whether you want to take tadalafil daily or as needed. Here’s how those prices compare, with lower prices often coming from extended billing cycles (quarterly, biannually, etc.): If you’re new to ED meds and want to try as-needed tadalafil at a dosage no stronger than 5mg, then tadalafil from Hims could conceivably be your most economical option. That’s because you could request daily tadalafil tablets on a yearly billing cycle, which brings the cost per dose to nearly $1.00. You could then temporarily cancel your Hims subscription until you make your way through that stock of 360 doses and reinstate it whenever you need more. Here’s a quick visual reference detailing which versions of sildenafil our top choices offer: Our recommendation here, for most men, is generic sildenafil.
Erectile Dysfunction Injections
Canceling and restarting through Hims carries no financial penalty. That said, BlueChew offers a free month of as-needed tadalafil as a way to test their service; all you pay is a sex for man tablet small shipping fee. That means you can see if these medications work for your ED for a $5 shipping charge. So, if you want to maximize your savings and you don’t mind the hassle of dealing with two or three companies, your path may look something like this: Try BlueChew’s 6mg tadalafil chews (as needed) to see if the medication is effective for you. If it is, consider switching to Hims (either chews or pills) to get the best price per dose on your medication.
Who Can I Contact With General Questions About the Procedures?
If you find you need a stronger dose, you can head to Rocket Rx, which has the best prices for 10mg and 20mg doses. The window of effectiveness requires a bit of planning Loses efficacy when you take it with meals Mild side effects, such headaches, are more common than with other treatments like Stendra Most people can’t predict with complete certainty whether or not they’ll have sex on any given day. Even if you’re accustomed to daily intercourse, your partner could get sick, you could strike out at the club, or your in-laws could pay you a surprise visit. For that reason, some men prefer not to take a daily tablet of Cialis or tadalafil when the prospect of sex is not guaranteed. This is even truer for men who’ve experienced some mild side effects from frequent or daily tadalafil use. Sildenafil is far more economical and allows for better dose tailoring. Rocket Rx has the best prices for sildenafil on the market, and it offers these prices without a major commitment.
Erectile dysfunction care at Geisinger
Effects on the body are identical to the original; the only differences may be in the appearance of the pills and the inactive ingredients used. Authorized generics are either made by the original manufacturer or by a company they’ve permitted to do the manufacturing. These pills are completely identical to the original branded option, right down to the inactive ingredients and appearance, but they usually don’t include the original brand name on the label. To make matters more confusing, telemedicine providers will sometimes use original brand names when selling generics that are not “authorized generics” because it makes it easier for their customers to understand what they’re choosing. Others sell branded pills, authorized generics, and regular generics without doing enough work to explain the differences to their customers.
What Is ED?
This gets the most confusing with sildenafil and Viagra, and we’ll break that down a little later. If you’re confused by all of it, make sure to ask your doctor which one would be right for you. Less planning needed with its extended duration of action Can be taken daily or as needed Can be taken with or without food Tends to be preferred by men and their partners, compared to sildenafil Costs a little more than sildenafil in some as-needed cases Risk of mild side effects is slightly higher than Stendra Often known by the common brand name Cialis, tadalafil is a PDE5 inhibitor that you can take once per day to provide 18-36 hours of effectiveness. This significantly reduces the planning typically involved in using other treatments like sildenafil. That said, some users only take tadalafil as needed, and those dosages can sometimes be different. While low prices from Hims and Strut rely on lower doses or 5-12-month billing cycles, Rocket gets you low prices from orders containing up to 64 tablets. That means you stand to spend a lot less up front to find out if the medication and dose are a fit. For men new to ED medication who want to test the waters while spending as little as possible, BlueChew may be a good place to start, if only because the medication is super convenient to take and because the company offers a free trial. So you can try it out with very little financial risk. Hims also offers sildenafil in a chew, but only combined with another medication and only at a relatively high combination of doses (which we’ll discuss later in our combination therapy section). However, there are definitely situations in which you might want to opt for Hims’ sildenafil: Hims sildenafil is available in a wider number of doses, making it our top choice for men who find they need to fine-tune or maximize their dosage of sildenafil for the best effect or to reduce side effects.
What Are the Best Medications for Erectile Dysfunction?
You and your doctor will decide what dosage and schedule are right for you. Side effects with tadalafil are about as common as with sildenafil and are similarly mild. Dose for dose, as-needed tadalafil is often a little bit more expensive than sildenafil. However, tadalafil may be the better value, mainly because: In studies, men and their partners prefer tadalafil to sildenafil. Tadalafil has superior psychological outcomes to sildenafil, providing more sexual confidence.3 The larger window for sexual activity (18-36 hours, compared to 4-6 hours with sildenafil) for many people justifies the slightly higher expense.
How quickly do ED pills work?
Daily tadalafil offers the lowest cost per dose among PDE5 inhibitors. Branded Cialis and generic tadalafil are available in the same dose increments across most platforms, with 2.5mg, 5mg, 10mg, and 20mg being the most common. Daily doses typically start at 2.5mg, while as-needed doses typically start at 5mg. These are the doses you’ll see from Hims for its tadalafil tablets. Chewable tablets and lozenges often have different doses.