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Of all the brand-name erectile dysfunction drugs, Viagra’s half-life is the shortest at only four hours, yet it remains one of the most popular ED medications. With a half-life of 17.5 hours, Cialis is the longest-lasting among ED drugs.
Introduction
Among the many criteria by which men select their erectile dysfunction drug of choice is its duration of action — the length of time the drug’s active ingredient is indeed active in your body. A key metric for this criterion is the medication’s half-life, also known as its elimination half-life.
Half-life is defined as the time it takes for blood levels of a drug’s active ingredient to be reduced by 50 percent. Among ED drugs, half-life ranges from roughly four hours to 17.5 hours.
While some might assume that the remainder of the drug’s active ingredient is cleared from the body during its second half-life, that’s not really the case. What happens during the second half-life is that the blood level of its active ingredient is reduced another 50 percent. In effect, this means that the remaining active ingredient in the body after the second half-life is roughly 25 percent of what it was when first taken.
In an insightful article posted at News-Medical.net, writer Yolanda Smith explains that “In general, the effect of the drug is considered to have a negligible therapeutic effect after four half-lives.” At that point, blood levels of the drug’s active ingredient would be about 6.25 percent of what they were at the outset.
What Men Seek from an ED Drug
Men turn to ED medications — or are directed to them by their doctors — because they can no longer get and keep an erection suitable for intercourse on their own.
By temporarily optimizing blood flow to the penis, the oral ED drugs known as PDE5 inhibitors help impotent men to regain near-normal erectile function for a window of time ranging from 4 to 36 hours, depending on the drug taken.
During that window of time, men are usually able to achieve an erection and keep it throughout sexual activity. For those whose sexual activity entails little more than a single act of intercourse during a week or a month, the pill’s duration of action need not be particularly long.
Some men, especially younger ones, might be sexually active multiple times during the course of a weekend or a couple of days strung together. For them, a longer-lasting ED medication is ideal.
ED MEDICATION (ACTIVE INGREDIENT) HALF-LIFE IS GENERIC AVAILABLE?
VIAGRA (sildenafil citrate) 4 hours YES
LEVITRA (vardenafil hydrochloride) 4 to 6 hours YES
STAXYN (vardenafil hydrochloride) 4 to 6 hours YES
STENDRA (avanafil) 5 hours NO
CIALIS (tadalafil) 17.5 hours YES
Impact of External Factors
Although the label directions for most ED drugs indicate that they can be taken with or without food, what you’ve eaten at or about the same time as taking a drug could delay the medication’s onset of action. That is particularly true of foods that contain high levels of fat, which slow down the digestive process and also retard the absorption of a drug’s active ingredient.
Alcohol can also be a factor, particularly if you’ve had a bit too much to drink. While a glass or two of wine or a cocktail can help set the mood for romance, having too much to drink can make it difficult to get an erection, whether or not you’re taking an ED drug.
As innocuous as it might sound, a glass of grapefruit juice could significantly inhibit your body’s ability to absorb an ED drug’s active ingredient. It turns out that certain chemical compounds in grapefruit juice known as furanocoumarins are the culprit here. They interfere with the body’s normal absorption processes.
Although it remains the subject of scientific debate, some medical professionals recommend against the use of the acid-reducer cimetidine (also sold under the brand-name Tagamet) at the same time as ED drugs. They theorize that cimetidine’s acid-reducing properties will slow absorption of other drugs’ active ingredients.
Side Effects Are Also a Factor for Some
As noted earlier, the basic rationale for taking an ED drug is to temporarily optimize an impotent man’s ability to get and keep an erection. Ideally, this should be accomplished with as little collateral damage as possible.
As with most prescription drugs, ED medications can cause side effects. Fortunately, most of these possible side effects are mild and diminish upon continued use of the drugs. For some, however, these side effects can be more severe than for others.
For men troubled by an ED drug’s side effects, its duration of action ideally should be on the shorter side, thus exposing them to those bothersome side effects for as short a period as possible.
For men who are fortunate enough to experience no side effects at all, this issue is not really a significant factor in choosing an ED medication.
What About Generics?
Since December 2017, generic equivalents have been introduced on the U.S. market for all but one of the brand-name ED drugs currently available. Stendra, which was not introduced until 2012, is the only brand-name ED drug without a generic equivalent.
FDA regulations require that generic drugs contain the same active ingredients as those used in the brand-name drugs they copy. The drug regulatory agency also mandates that generics have “the same strength, use indications, form (such as a tablet or an injectable), and route of administration (such as oral or topical).”
In short, this means that what is said here about the half-lives of the various brand-name ED drugs applies also to their respective generic equivalents.
Why Not Order Online?
Getting your ED medications can be a bit of a hassle. The time spent driving to and from the pharmacy to drop off and pick up a prescription could be better spent in more productive pursuits. And that’s not even taking into consideration the time you might have to spend waiting in line.
You might find that ordering your ED drugs online from eDrugstore.com can save you not only time but also money. If you have a doctor’s prescription, you can fax it or scan and email it along with your order. If not, eDrugstore can arrange a complimentary online consultation with a licensed U.S. physician who can authorize a prescription if appropriate. This, too, could represent a significant savings in terms of both money and time.
And, in addition to ED medications, eDrugstore carries a limited selection of other lifestyle drugs and products. To learn more or to place an order, visit eDrugstore’s Erectile Dysfunction page.
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