What Does Viagra Do to Your Sexual Experience?

You've probably heard some impressive claims about Viagra — it's a bedroom "game-changer," it's a miracle drug, etc.

Viagra's name is widely known. It’s the most popular Erectile dysfunction medication in the world today, and for good reason — for most men, it works. 

But how does Viagra work? How real is the hype? What does Viagra do to your sexual experience, and what can you expect sex to look and feel like after taking it?

These are all good questions, and we’ve covered it in detail here —below you’ll find information about what Viagra is, as well as:

• What happens when you take it

• What it does to men

• How you know it’s working

• The side effects

• Common Viagra myths

The lowdown on Viagra and sexual performance is below… so scroll down.

What Is Viagra? 

Viagra® has one of the biggest glow-up stories in the world of medicine. Originally designed as a blood pressure medication for people trying to avoid chest pain and stiff left arms, it quickly became clear that the little blue pill’s most curious side effect wasn’t causing low blood pressure, but making something else (yes, a penis) stiff, too.  

When they realized it could be prescribed to help men with ED function more normally, they knew they had a hit on their hands. 

Since it came onto the market in the late 90s, Viagra has grown from a niche medicine into a medication used by millions of men around the world treating erectile dysfunction (ED). 

Today, Viagra and its active ingredient sildenafil is still prescribed for pulmonary arterial hypertension (under the name Revatio), but it’s mostly and most popularly known for its penile powers.

What's in Viagra? 

So what’s in Viagra? Well, it’s not starch from your dry cleaners. Viagra is a medication for erectile dysfunction.

Viagra’s main ingredient sildenafil is part of a class of drugs referred to as PDE5 inhibitors, which (unlike non-prescription supplements) are approved by the FDA for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

This gov approved medication comes in tablet form, with both medications designed for use approximately 30 minutes to one hour before sex. Sildenafil — does this by inhibiting an enzyme referred to as phosphodiesterase type 5, or PDE5.

The PDE5 enzyme helps control blood flow to your penis. PDE5 normally breaks down cGMP, which is responsible for arterial smooth muscle relaxation. By preventing PDE5 from working properly, cGMP stays elevated and Viagra essentially gives blood a green light to flow into the erectile tissues inside your penis when you feel sexually stimulated. 

Viagra and similar forms of erectile dysfunction medication work by inhibiting PDE5 and making it easier for blood to flow to your penis and produce an erection.

By inhibiting PDE5, the blood vessels that supply your penis can relax, increasing their size and allowing blood to flow more freely. Since erections are all about healthy blood flow, this can improve your erections and allow you to have sexual intercourse. 

The mechanism of action of other oral ED medications (like Cialis® and Levitra®) is similar.

What Does Viagra Do?

Viagra works by improving blood flow to your penis. The active ingredient, Sildenafil, is a PDE5 inhibitor that helps blood vessels relax. This helps improve blood flow to the penis, making it easier to get and maintain and erection.

If you have erectile dysfunction, Viagra can be extremely beneficial to your sexual function and experience, as well as the level of enjoyment you get from sex. Even a relatively modest dose of Viagra can make it significantly easier to get hard and stay hard during intercourse.

In clinical trials of Viagra, more than 82 percent of men with erectile dysfunction reported an improvement in their erections after using Viagra at a dosage of 100mg (the highest dosage prescribed for ED).

Even at the lowest prescribed dosage of 25mg, Viagra produced improvements in erections for 63 percent of men with erectile dysfunction.

What Happens When You Take Viagra?

Erections require a combination of stimulation and blood flow. When you feel sexually aroused, whether it’s due to visual stimulation, physical stimulation or both, impulses from your nervous system cause blood to flow to your penis.

Both brand name Viagra and its generic version sildenafil work by increasing blood flow to your penis.  The corpora cavernosa — a pair of sponge-like areas of tissue inside your penis — fill with blood, which causes your penis to expand and harden.

To keep your penis firm during sex, pressure builds up within a fibrous membrane called the tunica albuginea, blocking venous outflow and trapping blood inside your penis until you either no longer feel stimulated or reach orgasm and ejaculate.

How Do You Know When Viagra is Working?

Oh, believe us... You won't have to figure out whether or not Viagra's working. You'll know.

It generally takes about 30 minutes to an hour to start working, although it may require slightly more time if you consume a large, high-fat meal before or shortly after using this medication.

When Viagra starts working, you won’t suddenly develop an erection or notice any rapid change in your sex drive or sexual arousal. Viagra also isn’t a psychoactive medication, meaning it won’t have any noticeable effect on the way you feel, think, or perceive things during sex. 

Instead, you’ll find it easier to get and maintain an erection after taking Viagra. This might mean that you’re able to get an erection when you normally wouldn't, or that your Viagra-supported erections have a greater degree of firmness than usual.

The effects of Viagra are purely physical, so it won’t directly change your emotions. However, if you have erectile dysfunction, Viagra’s effects on your sexual performance can provide a confidence boost or make sex more enjoyable.

In some cases, using Viagra might not make your erection develop faster or become firmer than usual, but might make it easier for you to maintain an erection during sex. 

Is There a Way To Tell if a Man is Taking Viagra?

Wondering if your man is taking a pill to keep up his energy in bed? You could check his medicine cabinet, send an email to his doctor asking what prescription drugs he’s on, or have his blood tested. All of these things are, of course, unethical or illegal, so we’d suggest avoiding that altogether. 

Unfortunately, there aren’t going to be any noticeable changes that’ll tell you he’s using Viagra. If you want to know, why not consider communicating like adults? He may be embarrassed to need the medication (which might be why he hasn’t already told you), but if you let him know that it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you might get your answer while also bringing you two closer together.