Does Viagra Keep You Hard After Coming?

Many men wrongly believe that erectile dysfunction medications like Viagra®, Cialis®, or Levitra® can cause erections without sexual stimulation. And some men even mistakenly think that these drugs can make your penis bigger.

But does Viagra keep you hard after coming, or is that a myth, too?

Believing drugs like Viagra can keep you hard after ejaculation isn’t an unfair assumption, especially when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns of four-hour erections. Between the urban legends and the horror stories, it’s no wonder that a guy who’s not already taking “the little blue pill” might misunderstand what it does and doesn’t do.

Let’s clear up a few of these misconceptions. Below, we’ll explain why Viagra is an effective treatment for ED, why it’s difficult to get hard again after coming, and whether a dose of Viagra can speed up the process.

Viagra (the brand-name version of sildenafil citrate) and other oral ED treatment medications are called phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors. They are designed to treat erectile dysfunction by keeping you harder for longer, and they’re effective at doing so. 

Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors work by blocking an enzyme called PDE5 that’s produced in your tissues. This blockage allows your blood vessels to relax and widen, which increases blood flow to your penis. 

In fact, Viagra was first created as a treatment for chest pain and hypertension, but researchers soon found that the active ingredient in this blood pressure medication increases blood flow to the penis, too.

By continuing to increase blood flow to the penis, Viagra gives you a window of several hours in which you can get hard with sexual stimulation. 

But let’s not forget: it’s not a cure-all for good sex. It can’t cure performance anxiety (though it can help), and it can’t increase your sex drive. 

Before we answer your pressing question, though, we need to explain just one more thing.

All good things must come to an end.

Every male orgasm is immediately followed by something called the refractory period — a sort of reset/reboot phase after sexual intercourse. During the refractory period, your penis could still be harder than usual but — generally — you are not responsive to sexual stimuli, and it is impossible to orgasm again. 

Some guys get minutes (which can feel like hours), and some get hours — which can feel like days. Every guy is different, and honestly, experts don’t really understand the specific functions of the refractory period. 

What we do know is that this period may get longer as you age. The nearly nonexistent teen refractory phase becomes longer sometime in your 20s, and your reboot gets longer as time passes.

Okay, we’re ready to answer the big question on your mind: does Viagra work to help you skip the refractory period entirely? No, it doesn’t. Can it shorten the refractory period? Maybe.

If you were thinking about using your Viagra (or even someone else’s prescription medication or a non-prescription “sexual enhancement” supplement) to go all night, we’ve got some advice for you: reconsider. 

First of all, it’s not safe to take a drug that isn’t prescribed to you, and those over-the-counter enhancement supplements may do more harm than good.

Second, although experts have conflicting ideas about what the refractory period is, why it exists, and how long it lasts, most agree it doesn’t go away entirely.

That said, some evidence suggests sildenafil may reduce the refractory period.

Research on Viagra and the Refractory Period

An eight-week study of men between the ages of 18 and 65 who had premature ejaculation (PE) found that those who took sildenafil saw a decrease in their refractory time.

An older study of 20 men also found that sildenafil reduced the refractory period in all subjects. Men who took sildenafil had a refractory period that lasted just 2.6 ± 0.7 minutes compared to men who took the placebo (10.8 ± 0.9 minutes).

And yet another study found that while sildenafil may prolong sexual activity — which could be helpful for men with premature ejaculation — it doesn’t appear to shorten the refractory period after ejaculation.

The bottom line? Your refractory period isn’t going anywhere — but it could potentially be shortened.

If you decide to try to shorten your refractory period with Viagra, there is a serious side effect you want to look out for — an erection that lasts too long. Erections lasting longer than four hours could be a medical condition known as priapism, which can do permanent, irreversible damage to your penis. 

Also, the drug’s purpose isn’t to kill your refractory period, and using it just for this reason could increase the risk of side effects like chest pain, blurred vision, and dangerously low blood pressure.

Do Other Phosphodiesterase-5s Keep You Hard After Coming?

We talked a lot about Viagra, but what about other similar ED drugs? For instance, does Cialis keep you hard after coming? What about Levitra?

Studies on using tadalafil (Cialis) for premature ejaculation have found that the drug may also reduce refractory time after orgasm, but more research is needed to confirm.

Another study on vardenafil (Levitra) also found that the drug reduced refractory time while extending the length of sex and improving sexual satisfaction and confidence.

Again, none of these studies found that PDE5 inhibitors stopped the refractory period entirely. But they do appear to have the potential to shorten it for some men.

If there’s one takeaway we can leave you with, it’s to keep your safety in mind. While using the active ingredient sildenafil for the treatment of erectile dysfunction is safe, doing so for recreational reasons is dangerous. 

We say this mostly as a disclaimer: when people search for “Does Viagra keep you hard after coming?”, they should actually be seeking medical advice for ED — a widespread problem that affects millions of men worldwide — or premature ejaculation, not a stamina power-up.

Erectile dysfunction medication is designed to treat erectile dysfunction, not enhance sexual performance. Remember:

• If you’re struggling to get hard, stay hard, and finish hard, you should talk to a healthcare provider about ED medication or other treatment options. You can solve many problems with erectile function with the support of a medical professional. Be sure to tell them about health conditions like heart disease or mental health issues that may be affecting your sexual satisfaction — and be honest.

• Viagra and similar drugs may shorten your refractory period, but it won’t go away completely. Some studies show that Viagra may speed up your refractory period, especially in those with premature ejaculation.

• Overdoing it with Viagra to try to skip your refractory period is dangerous. Too much Viagra can lead to a higher risk of side effects or drug interactions. This drug also shouldn’t be taken with certain medications, like nitrates or alpha-blockers, which increase the risk of side effects. You can read more in our guide to the side effects of Viagra.

And if you don’t want to look a healthcare professional in the eye to talk about any sexual dysfunction, consider having the conversation remotely by scheduling a sexual health consultation.