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If you’re struggling with erectile dysfunction, the internet is no slouch when it comes to pop-ups and banner ads marketing the best new thing for your penis. From nutritional supplements to widely-known and popular brands, it feels like we’re bombarded by penis pills daily.
If your search history is the same as many men’s, you’ve probably seen most of them mentioned, and you may have even come across Nizagara, which touts the same active ingredient as Viagra® at a fraction of the price.
Well, according to the various listings we found online, Nizagara is a Viagra supplement available in several dosage variations, and containing (in addition to Viagra’s active ingredient sildenafil) a bevy of vitamins, such as L-arginine, redberry, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folic acid.
Many of these ingredients have been suggested to have various health benefits to and adjacent to your sexual health, and so on paper, this sounds like a great deal. You get Viagra and all these vitamins for less than the price of Viagra—that’s good, right?
Wrong.
The problem with Nizagara isn’t what it claims to do, it’s that those claims are thoroughly unfounded, unproven, and unsubstantiated.
We could further tout the alleged effects of this drug but honestly, that’s a disservice to you. The studies and data attached to Nizagara are evidence from studies about sildenafil, not from independent reviews of the Nizagara brand’s pill.
Just to be clear, we’re not saying that Nizagara isn’t a healthy alternative to Viagra. We’re not saying it because, well, we can’t—no one can.
Nizagara hasn’t undergone any testing or approval. There’s no NIH or FDA data on it, no studies we could find testing its efficacy.
The only places you can find data on Nizagara are the places trying to sell it to you, online, by the pill.
Those websites are laden with typos, poor language skills, 2006 web designs, and most importantly not a single one of them has any association with a trusted medical resource or organization.
This is eerily reminiscent of the murky truth around products like herb viagra, which has its own issues, and also isn’t sold in U.S. pharmacies.
Herb viagra isn’t tested, isn’t approved, and makes murky claims about efficacy [is that herb viagra piece I wrote up? This would be a great time to link to it I think].
At best, Nizagara is a Viagra pill with extras, but since the extras aren’t broken down by daily percentages, since the pills have no explanation of how these extras are incorporated, you really shouldn’t be putting them in your body.
If cost is an issue (and we can understand why it would be) then there are other generics available of Cialis® (tadalafil) and Viagra® (sildenafil).
The active ingredients tadalafil and sildenafil(generic Viagra) are both phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, drugs that block the breakdown of certain substances that keep you hard by keeping the blood vessels in your penis dilated and your corpora cavernosa engorged.
Because they’re good at keeping blood vessels dilated, they’ve been used to treat hypertension in the past (and still are), so if you’re currently receiving other blood pressure treatments, you’ll want to let your doctor know before taking these.
Sildenafil and tadalafil work similarly but on different schedules: sildenafil is a sort of single use tablet to prep for a few hours of intimacy, while tadalafil can be prescribed as a daily medication, so you can be good to go in any circumstances.
Most of the time, when men order unproven pills from the internet, it’s because they’re embarrassed to go to a doctor. They want the problem to go away, and without having to speak of it.
We get the desire to ignore it, but we’re here to tell you, that’s not the solution. And there’s little reason to be embarrassed. An estimated 30 million to 50 million men nationwide share the experience of erectile dysfunction.
Even if you’re open to proven methods like sildenafil and tadalafil, there’s no magic pill for curing erectile dysfunction. Treatments can cover the symptoms, but the problem is never going to go away without getting a doctor involved.
We’re not trying to turn you off of alternative erectile dysfunction medications, but buying stuff off the internet, or from gas stations, or from supplement stores isn’t always safe. You need to understand not just why something is supposed to work, but what its side effects are.
Erectile dysfunction can be a scary prospect, and nobody wants to talk about having stamina or performance problems, because of the stigma attached. But it’s the best thing you can do for yourself.
The best first step if you’re having problems getting hard is to talk to a healthcare provider, who can help you treat both the symptoms and the underlying cause. You may save yourself from blood pressure or nutritional problems that could have far wider and more damaging impacts.
The problem might also be related to stress, anxiety, or underlying depression, and a healthcare provider can help you find the right treatment for those problems as well, with medication or referrals.
If you’re just learning about ED, we have resources available to help you determine if either tadalafil (Cialis) or sildenafil (Viagra) are right for you.
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment. Learn more about our editorial standards here.