# How Well Does Generic Viagra etc Work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710 "2021-02-11T22:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/21 "2021-02-12T17:25:05Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > A reasonable internet question. Don’t be so hard on him. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/22 "2021-02-13T01:08:42Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > In order to get the original brand name drug, the prescription must specify the name and state “no substitutions”. Around here, one of the major reasons for specifying “no substitutions” is so that your elderly patients get pills of the expected size shape and color. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/23 "2021-02-13T01:11:53Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Viagra and similar meds work by decreasing the activity of PDE5, so that more cyclic GMP is available for the blood vessels inside the lungs. So it’s been trialed for symptomatic treatment of COVID. I haven’t heard that got anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/24 "2021-02-13T01:32:02Z")
Don’t matter to me, since I had both Covid and two vaxxes. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/25 "2021-02-13T03:16:53Z")
Well, that and the off-label use for Viagra. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/26 "2021-02-13T04:35:17Z")
I was prescribed low dose tadalafil (a generic) for BPH, which I highly recommend if you’re waking up to pee 3 times a night as I was. I now sleep like a baby. The fact that it helps me in other ways is just a gift that keeps on giving. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/27 "2021-02-13T06:37:40Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > No, but is the price kept ludicrously high to keep it out of the hairy palms of teens? The generic \_ GoodRX + Costco pharmacy makes it _ahem_ fucking cheap. For someone I know the generic works better than the branded version, but that’s just anecdotal. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/28 "2021-02-13T08:24:25Z")
It is also very cheap to get in Canada but you have to be careful to use reputable pharmacy. The reputable ones will require a physical copy of the prescription and the process can take a few weeks the first time. Generic Cialis (20 mg) is $2.36/pill. The management of this board does not like us to openly give the names of Canadian drug companies who ship drugs to the US but anyone interested can feel free to PM me. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/29 "2021-02-13T16:30:04Z")
Years ago I purchased a bottle of 90 generic 20 mg Viagra (sildenafil citrate) pills from a pharmacy in India of all places. I paid them, they shipped the pills, and they worked great. Too good in fact; I had to break them in half. They lasted me for many years and were only a $1 a pill, or .50 cents a dose. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/30 "2021-02-13T21:24:34Z")
need to take them on empty stomach 2 hours after eating ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/31 "2021-02-13T22:40:38Z")
I’ve tried Viagra, but not only didn’t it work, it made me feel clammy all over. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710/32 "2021-02-15T05:18:49Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I’m 66. Are there any cautions ? Well, the sex could lead to a heart attack and death. But hey, your partner will just have to take her chances. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-does-generic-viagra-etc-work/932710.md?page=1)