# "If you don't stop doing that you'll go blind" -- Viagra warning

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 27, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752 "2005-05-27T13:36:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752/1 "2005-05-27T13:36:30Z")

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Apparently there have been rare reports of blindness among some users of Viagra:

[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050527/ap\_on\_he\_me/viagra\_blindness](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050527/ap_on_he_me/viagra_blindness)

Now _there’s_ a poser. Would you use Viagra to get an erection if you couldn’t without it, but there’s a chance that if you do you’ll lose your eyesight?

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752/2 "2005-05-27T14:11:05Z")

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Can I just use it until I need glasses? 😃

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**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752/3 "2005-05-27T14:46:00Z")

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I saw that report on the TV news this morning. They said 20 cases of blindness though and that article says 42. Hmmmm you would think it would be easy to get the number right.

The comment was made that there have been over 13 million uses of Viagra and 20 cases of blindness is a really small number to indicate any relationship. However, the doctor they interviewed did mention an eye doctor can examine your eye and tell easily if you have the ocular structure that _might_ cause a problem. Apparently it is only people with a certain ocular structure that may be at risk. So if you are worried, it’s easy enough to get checked out.

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**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752/4 "2005-05-27T15:19:36Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> I saw that report on the TV news this morning. They said 20 cases of blindness though and that article says 42.

And on the _Today Show_ this morning, I heard fifty. Maybe it’s a spontaneous, temporary blindness.

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**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-stop-doing-that-youll-go-blind-viagra-warning/305752/5 "2005-05-27T16:25:50Z")

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“If your erection lasts more than 4 hours, go to the emergency room. Do not take matters into your own hands, as it were.”