How to Use Viagra as a Senior

Viagra is a drug made by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals to treat erectile dysfunction, the inability to achieve an erection. Viagra use for seniors often leads to greater side effects than Viagra use for younger people. If you are a senior, you should use Viagra more carefully than others, and watch out for adverse side effects.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Get the smallest dosage recommended by your doctor. Talk with your physician before you start taking Viagra, and don't take more Viagra than your doctor thinks you truly need. Viagra comes in 25-, 50-, and 100-mg tablets. Getting the smallest dosage as a senior can help lower your risk of adverse side effects.
2. Beware of using Viagra as a senior if you are taking medications that contain nitrates like nitroglycerin. If these drugs are taken together, they can lower your blood pressure too much.
3. Consider your health history. If you have a history of heart attack, stroke, high or low blood pressure, heart failure or eye disorders, you should strongly consider not taking Viagra. No studies have been conducted on many of these health-risk groups, so there is no firm research as to whether you should be taking Viagra if you fall under any of these categories.
4. Contact your doctor if you get an erection that lasts more than 4 hours while taking Viagra. Prolonged erections are rare while taking Viagra, but they can happen and can be the sign of threatening health issues.
5. Watch for possible normal side effects while taking Viagra as a senior. Your risk of having side effects to Viagra are greater than the potential risk for younger people. In clinical Viagra trials, 16 percent of the participants taking Viagra experienced headaches, 10 percent experienced flushing, 7 percent had indigestion and 3 percent had each nasal congestion, diarrhea and urinary tract infection.