The dangers of buying Viagra online – and how it can put your life at risk.
Men trying to ramp up their power in the bedroom are risking their health by using erectile dysfunction drugs bought online.
MEN trying to ramp up their power in the bedroom are putting their lives at risk by using erectile dysfunction drugs bought online.
Recreational use of the little blue pills, which should only be taken on prescription, can seriously damage the heart.
And many of the web drugs are fakes, filled with anything from chalk and talcum powder to industrial chemicals.
Here, CLARE O’REILLY meets three men who have all bought drugs advertised as Viagra online, and lived to tell the tale.
Blurred vision . and groin in agony.
JAKE LAND, 21, a factory worker from Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, bought Viagra online after hearing about it from friends. He says:
I’m only 21 so it’s not like I need it but last Christmas, some mates at the pub were talking about how easy it was to buy Viagra online.
I’d never heard of it so I had a quick Google and when I saw what it could do, I ended up buying four tablets for £20.
It seemed like a bargain so I thought I’d give it a shot.
The thought of being able to last longer was an attractive one.
The first time I took it was on a night out in Manchester with friends.
We were all on the pull so I took it in case I got lucky – and I did get chatting to one girl I liked.
But within an hour of taking the pill my vision started going green.
It was like someone had put a filter on everything.
I felt like I had terrible flu.
Everything looked blurry too and despite the drug working, it felt like someone had kicked me really hard in the groin.
I felt nauseous all of a sudden too.
Straight away I knew it was the Viagra but by then it was too late and there was nothing I could do.
Although I felt dreadful, I brought the girl I’d met home with me and we had sex three times, but it was increasingly painful and by the next morning I felt like I had terrible flu.
The filtered vision had gone but my whole groin area was in agony.
I didn’t tell her I’d taken the drug so I just pretended I had the flu and was feeling ill.
I spent the rest of the day in bed feeling awful but thankfully woke up the next day feeling much better, with everything having returned to normal.
I threw the rest of the tablets away and would never take them again unless it was on prescription from a doctor.'
My heart was pounding.
JOHN BROWNE, 36, is a chef from Ross-on-Wye, Hereford-shire.
He bought Viagra online last October and had to take three days off work because of the side effects. He says:
My relationship finished last year and I hadn’t had sex for three-and-a-half years before that.
I signed up to a couple of dating apps but was incredibly nervous so thought the drug might help.
Friends had talked about how they bought it online so I paid £25 for ten pills.
I thought I’d test them out before a date so took one on my own but within an hour I had a blinding headache.
I also felt boiling hot.
I’d worked a long shift though so went to bed, not putting two and two together – even though it worked in the way it was intended to.
The side effects were horrendous.
A few weeks later I had a date and thought I’d take a pill in case it went well.
I took it a couple of hours before we were due to meet up but started feeling hot, light-headed and instantly dehydrated.
I went on the date anyway but gradually felt worse.
I eventually got home around 11.30pm feeling awful.
My heart was pounding, the headache was the worst I’ve ever had and I felt dreadful.
I ended up taking the following three days off work.
I binned the rest of the pills and I would never take anything like that again.
I had a suspicion when they arrived that they weren’t proper Viagra pills, and while they worked, the side effects were horrendous.
I’m lucky I am in a relationship now and in a much better place than I was when I bought them.
Head hurting badly.
IT worker Clive Brewer, 55, from Teddington, South West London, suffered severe side effects. He says:
I had friends that swore by Viagra so I decided to give it a try.
It was just meant to be a harmless experiment.
I went online and chose the most expensive pills I could find.
I thought the higher the price tag, the better the quality.
They arrived in a proper pill packet with foil on the back.
It was just meant to be a harmless experiment.
I took my first one about an hour before a date I had arranged.
But within ten minutes of taking it, although it had the desired effect, my head started hurting really badly.
I felt dizzy and light-headed and my heart was pounding.
I’ve had heart trouble and should have called an ambulance.
But I was too embarrassed.
It was all pretty frightening so I cancelled the date and had to go and lie down.
The side effects had gone by the morning but the purpose for which the drug was intended still worked.
Eventually that subsided too.
I threw the rest of them away.
I’d never take anything like that again.
I’m lucky there was no lasting damage.
How to be safe.
STUART GALE, owner and manager of oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk, has this advice for how to judge if an online pharmacy site is safe. He says that if the answer to ANY of these questions is no, it’s best avoided:
• Does the site belong to a registered UK-based pharmacy?
• Can you call up and speak to a pharmacist?
• Are GPHC (General Pharmaceutical Council) and MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) logos visible on the site?
• Does the pharmacy link actually work?
• Are they offering prescription-only medication without a prescription?
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Dangers of buying Viagra online revealed
