Pop culture might have you believe that taking Viagra is an all-day affair, completely clearing your calendar with its boner-producing powers. But before you cancel all of your non-dick-related plans, just how much time are we talking here?
Not as long as you think.
According to Michael Ingber, urologist for Garden State Urology and medical director of COR Medspa, the half-life of Viagra — that is, the amount of time it takes for the drug to be half-metabolized by the body and flushed from your system — is only around four hours.
“After approximately 16 hours, it’s no longer in your system,” Ingber tells me. This doesn’t mean, however, that you’ll still be at partial chub after 16 hours. It just means that you might still have traces of Viagra in your body until this point. It also doesn’t mean that you’ll be hard for four hours from the moment you take the drug. By most accounts, it takes at least 30 minutes for Viagra to kick in. And depending on what you’ve eaten recently, your body size and other metabolic factors, it could take a lot longer — like 90 minutes longer.
Above all, the defining factor for the effectiveness and duration of Viagra is your own arousal. You can take that little blue pill and not become erect at all if you don’t pursue some form of stimulation. Conversely, Viagra can potentially help you have multiple erections, should you pursue stimulation multiple times. (In most cases, your boner will go away after ejaculation.)
There is one situation, however, when you should be concerned about Viagra being seemingly too effective. If you maintain a boner for four hours or more, you may be experiencing priapism, a condition that can permanently damage your penis without medical treatment.
On a much milder note, some people report side effects like headaches and flushing of the skin. They typically only last for a short period of time. “Usually after Viagra has worn off, there are no noticeable side effects,” Ingber says.
So with the exception of priapism, Viagra shouldn’t be a major disruptor of your day. Certainly, you might want to block off your evening for it, but you’ll be back to your less-erect self well before morning.
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
