After being introduced into the world in 2003, Cialis has remained one of the bestselling medications prescribed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED).
However, does Cialis keep you hard after coming? That’s something many are surely curious about.
Eli Lilly and Company, which held the patent for the drug until late 2018, earned billions of dollars for its sales. But, there are still doubts about the extent of its potency and effects. In this article, we’ll try to shed light on these crucial matters.
Does Cialis Keep You Hard After Coming?
Cialis is a phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor, which puts it in the same category as Stendra, Staxyn, Levitra, and Viagra. What sets Cialis apart is the fact that it has a much longer half-life (1).
You should know, however, that there are two types of Cialis formulations. One is taken as needed and the other requiring daily intake.
The variant that’s taken as required is faster acting and longer-lasting, which means it keeps you hard after coming. The daily Cialis, in contrast, contains smaller doses of the active ingredient—only ensuring that the patient gets an erection whenever necessary.
About the ED Drug’s Mechanism of Action
Being familiar with how Cialis works is essential in appreciating its effects on the body as well as understanding how long the effects will last.
Tadalafil, Cialis’ active ingredient, blocks an enzyme called cGMP-specific PDE5 (2). This enzyme tends to break down a substance responsible for relaxing the muscles.
When PDE5 is blocked, there will be increased levels of this substance so muscles are more relaxed and blood vessels are widened due to a process called vasodilation.
PDE5 is found in the retina, lungs, and penis in high levels. It can also be found all over the body, such as in the blood vessels and the smooth muscle cells.
Selective or Not: Why Cialis Is Quite Safe
A drug is safe when it is very selective, meaning it does what it’s meant to do and very minimal of anything else. Very selective drugs have very little to no side effects.
Compared to the other PDE5 inhibitors out in the market or even those still being studied, tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis, is at least 9,000 times more selective (3).
Studies also prove that Cialis has no adverse effects on testicular function or the health of the human sperm.
If you have taken Viagra or have been reading on its side effects, you may have experienced or read about blue vision. This is due to the PDE6 enzyme that allows phototransduction in the human retina.
Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, inhibits this enzyme to some degree, so the blue-green color discrimination of the eye is impaired. This accounts for 11% of men who take Viagra (4).
Tadalafil, on the other hand, doesn’t inhibit PDE6 that much. It’s also 700 times more inhibiting PDE5 than PDE6. That’s why less than 0.1% of men taking Cialis to experience the blue-vision side effect.
Obviously, like other drugs prescribed for treating ED, Cialis is not without its downsides—and you’ve learned about one. Nonetheless, these other side effects and contraindications are much less significant compared to those of its predecessor, Viagra.
- Headache
- Blood pressure drop
- Hearing loss (rarely)
- Painful erections lasting more than four hours (rarely)
- It may not be suitable for those suffering from chest pains, angina, and other heart conditions, or kidney and liver problems.
About Discussing Dose and Absorption
For it to become as effective as possible, Cialis should be taken in the proper dosage. The recommended dose for tadalafil starts at 10 mg for on-demand and the daily regimen it’s 2.5 mg.
The doses can be modified (either increased or decreased) depending on the patient’s tolerability of the drug’s efficacy.
Cialis is considered a Class 2 drug, which means it has high-permeability and low-solubility. In oral form, Cialis is 80% bioavailable after the first-pass metabolism (5).
Sildenafil, or Viagra, is only 40% bioavailable after the first-pass.
However, Cialis absorbs the slowest compared to the available PDE5 inhibitors. It takes around two hours for the drug to reach maximum concentration, while it takes only 50 minutes for Viagra.
Tadalafil’s action onset starts as early as 15 minutes after intake, but only around 40% of patients will have successful erections at this point.
This explains why doctors don’t claim that the effect can be seen in as early as 15 minutes, so as not to create anxiety and eventually loss of confidence with the treatment.
But What About the Duration of Effects?
Compared to better known PDE5 inhibitors, tadalafil’s action duration or half-life is rather different. Vardenafil and sildenafil both have half-lives of around four hours.
Cialis has a longer half-life, and it differs according to the age range.
For young men, tadalafil can remain in the system for around 17.5 hours. For the elderly, it’s much longer at 21.6 hours (6). This extended effect is suitable for older men, who account for most of the drug’s users.
You might think that since Cialis stays longer in the body, it might do damage. The risks involved in the longer half-life of Cialis have not been established clinically.
There’s no recorded higher mortality for Cialis users compared to Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors.
One drawback of this long half-life, however, is that patients should defer other medications that include nitrates in the ingredients for at least 48 hours after taking Cialis. For Viagra, that window is only 24 hours.
But the longer half-life also has its advantages. Before Cialis, ED drugs should be taken immediately before sexual intercourse. This can come with potential performance anxiety since patients should be able to proceed with the act before the effect wears off.
With Cialis’ therapeutical window of around 36 hours, the patient has more freedom to select the setting and the timing of the sexual encounter.
Other benefits of the longer half-life of Cialis are being explored. Only recently has the FDA approved the once-daily dosage for ED treatment.
Because of the longer half-life combined with the daily intake, there will be a steady supply of the serum in the patient’s blood, allowing him to get an erection whenever the need arises.
That’s Right, and Tadalafil Can Keep You Going
So, the ED drug can actually keep you hard even after you’ve reached the point of orgasm. It’s important to keep in mind though, that not all varieties of the medication can help you achieve such a feat.
You’ll need the “as needed” kind to increase your chances of impressing your partner. Still, don’t forget that fighting against ED isn’t all about having fulfilling intercourse—there’s also the matter of safety that you have to consider.
Does Cialis keep you hard after coming? Again, the answer’s yes. But if you have other things you want to clarify, leave us a message through the comments section below, and we’ll do our best to answer as soon as possible.