Most of us don’t think twice before popping an over-the-counter pill for a variety of conditions, ranging from headaches to nausea. Those with a more serious health condition take prescription pills to ease the symptoms. Since the pills that we take have been approved by the MHRA, we feel secure about their safety and efficacy. In reality, while most prescription medications do not cause any harm, some can have negative repercussions on your health. These repercussions include the risk of erectile dysfunction.

In some cases, a single medication may not be entirely to blame. You could be experiencing erectile problems due to a reaction to more than one medication when you take them in combination. In rare cases, the side effect that a drug is supposed to cause may not happen – your erectile dysfunction could be a psychological reaction rather than the side effect of a medication. For instance, you might worry about having sex if you are taking a drug that is known to cause erectile dysfunction as a side effect. This may be the reason for your condition rather than the drug itself.

Drugs that cause erection difficulties
The following drugs are known to cause erection problems. You can ask your doctor to prescribe alternative medications to avoid side effects.

• Diuretics and blood pressure drugs are the most commonly prescribed medications that have erectile dysfunction as a side effect.
• Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) boost the action of serotonin – the chemical that regulates your mood – in the brain. While these drugs improve your mood, they also tend to restrict your brain’s ability to feel pleasure. This means that they can help in treating premature ejaculation but are also known to impair erectile function if taken over the long term.
• Anti-ulcer medications interfere with the male hormone testosterone and can cause erection as well as libido problems in about 2% of men taking them.
• Prostate shrinkers are medications that relax your prostate tissue and shrink enlarged glands. But they are also known to lower testosterone levels, resulting in erection difficulties.

Consult your doctor
Sex therapists and doctors recommend open communication between the doctor and the patient because each individual responds differently to a drug. If the side effects of a particular medication are highlighted during its clinical trials, they are mentioned on the package insert. With some drugs, side effects such as erectile dysfunction may not be discovered until a few months or even years after the drug has entered the market. In such cases, some time may pass before the printed warnings make it to the package.

Tags: counter, medications, pill