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![An affectionate mature couple spending time together at home, The Most Popular Erection Drug is NOT Viagra it's Cialis. (iStock) An affectionate mature couple spending time together at home, The Most Popular Erection Drug is NOT Viagra it's Cialis. (iStock)](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/home-family/sex-intimacy/info-12-2013/sex-erection-viagra-castleman/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/home-and-family/sex-and-intimacy/2013-12/740-cialis-viagra-pill-drug-erection-medication-ed-dysfunction.jpg)
In the pantheon of globally recognized brand names, Viagra is right up there with Coca-Cola and Rolls-Royce.
In terms of user satisfaction, however, Viagra (sildenafil) runs a distant second to Cialis (tadalafil).
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I found 12 studies — none of them funded by the drug companies themselves — in which men from various countries tried both drugs and then reported which one they chose to continue. It was a shutout: Cialis 12, Viagra 0. And the 8,300 participants favored Cialis by a wide margin — 3 to 1, on average. In studies that also included the third major erection drug, Levitra (vardenafil), Cialis was still substantially more popular than either competitor.
Women also prefer Cialis. In four studies where couples used Viagra, then Cialis (or vice versa), the women strongly preferred the latter.
Whence this bedroom-centric brand loyalty? Simple: Cialis lasts longer. Viagra and Levitra are effective for approximately four hours, Cialis for 36. If a man takes Cialis on Friday evening, he can count on erection assistance through part of Sunday. Both men and women say they like the fact that Cialis allows them to take their eyes off that ticking clock and make love whenever they wish. So for dating couples or new lovers who prize sexual spontaneity, Cialis has a clear advantage.
Oddly, Cialis is favored by a less sexually impulsive group as well: long-term spouses, who are likelier to schedule sex dates. The drug's more wide-open window of opportunity apparently makes for friendlier spousal negotiations over time and place.
Drug similiarities and differences
Except for their duration of action, all erection medications function in similar fashion. They begin to work in about an hour. They work equally well if taken on an empty stomach or after a meal. None produce spontaneous erections, so no mortifying bulges in the produce aisle; they enhance firmness only in the context of erotic stimulation. Their side effects are quite similar, too: headache (16 percent of users), upset stomach (7 percent) and nasal congestion (4 percent). (Important note: Never use erection medications if you're taking nitroglycerin for angina; the combination can be fatal. Remember how close we came to losing Jack Nicholson in Something's Gotta Give?)
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