Did your doctor prescribe you Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction? Perhaps you’re hopeful that the Viagra your doctor prescribed could improve your enjoyment of life significantly, as erectile dysfunction can create a serious rift in marital life.
However, there are several things you should know before taking this potentially risky medication — which is sometimes prescribed in error by doctors.
What is the most serious risk associated with Viagra?
There is a lot of speculation about whether Viagra could cause a kind of vision loss in some patients known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). This vision loss occurs after blood flow is stopped to the optic nerves. People with the following conditions are at risk of developing NAION. Therefore, they might want to consider avoiding Viagra:
- Diabetes patients
- Heart disease patients
- Patients over the age of 50
- Patients who smoke
- Patients who have different kinds of eye ailments
- Patients with high cholesterol
- Patients who have high blood pressure
- Other patients who should not take Viagra include:
- Patients taking medications referred to as nitrates
- Patients whose doctors advised them not to have sex
- Only take Viagra by prescription from your doctor
It’s important to educate all patients using Viagra regarding its other potential health risks in addition to NAION, such as:
- Permanent erections that continue for hours on end
- Problems with seeing colors, causing a difficulty seeing the difference between green and blue
- Headache
- Stomach issues
- Diarrhea
- Urinary tract infections
- Flushing
Learn about the risks of any drug you take
Patients who take Viagra and any other medication need to learn about the potential risks associated with the drug to make sure their doctors didn’t commit a prescription error. This will help you avoid the serious health consequences of taking a dangerous or defective pharmaceutical drug. In many cases, injuries related to dangerous drug could lead patients to file a dangerous products claim to pursue justice and restitution in court.
Source: FindLaw, “Viagra,” accessed July 27, 2017
