While working in the healthcare facility I talk about high blood pressure on various different levels with patients. Not once has any of them bought up the topic of taking Viagra or erectile dysfunction medications and their affect on blood pressure. It’s completely understandable and an embarrassing topic to talk about with anybody. That’s the very reason that inspired me to come up with the idea about writing a blog post about it.

Does Viagra lower your blood pressure or raise it? Viagra lowers your blood pressure and does not raise it. The active ingredient in Viagra, sildenafil citrate, helps to lower blood pressure by relaxing smooth muscle tissue and opening up the blood vessels increasing blood flow.

This doesn’t mean you should start taking it to lower your blood pressure. As with any medication, don’t start or stop taking medicine without consulting with your doctor first. I think there’s a myth taking Viagra raises blood pressure. This is so because of Viagra’s common side effects of flushing and headaches giving people the impression their blood pressure has increased.

BP Tip: Lower BP just by breathing? There’s a device approved by the FDA and The American Heart Association. It guides your breathing a few minutes a day which has been proven to lower BP in studies. You can check it out in the manufacturer’s website by clicking here.

Some links in this article are affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Before changing any medication, nutrition, consuming a new food or starting an exercise program, always consult with a physician first.

Studies Reveal How Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) Lowered Blood Pressure

Study

In 2002, a study of 49 men was conducted where they gave each participant 100 mg of sildenafil citrate. The results showed a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of 6 mm Hg and a decrease in systolic blood pressure of 4.5 mm Hg.

The results also showed that 22.7% of the men that had high blood pressure experienced systolic blood pressure reductions of 20 mm Hg or greater¹

Study

In 2005, John Hopkins Medicine released a report how Viagra improved heart stress and blood pressure. The study included 35 healthy men and women, with an average age of 30 and no previous signs of coronary artery disease².

Each participant received chemical injections that increased heart rate and pumping strength. After the injection, one group was treated with sildenafil and the other group with a placebo. After the sildenafil and placebo treatment, a second chemical injection to increase the heart rate was administered.

Measurements of heart function were given before and after the injections that included blood pressure readings.

This is what the results showed:

• After the first chemical injection, the force of heart contraction increased by 150% in both groups.
• After the second chemical injection, this same increase repeated itself in the placebo group. However, in the group treated with sildenafil, the increased heartbeat was slowed by 50% resulting in a smaller increase in blood flow and blood pressure.

Study

In 2001 a study was released which included eight men. The men had high blood pressure and were aged from 57-76 years old. The men were given either 50 mg of sildenafil³ or a placebo. Their blood pressure was checked 75 minutes after receiving the treatment.

The results indicated a reduction of blood pressure equaling 17/11 mmHg less on the days receiving sildenafil compared to the placebo. The researchers the decrease in blood pressure resulted from the positive affects on the blood vessels, possibly related to nitric oxide⁴.

Study

In a recent study published in 2016, 26 patients with resistant hypertension were given 187.5 mg of sildenafil and then two weeks later were given a placebo. The participants in the study had their blood pressure measured over a 24-hour period the day before and after taking the treatments.

The results showed a decrease in systolic blood pressure of 8.8 mmHg and diastolic pressure of 5.3 mmHg after taking the sildenafil compared to the placebo. The researchers indicated considering its blood pressure lowering affects, sildenafil may represent an option for resistant hypertension⁵.

Studies like these and the findings below intrigue me and get me excited more help may be on the way to help those with cardiovascular related health issues.

Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) Prescribed for High Blood Pressure

Many of you may have heard of the conditions called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Reynaud’s Syndrome. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a life threatening condition meaning you have high blood pressure in the blood vessels leading from the heart to your lungs.

Reynaud’s syndrome is a condition where smaller arteries supplying blood to the skin constrict excessively in response to the cold⁶

Doctors are prescribing a drug called Revatio to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and Raynaud’s syndrome. Revatio is sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra, but marketed under a different name⁷.

Using a drug marketed for erectile issues may raise some eyebrows and for that reason the drug is marketed by another name.

How does Revatio work? It extends the lives of some pulmonary arterial hypertension sufferers by increasing blood flow to the lungs, reducing the workload on the heart. The same with Raynaud’s syndrome, the blood vessels are relaxed which increases blood flow.

History Has Shown That Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) Lowers Blood Pressure

The story how Viagra started is pretty interesting. In 1989, sildenafil citrate was created by British scientists, Peter Dunn and Albert Wood. They believed it would be useful in treating high blood pressure and angina, chest pain caused by the constriction of vessels that supply the heart with blood⁸.

In 1991, Dr. Nicholas Terrett is named in the British patent for sildenafil citrate or Viagra, as a heart medication.

In the early 1990s, Pfizer completes several early trials of sildenafil citrate providing little hope for its use as a heart disease treatment for angina.

Although the volunteers in the clinical trials reported increased erections several days after receiving a dose of the drug. The volunteers didn’t want to return the medication. Can you blame them?

The rest is history and Viagra is known about in every circle as the drug to treat erectile dysfunction, talked about or not. But as you read it’s starting to become more popular for treating the heart and blood pressure, let’s hope the trend continues.

Other Ways Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate) Benefits The Heart And Blood Flow

In addition to pulmonary arterial hypertension and Reynaud’s syndrome, researchers are continuing to discover ways that Viagra improves blood flow and benefits the heart.

Heat Attacks

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University found Viagra helped to restore blood flow and tissue healing after a heart attack. They also found Viagra stopped Apoptosis, a condition where heart muscle cells kill themselves in the wake of a heart attack⁹.

Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a condition pregnant women develop and is marked by high blood pressure. It can lead to serious, sometimes fatal complications for the mother or baby.

In 2005, a University of Vermont College of Medicine Team found Viagra prevented deaths among fetuses in pregnant rats. It did this by relaxing muscles in the artery walls allowing adequate blood flow.

Another study in 2016 using rats, concluded sildenafil citrate improved blood flow to the fetoplacental unit despite lowering maternal blood pressure. Their findings provided preclinical evidence to support the hypothesis sildenafil was a therapeutic target for the treatment of preeclampsia¹⁰

Infertility

Viagra showed it could increase a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant. This occurred when the cause of infertility is the lining of the uterus being too thin to sustain a pregnancy. Tests showed sildenafil citrate increased blood flow to the uterus and stimulated the growth of cells¹¹.

Mountain Sickness

Viagra can improve the ability to exercise in low oxygen conditions because it can reduce pulmonary artery pressure at high altitude.

Randomized Trials Improve Cardiac Conditions

In 2014, research published by the Journal BMC Medicine¹², analyzed 24 trials published between 2004 and 2014. The trials involved mixed populations of patients who were treated with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i), which is sildenafil citrate (Viagra).

The study found the following:

• PDE5i prevented the heart from changing shape in patients suffering from left ventricular hypertrophy, a condition causing thickening and enlargement of the heart muscle.
• PDE5i also improved functioning of the heart in patients with a variety of cardiac conditions, with no affect on blood pressure.
• Researchers found PDE5i improved efficiency when the heart pumped blood into vessels, along with relaxation between beats.

Related Questions

Can high blood pressure affect erectile dysfunction? High blood pressure can affect erectile dysfunction. High blood pressure can cause erection problems by slowing the supply of blood to the penis. In addition, certain blood pressure medications can affect erectile dysfunction by reducing blood circulation.

What blood pressure medication does not cause erectile dysfunction? Blood pressure medications that do not cause erectile dysfunction include angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, alpha blockers and angiotensin ll Receptor Blockers. This is so because they do not reduce the blood flow to the extremities like the other medications.

Can I take viagra and blood pressure medication? You should not take viagra with certain blood pressure medications like alpha blockers. In addition, don’t take viagra with certain medications for pulmonary arterial hypertension like edemas (riociguat). Always consult with a doctor prior to taking any medication.

Can I take viagra with low blood pressure? If you have low blood pressure, you should not take Viagra. Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs can cause a sudden, unsafe decrease in blood pressure. You should ask your doctor about what erectile dysfunction treatment is right for you.

If you found this Blood Pressure topic interesting check out these related blood pressure articles also found in this same website:

Blood Pressure Medications That Cause Coughing

Isolated Systolic Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Causes Of Sudden High Blood pressure (Spikes)

When You Should Go To The Hospital For Blood Pressure

 

1. National Center for Biotechnology Information: Effects of sildenafil citrate (viagra) on blood pressure in normotensive and hypertensive men [↩]
2. John Hopkins Medicine: Viagra Blunts Effects Of Stress On The Human Heart [↩]
3. National Center for Biotechnology Information: Sildenafil [↩]
4. National Center for Biotechnology Information: Effect of sildenafil on blood pressure and arterial wave reflection in treated hypertensive men [↩]
5. National Center for Biotechnology Information: Acute Sildenafil Use Reduces 24-Hour Blood Pressure Levels in Patients With Resistant Hypertension: A Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial [↩]
6. MedlinePlus: Pulmonary arterial hypertension [↩]
7. National Center for Biotechnology Information: Sildenafil: from angina to erectile dysfunction to pulmonary hypertension and beyond [↩]
8. Wikipedia: Sildenafil [↩]
9. Circulation: Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitor, Tadalafil, Protects Against Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Through Protein-Kinase G–Dependent Generation of Hydrogen Sulfide [↩]
10. AHA Journals: Sildenafil Treatment Ameliorates the Maternal Syndrome of Preeclampsia and Rescues Fetal Growth in the Dahl Salt–Sensitive Rat [↩]
11. National Center for Biotechnology Information: The Effect of Sildenafil Citrate on Uterine and Clitoral Arterial Blood Flow in Postmenopausal Women [↩]
12. BMC Medicine: Is chronic inhibition of phosphodiesterase type 5 cardioprotective and safe? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials [↩]